# 2023–24 Rice Owls men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Rice Owls men's basketball team represented Rice University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team, led by seventh-year head coach Scott Pera, played their home games at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, Texas as first-year members of the American Athletic Conference. The team finished the season 11–21, 5–12 in AAC play to finish in a five-way tie for 10th place. As the No. 12 seed in the AAC tournament, they lost in the first round to Wichita State.
On March 14, 2024, the school fired head coach Scot Pera. On March 24, the school hired Rob Lanier, who had been fired as head coach of SMU, as the team's new head coach.
The January 6 home game against UTSA was played in the Jerabeck Activity and Athletic Center on the campus of the University of St. Thomas due to water damage to Tudor Fieldhouse.

## Previous season

The Owls finished the 2022–23 season 19–16, 8–12 in C-USA play to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place. As the No. 6 seed in the C-USA tournament, they defeated UTSA before losing to UAB. They received an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational where they defeated Duquesne before losing to Southern Utah in quarterfinals.
This was the last season for the team as members of Conference USA before joining the American Athletic Conference on July 1, 2023.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Jaden Geron | 0 | G | 6'8" | 175 | Sophomore | Fresno, CA | Transferred to Montana |
| Seryee Lewis | 1 | F | 6'9" | 245 | Sophomore | Chicago, IL | Transferred |
| Quincy Olivari | 4 | G | 6'3" | 200 | Junior | Atlanta, GA | Transferred to Xavier |
| Mason Jones | 10 | G | 6'4" | 200 | Freshman | Chicago, IL | Transferred to New Orleans |
| Ben Moffat | 12 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Junior | Wichita Falls, TX | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Reed Myers | 14 | G | 6'0" | 180 | Junior | Phoenix, AZ | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Damion McDowell Jr. | 20 | F | 6'6" | 190 | Sophomore | Inglewood, CA | TBD |
| Jake Lieppert | 24 | G | 6'4" | 200 | Junior | Scottsdale, AZ | Transferred to Minot State |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Sam Alajiki | 0 | F | 6'7" | 230 | Junior | Dundalk, Ireland | California |
| Noah Shelby | 1 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Sophomore | McKinney, TX | Vanderbilt |
| Anthony Selden | 4 | G | 6'6" | 220 | Senior | Boston, MA | Garder–Webb |

