Rice Owls continue preparing for next month's trip to Spain

July 24, 2018

The Rice Owls men’s basketball team surpassed the halfway mark of its 10 NCAA-sanctioned team practices before departing on a trip to Spain in early August. The Owls finished the team’s sixth practice Tuesday afternoon with the final four coming next week.

Rice head coach Scott Pera said, “I just told them that I think we’ve improved a lot since the first practice. I’d really like to look at this tape on July 24 and then see the tape on October 24 and see the improvement level in a couple of months. But, it’s been an encouraging couple of weeks and it was a really good day today.”

Pera welcomes eight newcomers, including five freshmen that will be on full display for the first time when the team takes the floor in Spain.

“(The freshmen) mix with everybody really well because they are great kids,” added Pera. “They are really willing listeners and learners. They have wide-open ears and wide-open eyes and they want to do the right thing every time. They’ve made a lot of really good plays and tremendous strides in six practices.”

Rice returns to the practice floor on Sunday, July 29, at 12 p.m. for the start of its final four practices.

Rice will depart Houston Thursday, August 2, where it will spend a total of eight days and play three games against Spanish teams throughout its time in Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona. The first game will be played Saturday, August 4, against CB Alcobendas, at 12:30 p.m. Central Time, in Spain’s capital city of Madrid. The Owls will then travel to Valencia to face CC Basketball Academy Monday, August 6, at 12 p.m. Central Time, before heading to Barcelona to play Barcelona All-Star Wednesday, August 8, at 1 p.m. Central Time.

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