Rice University
-88, 02 CUSA
Tulsa
-87, 11 CUSA
Rice Falls to Tulsa,75-64
1/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 8, 2011
Final Stats
Rice vs. Tulsa Game Book 
TULSA, Okla. - Tulsa's Justin Hurtt scored 14 of his game-high 16 points in the second half as the Golden Hurricane led from start to finish in a 75-64 win over Rice Saturday at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
With the win, Tulsa improved to 8-7 and evened its Conference USA record to 1-1. Rice fell to 8-8 and 0-2.
After trailing by 14 at halftime, Rice got back into the game in the opening minutes of the second period. Connor Frizzelle and Trey Stanton each knocked down three-pointers while Arsalan Kazemi and Tamir Jackson made free throws to narrow TU's lead to 38-31 with 17:20 to play.
But Hurtt, Conference USA's leading scorer at better than 21 points per game, provided a second-half spark with a three-pointer as well as a three-point play as the Golden Hurricane rallied to stretch out a 54-33 advantage with a 14-0 run.
Kazemi did not have a field goal until 5:03 to play in the game. Kazemi went on to score the Owls' next three field goals including a break-away dunk that sealed his 11th double-double of the season. Kazemi finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds. He was 4-for-8 from the field and made 6-of-9 free throw attempts.
The game also marked the most significant playing time of 7-2 freshman Omar Oraby. Oraby played eight, first-half minutes and went on to score nine points and grab four rebounds in 14 minutes of play.
Rice turned the ball over on its first four possessions and quickly found itself down 15-0 before Nate Schwarze buried a three-pointer at the 14:05 mark for the Owls' first points.
The Owls turned the ball over nine times in the first half and had 16 turnovers for the game.
Rice would erase the double-digit deficit at one point in the first half when Suleiman Braimoh got free for a two-handed slam but Scottie Haralson answered at the other end with a three-pointer that gave the Golden Hurricane a 24-12 lead.
Later in the half, Rice got the advantage back to 10, when Frizzelle made a three-pointer to cut the margin to 27-17 with 5:31 to play. Tulsa would rally to score the next eight points and go on to lead 35-21 at the half.
In addition to Kazemi's team-high 14 points, Braimoh added a season-high 12 points for the Owls.
Five Tulsa players scored in double figures. Steven Idlet scored nine of his 15 points in the second half. Jordan Clarkson added 15, Haralson finished with 12 and Bryson Pope scored 11.
Rice returns home to play host to Southern Miss on Wednesday. Tulsa plays out of conference next Wednesday at Arizona State.
