Game at a Glance
San Francisco Dons (20-12, 10-8 WCC) vs. Rice Owls (22-11, 11-7 Conference USA)
Wednesday,  March 15, 2017 • 5:00 p.m. PT
Tudor Fieldhouse • Houston, Texas
Series Record: USF 2-1
Last Meeting: Nov. 16, 2015 (USF 80-54)
Video Stream: CUSA.tv
USF Audio Only: TheW.TV (Pat Olson, Play-by-Play; Jim Brovelli, Analyst)

Complete USF Game Notes (PDF) | CBI Homepage | CBI Bracket

Opening Tip
USF (20-12, 10-8 WCC) will face the Rice Owls (22-11, 11-7 Conference USA) in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational presented by FIVE FOUR Wednesday night at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT. The Dons are making their 25th postseason appearance and second showing in the CBI after having been part of the 2012 field. The Owls are making their 12th postseason appearance and first since 2011-12.

Inside the Matchup

• Both teams have set single-season records for most three-pointers made…Rice has made 311 threes on the year (t-22nd NCAA) while USF has canned 292 (t-37th).
• High-scoring Owls rank second in Conference USA and 24th nationally in scoring at 81.5 points per game…USF has held 12 of its last 14 opponents under 70 points and are allowing just 61.2 points a game during that stretch.
• Rice starts two 1,000-point scorers in Marcus Evans and Egon Koulechov while USF's starting five is comprised of three sophomores and two freshmen…the Dons' leading scorer is sixth-man Ronnie Boyce, who is scoring 13.4 points a game.
• USF is playing its first game in the city of Houston since Jan. 3, 1975 when the Dons fell to Houston, 94-73 in the Astro-Bluebonnet Classic.
• USF head coach Kyle Smith grew up in Houston and graduated from Alief Hastings High School.
• Both Smith and Rice head coach Mike Rhoades played collegiately for Division III programs… Smith helped Hamilton (N.Y.) College to the nation's No. 1 ranking as a junior in 1990-91 while Rhoades led Lebanon (Pa.) Valley College to the 1995 NCAA Division III national championship.

USF at a Glance

• Take a 20-12 overall record into the first round of the College Basketball Invitational presented by FIVE FOUR where the Dons will meet the Rice Owls (22-11, 11-7 Conference USA) on Wednesday in Houston...winner advances to meet either Georgia Southern or Utah Valley in second round action on Monday.
• Selection into this year's College Basketball Invitational marks USF's 25th overall postseason appearance and second showing in the CBI...participated in the 2012 CBI, falling to Washington State, 89-75 in first round action.
• Postseason breakdown includes 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, 6 NIT showings, two CBI appearances and one CollegeInsider.com Tournament appearance...Dons won back-to-back NCAA Championships in 1955 and '56 and captured the 1949 NIT Championship.
• Are 2-1 all-time against Rice...two teams met last season as part of the Roundball Showcase, with USF prevailing 80-54 in San Francisco...squads also split a pair of games in the 1981-82 season.
• Making its first trip to the state of Texas since dropping a 97-53 decision at Texas Tech on Jan. 1, 2005...last game in Houston resulted in a 94-73 loss to Houston on Jan. 3, 1976.
• USF head coach Kyle Smith grew up in Houston (ages 5-18) and graduated from Alief Hastings High School.
• Enjoying its first 20-win season since the 2013-14 campaign (21-10) and third 20-win season since 1985-86.
• The 20 wins under Kyle Smith are also the fourth most by a first-year head coach in USF history...last head coach to post 20+ wins in their first season at the helm was Pete Barry (24-7) in 1980-81.
• Have held 12 of the last 14 opponents under 70 points and are allowing just 61.2 ppg (857) total during that stretch...are allowing 66.8 ppg this season after yielding 78.7 ppg a year ago.
• Of USF's 20 wins this season, 17 have been decided by 10 points or more, including seven wins by 20+ points.
• Rank fourth in the WCC in field goal percentage at 45.3...have shot over 50 percent from the floor in 12 games this season after shooting 50 percent or better in just six contests last year...are 10-2 this season when shooting at least 50 percent from the floor with the only losses coming at Eastern Washington and vs. Santa Clara in the WCC Championship.
• Rank second in the WCC and t-37th nationally in three's made per game (9.1)...have made a school-record 292 threes on the year (t-39th NCAA) and have made 10 or more three's in 12 games this season, including a school-record 18 against Eastern Washington and 16 vs. Utah.
• Rank sixth in the WCC in three-point field goal percentage at 35.7 (292-for-818)...shot 32.1 from distance vs. conference opponents (9th WCC).
• Led in scoring by senior Ronnie Boyce, who is averaging 13.4 ppg off the bench this season.
• The Dons bench has combined to score 838 points over the last 23 games (38.0) and have outscored the opponent's bench 1119-522 (+597) on the season...bench has accounted for 49.8  percent (1119 of 2245) total points this year.
• Represented on the All-West Coast Conference team by Ronnie Boyce (Second Team) and Charles Minlend (All-Freshman) and Jordan Ratinho (All-Freshman).

