# 2017–18 Rice Owls men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Rice Owls men's basketball team represented Rice University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Owls, led by first-year head coach Scott Pera, played their home games at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, Texas as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 7–24, 4–14 in C-USA play to finish in 13th place and failed to qualify for the C-USA tournament.

## Previous season

The Owls finished the 2016–17 season 23–12, 11–7 in C-USA play to finish in fifth place. They defeated Southern Miss in the first round of the C-USA tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to UTEP. They received an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational where they defeated San Francisco in the first round before losing in the quarterfinals to Utah Valley.
On March 21, 2017, head coach Mike Rhoades resigned to become the head coach at VCU. He finished at Rice with a three-year record of 47–52. On March 23, the school promoted assistant coach Scott Pera to head coach.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Marcus Evans | 2 | G | 6'2" | 195 | Sophomore | Chesapeake, VA | Transferred to VCU |
| Egor Koulechov | 4 | G/F | 6'5" | 210 | RS Junior | Volgograd, Russia | Graduate transferred to Florida |
| Corey Douglas | 11 | F | 6'8" | 190 | Freshman | Louisville, KY | Transferred to Tallahassee CC |
| Marquez Letcher-Ellis | 12 | F | 6'7" | 205 | Sophomore | Houston, TX | Transferred to Nevada |
| Chad Lott | 21 | G | 6'3" | 190 | RS Freshman | Shreveport, LA | Transferred to Howard |
| Marcus Jackson | 22 | G | 6'3" | 185 | Senior | Acton, CA | Graduate transferred to UC Santa Barbara |
| Harrison Brown | 31 | G/F | 6'4' | 200 | Sophomore | Austin, TX | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Andrew Drone | 54 | C | 6'10" | 260 | Senior | Ridgway, IL | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| A. J. Lapray | 2 | G | 6'5" | 190 | RS Senior | Salem, OR | Transferred from Pepperdine. Will be eligible to play immediately since Lapray graduated from Pepperdine. |
| Dylan Jones | 4 | F | 6'8" | 215 | RS Senior | Houston, TX | Transferred from Penn. Will be eligible to play immediately since Jones graduated from Penn. |
| Josh Parrish | 12 | G | 6'5" | 220 | Sophomore | Arlington, TX | Transferred from TCU. Under NCAA transfer rules, Parrish will have to sit out for the 2017–18 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |

### 2017 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Miles Lester PG | Wichita, KS | Wilbraham & Monson Academy | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | N/A | |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Najja Hunter PG | Brooklyn, NY | St Benedict's Preparatory School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Apr 15, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Malik Osborne SF | Matteson, IL | Don Bosco Prep Academy | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Apr 24, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| 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: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 11, 2017. ||||||

