Saturday, March 8th, 3:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Merrell Center (5,200) -- Katy, Texas. Television: None. Home Record: SMU 8-10, Rice 1-11. Away Record: SMU 1-9, Rice 1-13. Neutral Record: SMU 0-0, Rice 1-1. Conference Record: SMU 3-12, Rice 0-15. Series Record: SMU leads, 112-75.

GAME NOTES: The Rice Owls have one last crack at their first Conference USA victory of the season this afternoon, as they welcome the SMU Mustangs to the Merrell Center. SMU fell victim to second-ranked Memphis on Wednesday night, 72-55 in Dallas. The loss was the Mustangs' sixth in their last seven outings. They've yet to pick up a road win in conference play this season. Today's game represents a solid opportunity to change that, however, considering they will be facing a Rice team that has lost 18 straight overall. The Owls, who are 0-15 in conference, dropped a 75-68 final to East Carolina on Wednesday night. It has been a season to forget for Rice, as the team clearly has not been able to overcome the departure of last year's Conference USA Player of the Year, Morris Almond. This is the 188th meeting between these long-time rivals, with SMU holding a 112-75 advantage. The Mustangs cruised to a 68-53 win over the Owls a month ago.

The biggest factor for SMU in Wednesday night's loss to Memphis was turnovers. The Mustangs committed 22 miscues, which led to a 25-7 advantage for Memphis in points off turnovers. Jon Killen led SMU with 16 points, while Bamba Fall finished with 11. Killen is the only player to have started all 28 games this year, and he leads the squad with 13.3 ppg. Fall is next in line with 11.6 ppg, followed by Derrick Roberts with 10.1 ppg. As a team, the Mustangs are being outscored by an average margin of 7.4 ppg this year.

Rodney Foster leads Rice with 11.2 ppg, however he is shooting a woeful 29.9 percent from the field. Patrick Britton averages 11 points and five rebounds per game. The team has certainly missed the presence of Paulius Packevicius (11.2 ppg), who has been sidelined for the past month with a knee injury. As a team, the Owls are putting up just 56 ppg, and are being outscored by an average of 13.6 points each game. Rice did manage to shoot a solid 52 percent against ECU on Wednesday night, but the Owls relinquished their halftime lead after allowing the Pirates to connect on 61 percent of their second-half field goal attempts. Britton was sensational, pouring in a career-high 40 points.

This game pits the bottom two teams in the conference against one another. Neither has had much reason for optimism this season, but this matchup gives the squads a chance to take out their frustrations on each other. Watch out for a surprise performance from the Owls, who will leave everything on the court to end the regular season on a positive note.

Predicted Outcome

Rice 66, SMU 65