### Recruiting classes
#### 2023 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Keanu Dawes #20 PF | Houston, TX | Stratford High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Oct 11, 2022 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 82 ||||||
| Gabe Warren #31 PF | Glendale, AZ | Dream City Christian | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Oct 21, 2022 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| 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: "2023 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 2, 2023* 7:00 p.m. | | Clayton State | W 80–57 | | 11 – Evee | 11 – Fiedler | 3 – Shelby | Tudor Fieldhouse Houston, TX |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 7, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | St. Thomas (TX) | W 101–57 | 1–0 | 17 – Alajiki | 11 – Fiedler | 6 – Fiedler | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,746) Houston, TX |
| November 10, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Harvard | L 76–89 | 1–1 | 20 – Mason | 9 – Fiedler | 5 – Tied | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,474) Houston, TX |
| November 15, 2023* 8:00 p.m., LHN | | at No. 19 Texas | L 64–80 | 1–2 | 17 – Selden | 6 – Mason | 5 – Fiedler | Moody Center (10,554) Austin, TX |
| November 21, 2023* 5:30 p.m. | | vs. Indiana State Ball Dawgs Classic | L 88–103 | 1–3 | 25 – Evee | 12 – Fiedler | 6 – Fiedler | Dollar Loan Center Henderson, NV |
| November 22, 2023* 8:45 p.m. | | vs. New Mexico Ball Dawgs Classic | L 56–90 | 1–4 | 17 – Mason | 7 – Fielder | 3 – Tied | Dollar Loan Center Henderson, NV |
| November 24, 2023* 3:15 p.m. | | vs. UC Irvine Ball Dawgs Classic | L 68–83 | 1–5 | 17 – Evee | 9 – Fiedler | 4 – Fiedler | Dollar Loan Center Henderson, NV |
| November 30, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UT Martin | W 98–78 | 2–5 | 29 – Evee | 11 – Fiedler | 6 – Fiedler | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,656) Houston, TX |
| December 2, 2023* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Houston Christian | W 65–56 | 3–5 | 18 – Evee | 12 – Fiedler | 10 – Fiedler | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,730) Houston, TX |
| December 6, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at No. 3 Houston Rivalry | L 39–75 | 3–6 | 10 – Huseinovic | 6 – Mason | 2 – Tied | Fertitta Center (7,159) Houston, TX |
| December 13, 2023* 11:15 a.m., ESPN+ | | Incarnate Word | W 80–57 | 4–6 | 29 – Evee | 10 – Fiedler | 4 – Fiedler | Tudor Fieldhouse (3,466) Houston, TX |
| December 16, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Northwestern State | W 76–51 | 5–6 | 16 – Fiedler | 8 – Tied | 5 – Fiedler | Prather Coliseum (333) Natchitoches, LA |
| December 20, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Prairie View A&M | W 82–56 | 6–6 | 28 – Evee | 14 – Fiedler | 4 – Tied | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,717) Houston, TX |
| December 22, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Louisiana | L 67–84 | 6–7 | 18 – Tied | 7 – Dawes | 4 – Mason | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,232) Houston, TX |
| AAC regular season |||||||||
| January 3, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Tulane | L 59–84 | 6–8 (0–1) | 14 – Evee | 6 – Fiedler | 4 – Evee | Devlin Fieldhouse (1,232) New Orleans, LA |
| January 6, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UTSA | L 82–89 | 6–9 (0–2) | 25 – Evee | 12 – Fiedler | 8 – Fiedler | Jerabeck Activity and Athletic Center (1,424) Houston, TX |
| January 12, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at South Florida | L 73–81 | 6–10 (0–3) | 18 – Mason | 19 – Fiedler | 4 – Tied | Yuengling Center (4,107) Tampa, FL |
| January 16, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Charlotte | L 79–81 $^{OT}$ | 6–11 (0–4) | 21 – Evee | 10 – Fiedler | 7 – Mason | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,699) Houston, TX |
| January 20, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Temple | W 69–66 | 7–11 (1–4) | 20 – Mason | 9 – Fiedler | 8 – Fiedler | Liacouras Center (4,007) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 24, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | No. 22 Florida Atlantic | L 56–69 | 7–12 (1–5) | 16 – Huseinovic | 18 – Fiedler | 8 – Fiedler | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,896) Houston, TX |
| January 27, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Tulsa | L 83–85 | 7–13 (1–6) | 19 – Mason | 11 – Fiedler | 7 – Tied | Tudor Fieldhouse (3,621) Houston, TX |
| January 31, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Memphis | W 74–71 | 8–13 (2–6) | 17 – Mason | 9 – Fiedler | 5 – Fiedler | FedExForum (11,594) Memphis, TN |
| February 3, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UTSA | W 80–76 | 9–13 (3–6) | 30 – Mason | 10 – Fiedler | 7 – Fiedler | Convocation Center (1,387) San Antonio, TX |
| February 7, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | SMU | L 69–95 | 9–14 (3–7) | 20 – Huseinovic | 4 – Tied | 5 – Mason | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,934) Houston, TX |
| February 10, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | South Florida | L 65–69 | 9–15 (3–8) | 20 – Evee | 13 – Fiedler | 5 – Fiedler | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,982) Houston, TX |
| February 17, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Tulsa | L 82–93 $^{OT}$ | 9–16 (3–9) | 21 – Evee | 9 – Fiedler | 5 – Mason | Reynolds Center (3,665) Tulsa, OK |
| February 21, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UAB | W 94–71 | 10–16 (4–9) | 19 – Mason | 6 – Mason | 6 – Mason | Bartow Arena (3,751) Birmingham, AL |
| February 24, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPNU | | East Carolina | W 70–52 | 11–16 (5–9) | 34 – Evee | 8 – Fiedler | 10 – Fiedler | Tudor Fieldhouse (3,808) Houston, TX |
| February 28, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Temple | L 43–65 | 11–17 (5–10) | 12 – Fiedler | 9 – Fiedler | 2 – Evee | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,456) Houston, TX |
| March 2, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Wichita State | L 66–87 | 11–18 (5–11) | 18 – Evee | 6 – Fiedler | 5 – Mason | Charles Koch Arena (7,034) Wichita, KS |
| March 6, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Charlotte | L 64–69 | 11–19 (5–12) | 20 – Evee | 10 – Fiedler | 4 – Tied | Dale F. Halton Arena (3,027) Charlotte, NC |
| March 9, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | North Texas | L 55–71 | 11–20 (5–13) | 21 – Evee | 10 – Fiedler | 4 – Fiedler | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,937) Houston, TX |
| AAC Tournament |||||||||
| March 13, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (13) | vs. (12) Wichita State First Round | L 81–88 | 11–21 | 24 – Evee | 10 – Akuchie | 12 – Fiedler | Dickies Arena Fort Worth, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. |||||||||
Source