### 2018 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2018) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Chris Mullins #55 SG | Mansfield, TX | Timberview High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A | Aug 23, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 3 |||||||
| Trey Murphy III SG | Cary, NC | Cary Academy | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Nov 8, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 |||||||
| Quentin Millora-Brown PF | Lorton, VA | Bishop O'Connell High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Nov 8, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 |||||||
| Payton Moore SG | Los Angeles, CA | Windward School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Nov 8, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 |||||||
| Drew Peterson SF | Libertyville, IL | Libertyville High Scoool | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Apr 10, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 0 |||||||
| 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: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 11, 2017. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||
| Nov 4, 2017* 7:00 pm | Wayland Baptist | W 79–72 | | Tudor Fieldhouse Houston, TX |
| Non-conference regular season |||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm | Eastern Kentucky MGM Resorts Main Event campus-site game | L 72–73 | 0–1 | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,001) Houston, TX |
| Nov 14, 2017* 7:00 pm | Georgia State MGM Resorts Main Event campus-site game | L 54–75 | 0–2 | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,208) Houston, TX |
| Nov 17, 2017* 6:30 pm | at Northwestern State | W 87–65 | 1–2 | Prather Coliseum (1,312) Natchitoches, LA |
| Nov 20, 2017* 9:00 pm | vs. UNLV MGM Resorts Main Event Heavyweight semifinals | L 68–95 | 1–3 | T-Mobile Arena (8,107) Paradise, NV |
| Nov 22, 2017* 9:00 pm, ESPNU | vs. Ole Miss MGM Resorts Main Event Heavyweight consolation game | L 62–79 | 1–4 | T-Mobile Arena (8,424) Paradise, NV |
| Nov 25, 2017* 6:30 pm | St. Thomas (TX) | W 70–59 | 2–4 | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,439) Houston, TX |
| Nov 29, 2017* 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | at Texas–Arlington | L 49–69 | 2–5 | College Park Center (1,649) Arlington, TX |
| Dec 2, 2017* 2:00 pm | Texas–Rio Grande Valley | L 67–69 | 2–6 | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,548) Houston, TX |
| Dec 9, 2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Stephen F. Austin | L 62–81 | 2–7 | William R. Johnson Coliseum (4,071) Nacogdoches, TX |
| Dec 14, 2017* 11:30 am | St. Edward's | W 91–86 | 3–7 | Tudor Fieldhouse (5,208) Houston, TX |
| Dec 16, 2017* 7:00 pm | at No. 24 Texas Tech | L 53–73 | 3–8 | Lubbock Municipal Coliseum (7,034) Lubbock, TX |
| Dec 19, 2017* 8:30 pm, ATTSN | at New Mexico | L 69–78 | 3–9 | Dreamstyle Arena (9,415) Albuquerque, NM |
| Dec 22, 2017* 7:00 pm | Texas State | L 66–74 | 3–10 | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,913) Houston, TX |
| Conference USA regular season |||||
| Dec 28, 2017 7:00 pm | at UTSA | L 66–79 | 3–11 (0–1) | Convocation Center (1,163) San Antonio, TX |
| Dec 30, 2017 8:00 pm | at UTEP | L 62–80 | 3–12 (0–2) | Don Haskins Center (6,147) El Paso, TX |
| Jan 4, 2018 7:00 pm | Old Dominion | L 75–82 $^{OT}$ | 3–13 (0–3) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,313) Houston, TX |
| Jan 6, 2018 2:00 pm | Charlotte | W 73–64 | 4–13 (1–3) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,482) Houston, TX |
| Jan 13, 2018 2:00 pm | North Texas | L 78–85 | 4–14 (1–4) | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,487) Houston, TX |
| Jan 18, 2018 7:00 pm | at Southern Miss | L 75–86 | 4–15 (1–5) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,001) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Jan 20, 2018 6:00 pm | at Louisiana Tech | L 54–69 | 4–16 (1–6) | Thomas Assembly Center (3,836) Ruston, LA |
| Jan 25, 2018 7:00 pm | FIU | W 73–64 | 5–16 (2–6) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,485) Houston, TX |
| Jan 27, 2018 2:00 pm | Florida Atlantic | L 62–63 | 5–17 (2–7) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,866) Houston, TX |
| Feb 3, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | at North Texas | L 70–74 | 5–18 (2–8) | The Super Pit (2,322) Denton, TX |
| Feb 8, 2018 6:30 pm, Stadium | at Middle Tennessee | L 75–94 | 5–19 (2–9) | Murphy Center (5,602) Murfreesboro, TN |
| Feb 10, 2018 7:00 pm | at UAB | L 56–61 | 5–20 (2–10) | Bartow Arena (3,703) Birmingham, AL |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm | Marshall | L 80–93 | 5–21 (2–11) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,694) Houston, TX |
| Feb 17, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Western Kentucky | L 66–85 | 5–22 (2–12) | Tudor Fieldhouse (4,246) Houston, TX |
| Feb 22, 2018 6:00 pm | at Florida Atlantic | W 79–76 $^{OT}$ | 6–22 (3–12) | FAU Arena (1,188) Boca Raton, FL |
| Feb 24, 2018 6:00 pm | at FIU | L 64–67 | 6–23 (3–13) | FIU Arena (4,580) Miami, FL |
| Mar 1, 2018 7:00 pm | UTEP | W 76–70 | 7–23 (4–13) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,802) Houston, TX |
| Mar 3, 2018 7:00 pm | UTSA | L 60–79 | 7–24 (4–14) | Tudor Fieldhouse (3,738) Houston, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||