# 2019–20 Rice Owls men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Rice Owls men's basketball team represented Rice University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Owls, led by third-year head coach Scott Pera, played their home games at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, Texas as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 15–17, 7–11 in C-USA play to finish in 12th place. They lost in the first round of the C-USA tournament to FIU.

## Previous season

The Owls finished the 2018–19 season 13–19 overall, 8–10 in C-USA play to finish in four-way tie for 9th place. In the C-USA tournament, they were defeated by Marshall in the first round.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Dylan Jones | 4 | F | 6'8" | 215 | RS Senior | Houston, TX | Graduated |
| Oliver Xu | 30 | G | 6'2" | 170 | RS Senior | Hong Kong | Walk-on; graduated |
| Jack Williams | 32 | F | 6'8" | 220 | RS Senior | Porter Ranch, CA | Graduated |
| Quentin Millora-Brown | 42 | F | 6'9" | 205 | Freshman | Lorton, VA | Transferred to Vanderbilt |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Tommy McCarthy | 13 | G | 6'0" | 175 | GS Senior | Ranch Santa Fe, CA | Transferred from Harvard. Will be eligible to play immediately since McCarthy graduated from Harvard. |
| Malik Ondigo | | F | 6'10" | 215 | Junior | St. Louis, MO | Transferred from Texas Tech. Under NCAA transfer rules, Ondigo will have to sit out the 2019–20 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

### 2019 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Max Fiedler C | Melbourne, FL | Melbourne High School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Sep 16, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Zach Crisler PF | Glenside, PA | La Salle College High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Sep 14, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Quincy Olivari PG | Atlanta, GA | Westlake High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Sep 17, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 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: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

### 2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2020) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Mylyjael Poteat C | Reidsville, NC | The Burlington School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 260 lb (120 kg) | Jan 13, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN grade: 0 |||||||
| Cameron Sheffield SF | Alpharetta, GA | Chattahoochee High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Sep 27, 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: "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 31, 2019* 7:00 pm | | St. Edward's | L 83–89 | | Tudor Fieldhouse Houston, TX |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 5, 2019* 7:00 pm, SECN+ | | at Arkansas | L 43–91 | 0–1 | Bud Walton Arena (17,274) Fayetteville, AR |
| November 9, 2019* 3:30 pm, CUSA.tv | | Penn | W 80–61 | 1–1 | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,557) Houston, TX |
| November 10, 2019* 4:00 pm, CUSA.tv | | Wayland Baptist | W 65–40 | 2–1 | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,222) Houston, TX |
| November 12, 2019* 6:30 pm, DemonTV | | at Northwestern State | W 80–74 | 3–1 | Prather Coliseum (1,606) Natchitoches, LA |
| November 16, 2019* 4:00 pm, BigWest.tv | | at UC Santa Barbara | W 82–81 | 4–1 | The Thunderdome (1,503) Santa Barbara, CA |
| November 19, 2019* 7:00 pm, Facebook | | Houston Rivalry | L 89–97 | 4–2 | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,513) Houston, TX |
| November 22, 2019* 1:00 pm, FloHoops | | vs. Milwaukee Islands of the Bahamas Showcase First Round | W 75–69 | 5–2 | Baha Mar Convention Center (300) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 23, 2019* 4:00 pm, FloHoops | | vs. Liberty Islands of the Bahamas Showcase Semifinals | L 59–71 | 5–3 | Baha Mar Convention Center (300) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 24, 2019* 4:00 pm, FloHoops | | vs. East Carolina Islands of the Bahamas Showcase 3rd Place Game | W 77–69 | 6–3 | Baha Mar Convention Center (300) Nassau, Bahamas |
| December 7, 2019* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Lamar | L 60–73 | 6–4 | Montagne Center (1,807) Beaumont, TX |
| December 14, 2019* 7:00 pm, CUSA.tv | | Houston Baptist | W 96–84 | 7–4 | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,725) Houston, TX |
| December 19, 2019* 11:15 am, CUSA.tv | | St. Thomas (TX) | W 103–70 | 8–4 | Tudor Fieldhouse (4,325) Houston, TX |
| December 29, 2019* 2:00 pm, CUSA.tv | | Sam Houston State | L 61–75 | 8–5 | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,763) Houston, TX |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| January 2, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Marshall | L 69–89 | 8–6 (0–1) | Cam Henderson Center (5,311) Huntington, WV |
| January 4, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Western Kentucky | L 61–68 | 8–7 (0–2) | E. A. Diddle Arena (4,619) Bowling Green, KY |
| January 9, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Florida Atlantic | L 76–81 | 8–8 (0–3) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,170) Houston, TX |
| January 11, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | FIU | W 92–78 | 9–8 (1–3) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,490) Houston, TX |
| January 16, 2020 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Louisiana Tech | L 56–72 | 9–9 (1–4) | Thomas Assembly Center (2,467) Ruston, LA |
| January 18, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Southern Miss | L 68–81 | 9–10 (1–5) | Reed Green Coliseum (3,571) Hattiesburg, MS |
| January 20, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at North Texas | L 59–79 | 9–11 (1–6) | The Super Pit (2,729) Denton, TX |
| January 23, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UTEP | L 64–72 | 9–12 (1–7) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,518) Houston, TX |
| January 25, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UTSA | L 88–90 | 9–13 (1–8) | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,239) Houston, TX |
| February 1, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | North Texas | W 84–75 | 10–13 (2–8) | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,580) Houston, TX |
| February 6, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UAB | W 86–72 | 11–13 (3–8) | Bartow Arena (3,032) Birmingham, AL |
| February 8, 2020 5:00 pm, CUSA.tv | | at Middle Tennessee | W 91–83 | 12–13 (4–8) | Murphy Center (3,912) Murfreesboro, TN |
| February 13, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Old Dominion | L 70–73 | 12–14 (4–9) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,387) Houston, TX |
| February 15, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Charlotte | W 70–54 | 13–14 (5–9) | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,872) Houston, TX |
| February 22, 2020 6:00 pm, CUSA.tv | | at UTEP | L 62–68 | 13–15 (5–10) | Don Haskins Center (4,139) El Paso, TX |
| March 1, 2020 2:00 pm, CUSA.tv | | Middle Tennessee | W 77–66 | 14–15 (6–10) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,677) Houston, TX |
| March 4, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Southern Miss | W 72–57 | 15–15 (7–10) | Reed Green Coliseum (3,065) Hattiesburg, MS |
| March 7, 2020 5:00 pm, CUSA.tv | | UTEP | L 72-77 | 15-16 (7-11) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,608) Houston, TX |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| March 11, 2020 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | (12) | vs. (5) FIU First round | L 76–85 | 15–17 | Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||
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