2015–16 Rice Owls men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Rice Owls men's basketball team represented Rice University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Owls, led by second year head coach Mike Rhoades, played their home games at Tudor Fieldhouse and were members of Conference USA. They finished the season 12–20, 7–11 in C-USA play to finish in a three-way tie for ninth place. They lost in the second round of the C-USA tournament to Charlotte.

2015–16 Rice Owls men's basketball
Conference	Conference USA
Record	12–20 (7–11 C-USA)
Head coach	Mike Rhoades (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Carlin Hartman Scott Pera J.D. Byers
Home arena	Tudor Fieldhouse

2015–16 Conference USA men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
UAB	16	–	2		.889			26	–	7		.788
Middle Tennessee †	13	–	5		.722			25	–	10		.714
Marshall	12	–	6		.667			17	–	16		.515
Louisiana Tech	12	–	6		.667			23	–	10		.697
Old Dominion	12	–	6		.667			25	–	13		.658
UTEP	10	–	8		.556			19	–	14		.576
Charlotte	9	–	9		.500			14	–	19		.424
Western Kentucky	8	–	10		.444			18	–	16		.529
North Texas	7	–	11		.389			12	–	20		.375
Rice	7	–	11		.389			12	–	20		.375
FIU	7	–	11		.389			13	–	19		.406
Florida Atlantic	5	–	13		.278			8	–	25		.242
Southern Miss*	5	–	13		.278			8	–	21		.276
UTSA	3	–	15		.167			5	–	27		.156
*Ineligible for postseason play due to self-imposed postseason ban.
† 2016 C-USA Tournament winner

Previous season

The Owls finished the season 12–20, 8–10 in C-USA play to finish in a four-way tie for seventh place. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the C-USA tournament where they lost to Louisiana Tech.

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Dan Peera	0	G	6'0"	180	Senior	San Ramon, California	Graduated
Jordan Reed	5	G	5'11"	170	Freshman	Lucas, Texas	Transferred to New Hampshire
Denzel Davis	10	F	6'8"	215	RS Freshman	Orlando, Florida	Left Rice (Personal)
Jeremy Jones	20	F	6'5"	205	Freshman	San Antonio, Texas	Transferred to Gonzaga
J.T. Trauber	24	G	5'10"	165	Freshman	Houston, Texas	Left Team (Personal)
Van Green	31	G	6'3"	185	Senior	Birmingham, Alabama	Exhausted Eligibility
Seth Gearhart	41	F	6'7"	215	Senior	Wilsonville, Oregon	Graduated

Recruiting class of 2015

Connor Cashaw in the 2015 IHSA 4A championship game victory

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Marcus Evans PG	Virginia Beach, VA	Cape Henry Collegiate School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jun 29, 2014
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN grade: NR
Connor Cashaw SG	Lincolnshire, IL	Adlai E. Stevenson High School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sep 30, 2014
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Marquez Letcher-Ellis SF	Houston, TX	Montverde Academy	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Oct 25, 2014
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN grade: 79
Amir Smith SF	Missouri City, TX	Ridgepoint High School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Apr 30, 2015
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN grade: NR
Chad Lott PG	Shreveport, LA	Byrd High School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	May 19, 2014
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN grade: 78
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: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 16, 2014.

Roster

2015–16 Rice Owls men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 0 Connor Cashaw 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Lincolnshire, IL G 1 Max Guercy (C) 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Arleta, California G 2 Marcus Evans 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Chesapeake, Virginia G/F 4 Egor Koulechov 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS So Volgograd, Russia F 12 Marquez Letcher-Ellis 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Houston, Texas G 15 Bishop Mency 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Chino Hills, California G 21 Chad Lott  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Shreveport, Louisiana G 22 Marcus Jackson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Acton, California G 30 Oliver Xu (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Hong Kong G/F 31 Harrison Brown (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Charlottesville, Virginia F 32 Amir Smith 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Missouri City, Texas C 45 Nate Pollard 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Bountiful, Utah C 54 Andrew Drone 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Jr Junction, Illinois	Head coach Mike Rhoades Assistant coach(es) Carlin Hartman Scott Pera J.D. Byers Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 2015-07-29

