WILKES BARRE, Pa. – Darius Rice looked at the final stat sheet and shook his head.

“It says I was 3-for-7. I was 3-for-6,” Rice claimed.

Not that it mattered, but Rice was right. It was easy to add an extra miss because Rice was on the floor for the Nets’ horrific 0-of-16 shooting, six-turnover start to the fourth quarter, a binge that aided a 23-0 Knicks run – 21-0 to start the fourth. All that led to the Nets’ 92-84 pre-season opening defeat.

“My first few shots, I rushed. I was real excited,” said Rice, who nailed the Nets’ first fourth-quarter basket, an 18-footer with 1:29 left and finished with seven points. “But I relaxed and just said, ‘This is what I do.’ ”

Rice was a projected lottery pick coming out of high school in Mississippi. He had the reputation, the shot, the size at 6-foot-10. And he had the genes – his uncle is Jerry Rice, football’s greatest receiver.

But Rice, whose high school contemporaries included Darius Miles and DeShawn Stevenson, sidestepped the jump to the pros and enrolled at the University of Miami.

A college degree is, after all, a college degree. But instead of soaring, Rice’s stock plunged. After a four-year college career, he wasn’t even drafted. But he insists there are no regrets.

“I take it as a positive. I learned a lot of basketball. I accomplished a lot at the University of Miami. I met a lot of people for business opportunities. My time at Miami wasn’t wasted,” said Rice, 21. “I’m still young. I’ll just make the best of my chance.”

Rice is a shooter, something the Nets have needed for eons. So they’ll give him every chance.

“He can obviously shoot the ball and now we’re going to have to see the other areas of his game,” said coach Lawrence Frank. “Understanding what we’re doing on the offensive end, defensively being committed. He’s worked extremely hard and he does everything we’ve asked.”

So what happened during those four years at Miami, where he averaged 16.1 points, but barely shot 40 percent? Shot selection.

“I saw him play numerous times. His shot selection wasn’t what it should have been. But we believe with our coaches and our system, he’ll have a better understanding,” said GM Ed Stefanski. “He is a technically an excellent shooter. Now, can he take that at game speed and taking the shot, make it? That’s what we have to learn.”

Rice, a management and finance major, sounds resolute about making the team. It’s an attitude he learned from Uncle Jerry.

“Me and him talk like brothers so it’s regular conversations but the main thing he always tells me is ‘just keep working hard,’ ” said Rice, who admitted football (wide receiver, free safety) was his first love until a seven-inch growth spurt hit before high school.

“I look at his perseverance. He’s still determined at 42, thinks he should be out there catching passes and being the leading receiver. I try to emulate him.”