Rice University
-107, 11 CUSA
SMU
-97, 11 CUSA
Rice Rolls to 68-52 Road Win
1/11/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 11, 2012
Final Stats
Rice v SMU Game Book 
DALLAS - Arsalan Kazemi scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while freshman Ahmad Ibrahim added 14 points in his first career start as Rice evened its conference record with a 68-52 win at SMU.
With the win, Rice improved to 10-7 and 1-1 heading into the second leg of a two-game road swing. The Owls play at Tulane Saturday night. SMU is now 9-7 and 1-1.
Rice enjoyed a 14-point lead in the first half and were out in front by 16 in the second half but SMU rallied to cut the margin to single figures in both periods.
Ibrahim sparked a 17-1 run with a three-pointer and later found Kazemi open for a slam dunk as the Owls jumped out to a 47-31 lead with 12:16 left to play.
A three-pointer by Jeremiah Samarrippas would give the Mustangs hope with 2:16 to play, cutting the Owls' lead to eight, 60-52.
But the next time down the floor, Dylan Ennis found Lucas Kuipers along the baseline for a layup to extend the lead back to 10. After a missed three by Samarrippas, the Owls ran the clock before Connor Frizzelle took the ball at the top of the key and drove inside. He would make a pass to Kazemi who was running the baseline on a similar play as Kuipers' basket and would be fouled in the process of scoring.
London Giles, who had two big three-pointers in the first half, would pick up his fifth foul on the play. Kazemi would knock down the ensuing free throw and the Rice lead was 65-52 with 1:11 to play.
Kazemi made 7-of-10 shots from the field and had the same numbers at the line. He also had three blocks and two steals. The double-double performance was Kazemi's nation-leading 13th of the season and 40th of his career while his 12 rebounds gives him 813 for his career. He passed Gene Schwinger (810 / 1952-54) on the Rice career list for fourth all-time.
Ibrahim replaced Tamir Jackson in the starting lineup for the SMU game. Jackson, who has struggled on the court the past couple of weeks played off the bench for the Owls. Jackson entered the game needing five points to reach 1,000 for his career. He was 1-for-3 shooting for the game and finished with two points.
Ibrahim was 6-for-11 from the floor, had five rebounds and four assists. Lucas Kuipers added 10 points for the Owls while Dylan Ennis led the team with six assists.
Rice shot 52 percent from the field while holding SMU under 40 percent for the game. The Owls had a 36-22 advantage on the boards.
Rice got out to a quick start against the Mustangs, building as much as a 14-point lead in the opening minutes.
The Owls scored the first seven points of the half including a dunk to begin the game by Kazemi and Ennis also provided a spark with a fastbreak jam.
Ibrahim scored five of his points during the early run as he made his first career start.
Kuipers' three-pointer with 14:04 to play in the first half gave the Owls a 16-2 lead. But beginning with a three-pointer by Samarrippas to answer Kuipers triple, the Mustangs mounted a comeback.
SMU made five, three-pointers in the first half including back-to-back treys by London Giles to get the lead to six by halftime, 29-23.
Robert Nyakundi scored 12, first-half points and was 5-for-7 from the field in the first period but the Mustang's leading scorer was held to two points in the second half, making just 1-of-8 shots after intermission. He led SMU with 14 points while Samarrippas had 12 points and three rebounds.