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
11/07/2015* 7:00 pm		LeTourneau	W 102–78		Tudor Fieldhouse  Houston, TX
Non-conference regular season
11/13/2015* 10:30 pm, P12N		at No. 14 California	L 65–97	0–1	Haas Pavilion (10,530) Berkeley, CA
11/16/2015* 9:00 pm		at San Francisco Roundball Showcase	L 54–80	0–2	War Memorial Gymnasium (1,417) San Francisco, CA
11/19/2015* 8:00 pm, ASN		Oregon State	L 69–77	0–3	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,981) Houston, TX
11/22/2015* 5:00 pm		Fresno State Roundball Showcase	L 65–82	0–4	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,749) Houston, TX
11/25/2015* 8:00 pm, ASN		Lamar Roundball Showcase	W 94–82	1–4	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,376) Houston, TX
11/27/2015* 7:00 pm		UC Riverside Roundball Showcase	W 87–81	2–4	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,169) Houston, TX
11/29/2015* 5:00 pm		Texas–Arlington	L 74–92	2–5	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,668) Houston, TX
12/02/2015* 7:30 pm		at Houston Baptist	L 73–77	2–6	Sharp Gymnasium (887) Houston, TX
12/05/2015* 7:00 pm		St. Edward's	W 93–72	3–6	Tudor Fieldhouse  Houston, TX
12/17/2015* 11:30 am		St. Thomas	W 67–54	4–6	Tudor Fieldhouse (5,268) Houston, TX
12/19/2015* 7:00 pm, ROOT		at New Mexico	W 90–89	5–6	The Pit (12,507) Albuquerque, NM
12/22/2015* 7:05 pm		at South Alabama	L 67–74	5–7	Mitchell Center (1,937) Mobile, AL
12/29/2015* 7:00 pm		Incarnate Word	L 76–82	5–8	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,747) Houston, TX
C-USA Regular season
01/01/2016 8:00 pm, ASN		at UTEP	L 60–61	5–9 (0–1)	Don Haskins Center (7,154) El Paso, TX
01/03/2016 3:00 pm		at UTSA	L 80–85	5–10 (0–2)	Convocation Center (607) San Antonio, TX
01/09/2016 1:00 pm, ASN		at North Texas	L 74–85	5–11 (0–3)	The Super Pit (1,886) Denton, TX
01/14/2016 7:00 pm, ASN		WKU	W 83–73	6–11 (1–3)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,664) Houston, TX
01/16/2016 7:00 pm		Marshall	L 90–94	6–12 (1–4)	Tudor Fieldhouse (2,196) Houston, TX
01/21/2016 8:00 pm, CBSSN		at UAB	L 70–82	6–13 (1–5)	Bartow Arena (5,535) Birmingham, AL
01/23/2016 5:00 pm		at Middle Tennessee	L 73–87	6–14 (1–6)	Murphy Center (4,104) Murfreesboro, TN
01/30/2016 7:00 pm		North Texas	W 95–87	7–14 (2–6)	Tudor Fieldhouse (2,515) Houston, TX
02/04/2016 7:00 pm		Louisiana Tech	L 78–90	7–15 (2–7)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,660) Houston, TX
02/06/2016 7:00 pm		Southern Miss	W 72–65	8–15 (3–7)	Tudor Fieldhouse (2,760) Houston, TX
02/11/2016 6:00 pm		at Charlotte	L 73-102	8–16 (3–8)	Dale F. Halton Arena (3,127) Charlotte, NC
02/13/2016 1:00 pm, ASN		at Old Dominion	W 75–66	9–16 (4–8)	Ted Constant Convocation Center (7,075) Norfolk, VA
02/18/2016 7:00 pm		Florida Atlantic	W 90–85	10–16 (5–8)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,400) Houston, TX
02/20/2016 1:00 pm, ASN		FIU	W 86–70	11–16 (6–8)	Tudor Fieldhouse (3,859) Houston, TX
02/25/2016 7:00 pm		at Southern Miss	W 76–74 OT	12–16 (7–8)	Reed Green Coliseum (2,547) Hattiesburg, MS
02/27/2016 6:00 pm		at Louisiana Tech	L 69–88	12–17 (7–9)	Thomas Assembly Center (5,527) Ruston, LA
03/03/2016 7:00 pm		Charlotte	L 75–88	12–18 (7–10)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,349) Houston, TX
03/05/2016 1:00 pm, ASN		Old Dominion	L 67–74	12–19 (7–11)	Tudor Fieldhouse (3,418) Houston, TX
Conference USA tournament
03/09/2016 6:00 pm, ASN		vs. Charlotte Second round	L 69–79	12–20	Legacy Arena (3,905) Birmingham, AL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

See also

2015–16 Rice Owls women's basketball team