2021–22 Rice Owls men's basketball team

The 2021–22 Rice Owls men's basketball team represented Rice University during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by fifth-year head coach Scott Pera, and played their home games at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, Texas as members of Conference USA.

2021–22 Rice Owls men's basketball
CBI, First Round
Conference	Conference USA
Division	West Division
Record	16–17 (7–11 CUSA)
Head coach	Scott Pera (5th season)
Assistant coaches	Van Green Derek Glasser Greg Howell
Home arena	Tudor Fieldhouse

2021–22 Conference USA men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
Middle Tennessee	13	–	5		.722			26	–	11		.703
Western Kentucky	11	–	7		.611			19	–	13		.594
Florida Atlantic	11	–	7		.611			19	–	15		.559
Charlotte	10	–	8		.556			17	–	14		.548
Old Dominion	8	–	10		.444			13	–	19		.406
FIU	5	–	13		.278			15	–	17		.469
Marshall	4	–	14		.222			12	–	21		.364
West
North Texas	16	–	2		.889			25	–	7		.781
UAB †	14	–	4		.778			27	–	8		.771
Louisiana Tech	12	–	6		.667			24	–	10		.706
UTEP	11	–	7		.611			20	–	14		.588
Rice	7	–	11		.389			16	–	17		.485
UTSA	3	–	15		.167			10	–	22		.313
Southern Miss	1	–	17		.056			7	–	26		.212
† 2022 C-USA Tournament winner

Previous season

The Owls finished the 2020–21 season 15–13, 6–10 in C-USA play to finish in sixth place in West Division. They defeated Southern Miss in first round and Marshall in the second before losing to UAB in the quarterfinals.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Payton Moore	0	G	6'4"	215	Junior	Los Angeles, CA	Graduate transferred to Denver
Malik Ondigo	10	F	6'10"	215	RS Junior	El Mirage, AZ	Left the team due to personal reasons
Tre Clark	22	G	6'5"	205	GS Senior	Palmetto, FL	Left the team due to personal reasons
Cavit Ege Havsa	55	G	6'5"	180	GS Senior	Istanbul, Turkey	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Carl Pierre	12	G	6'4"	190	Senior	Boston, MA	UMass
Terrance McBride	13	G	6'2"	170	Senior	Lynwood, CA	Cornell

2021 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jaden Geron SG	Fresno, CA	San Joaquin Memorial High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Apr 20, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Damion McDowell PF	Los Angeles, CA	Dorsey High School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Apr 30, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

2022 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2022 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Mekhi Mason SG	Chandler, AZ	AZ Compass Prep School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	N/A	Sep 12, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Mason Jones SG	Chicago, IL	Link Year Preparatory School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Oct 6, 2021
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Andrew Akuchie PF	Plantation, FL	St. Thomas Aquinas High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jun 13, 2021
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2022 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Roster