Scouting Report

About Rice
Bring a 22-11 overall mark into Wednesday night's game…enjoying its eighth 20-win season and the 22 wins are tied for third most in program history…finished fifth in Conference USA with an 11-7 record…defeated Southern Miss, 72-71 in overtime in the first round of the Conference USA Championship tournament before falling to UTEP, 86-76…rank second in Conference USA and 24th nationally in scoring at 81.5 points per game…have score 80 or more points 20 time this season…have made 311 three-pointers this season which ranks t-22nd among all Division I teams...lead Conference USA in three-point percentage at .385…paced by sophomore guard Marcus Evans, who is averaging 19.1 points a game and junior swingman Egon Koulechov, who is scoring at an 18.2 per game clip…Evans and Koulechov combine to form the 10th-highest scoring duo in the country…both have scored more than 1,000 points in their careers…junior guard Marcus Jackson, who missed all of last season with an injury, is also averaging in double figures at 12.4 points per game…under the direction of third-year head coach Mike Rhoades, who spent five seasons on the staff at Virginia Commonwealth prior to taking over the Rice program…was a two-time All-American at Lebanon Valley College where he helped the Dutchman to the 1994 NCAA Division III national championship…was named the 1995 Division III National Player of the Year by USA Today.

USF-Rice Series History
USF and Rice have met three times previously, with USF holding a 2-1 advantage. The Dons and Owls met last season in San Francisco as part of the Roundball Showcase, with USF prevailing 80-54. The two teams split a pair of games in a 10-day span during the 1981-82 season. After the Dons downed the Owls, 85-69 in the Golden Gate Invitational on Dec. 18, Rice turned the tables and upset the 7th-ranked Dons, 78-66 on Dec. 28 at the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu. However, USF bounced back the following night to knock-off No. 2 Wichita State, 78-66.

Last Meeting Against Rice 
USF defeated Rice, 80-54 on Nov. 16, 2015 in San Francisco as part of the Roundball Showcase. USF, which never trailed in the game, jumped out to an early 10-2 lead as Chase Foster canned a pair of threes in the game's opening minutes. With USF holding a 14-12 lead with 13:01 left in the first half, the Dons went on a 13-0 run to open a 27-12 lead with 9:02 left before taking a 41-22 lead into intermission.The Dons led by as many as 29 points in the second half, last at 75-46 with 4:01 left. Four Dons scored in double-figures, led by sophomore guard Devin Watson's 12 points, while Tim Derksen, Uche Ofoegbu and Ronnie Boyce III added 11 points each. The Dons shot 50.8 percent from the field and held Rice to just 33.8 percent shooting from the floor, including 4-of-22 from three-point range. USF also had the better of it on the boards, 45-33.

Up Next
The winner of Wednesday's USF-Rice game will advance to play either Utah Valley or Georgia Southern in the second round of the College Basketball Invitational on Monday, March 21 at a site to be determined.