2021–22 Rice Owls men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Jaden Geron 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr San Joaquin Memorial Fresno, CA G 1 Noah Hutchins 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr IMG Academy Buffalo, NY G 2 Jake Lieppert 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Saguaro HS Pima CC Scottsdale, AZ G 3 Travis Evee 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Vermont Academy VMI Randolph, MA G 4 Quincy Olivari 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Westlake HS Atlanta, GA G/F 5 Cameron Sheffield 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Chattahoochee HS Alpharetta, GA F 10 Ben Moffat (W) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Rider HS Wichita Falls, TX F 11 Riley Abercrombie 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS So Clear Lake HS Boise State Wollongong, Australia G 12 Carl Pierre 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) GS Boston College HS Boston, MA G 13 Terrance McBride 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Sierra Canyon Cornell Lynwood, CA G 14 Reed Myers (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Scottsdale Christian Academy Phoenix F 15 Max Fiedler 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) So Melbourne HS Indialantic, FL F 20 Damion McDowell, Jr. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr St. Bernard Catholic School Inglewood, CA G 22 Jackson Peakes (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 182 lb (83 kg) Fr St. John's HS Houston, TX G 24 Chris Mullins 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Mansfield Timberview HS Grand Paririe, TX F 34 Mylyjael Poteat 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 260 lb (118 kg) So The Burlington School Reidsville, NC	Head coach Scott Pera (Penn State) Assistant coach(es) Vince Alexander (Oklahoma Baptist) Van Green (Rice) Greg Howell (Waldorf) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 4, 2021* 7:00 p.m.		St. Edward's	W 85–71	–	Tudor Fieldhouse  Houston, TX
Regular season
November 9, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Pepperdine	W 82–63	1–0	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,796) Houston, TX
November 12, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at No. 15 Houston Rivalry	L 46–79	1–1	Fertitta Center (6,967) Houston, TX
November 16, 2021* 7:00 p.m., CUSAtv		Southern	W 81–63	2–1	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,565) Houston, TX
November 19, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at New Orleans	W 83–78	3–1	Lakefront Arena (959) New Orleans, LA
November 22, 2021* 10:00 a.m., FloHoops		vs. Evansville Gulf Coast Showcase quarterfinal	W 109–104 3OT	4–1	Hertz Arena (435) Fort Myers, FL
November 23, 2021* 4:00 p.m., FloHoops		vs. Oakland Gulf Coast Showcase semifinal	L 73–76	4–2	Hertz Arena (270) Fort Myers, FL
November 24, 2021* 4:00 p.m., FloHoops		vs. Fordham Gulf Coast Showcase 3rd place game	L 74–84	4–3	Hertz Arena (150) Fort Myers, FL
November 30, 2021* 7:00 p.m., CUSAtv		Texas State	L 69–80	4–4	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,365) Houston, TX
December 4, 2021* 2:00 p.m., CUSAtv		Jarvis Christian	W 100–62	5–4	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,283) Houston, TX
December 11, 2021* 7:00 p.m., Husky Sports Network		at Houston Baptist	W 88–73	6–4	Sharp Gymnasium (703) Houston, TX
December 16, 2021* 11:15 a.m., CUSAtv		Incarnate Word	W 85–55	7–4	Tudor Fieldhouse (2,021) Houston, TX
December 19, 2021* 2:00 p.m., CUSAtv		St. Thomas (TX)	Postponed due to COVID-19 concerns		Tudor Fieldhouse  Houston, TX
January 1, 2022 5:00 p.m., ESPN+/YouTube		at North Texas	L 43–75	7–5 (0–1)	The Super Pit (2,409) Denton, TX
January 6, 2022 7:00 p.m., CUSAtv		Middle Tennessee	W 65–61	8–5 (1–1)	Tudor Fieldhouse (500) Houston, TX
January 8, 2022 3:00 p.m., YouTube		UAB	W 85–80	9–5 (2–1)	Tudor Fieldhouse (500) Houston, TX
January 13, 2022 8:00 p.m., CBSSN		at Western Kentucky	L 66–80	9–6 (2–2)	E. A. Diddle Arena (2,933) Bowling Green, KY
January 15, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Marshall	W 87–77	10–6 (3–2)	Cam Henderson Center (4,239) Huntington, WV
January 20, 2022 7:00 p.m., CUSAtv		Old Dominion	W 77–69	11–6 (4–2)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,407) Houston, TX
January 22, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Charlotte	L 64–67	11–7 (4–3)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,641) Houston, TX
January 27, 2022 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Louisiana Tech	L 63–80	11–8 (4–4)	Thomas Assembly Center (2,634) Ruston, LA
January 29, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN3/ESPN+		at Southern Miss	W 76–62	12–8 (5–4)	Reed Green Coliseum (3,074) Hattiesburg, MS
February 3, 2022 7:00 p.m., CUSAtv		UTSA	W 91–78	13–8 (6–4)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,638) Houston, TX
February 5, 2022 2:00 p.m., CUSAtv		UTEP	L 70–72	13–9 (6–5)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,872) Houston, TX
February 8, 2022* 2:00 p.m., CUSAtv		Jarvis Christian	W 98–63	14–9	Tudor Fieldhouse (2,775) Houston, TX
February 12, 2022 2:00 p.m., CUSAtv		North Texas	L 44–67	14–10 (6–6)	Tudor Fieldhouse (2,102) Houston, TX
February 17, 2022 7:00 p.m., Stadium		at UAB	L 68–92	14–11 (6–7)	Bartow Arena (2,643) Birmingham, AL
February 19, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at FIU	L 78–80	14–12 (6–8)	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (2,349) Miami, FL
February 24, 2022 7:00 p.m., Stadium		Louisiana Tech	L 79–83	14–13 (6–9)	Tudor Fieldhouse (2,226) Houston, TX
February 26, 2022 6:00 p.m., CUSAtv		Southern Miss	W 77–72 OT	15–13 (7–9)	Tudor Fieldhouse (4,087) Houston, TX
March 3, 2022 8:00 p.m., CBSSN		at UTEP	L 67–70	15–14 (7–10)	Don Haskins Center (4,645) El Paso, TX
March 5, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at UTSA	L 71–82	15–15 (7–11)	Convocation Center (1,014) San Antonio, TX
Conference USA tournament
March 9, 2022 5:30 p.m., ESPN+	(W5)	vs. (E4) Charlotte Second round	W 73–61	16–15	Ford Center at The Star  Frisco, TX
March 10, 2022 5:30 p.m., Stadium	(W5)	vs. (W1) North Texas Quarterfinals	L 50–68	16–16	Ford Center at The Star  Frisco, TX
College Basketball Invitational
March 19, 2022 7:30 p.m., FloHoops	(14)	vs. (3) Ohio	L 64–65	16–17	Ocean Center (799) Daytona Beach, FL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.

Source

See also

• 2021–22 Rice Owls women's basketball team