Rice University
13-10, 4-4
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UTEP
10-12, 3-5
DeBose Last-Second Shot Lifts Owls
2/1/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2012
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UTEP v Rice Book 
HOUSTON - Rice freshman Julian DeBose double-pumped and released a jumper that fell through the rim just ahead of the final horn sounding and the Owls defeated UTEP 77-75 Wednesday in Tudor Fieldhouse.
DeBose's game-winner officially came with 0.2 seconds to play after the officiating crew reviewed the video and added time back on the clock. UTEP would not get off a final shot as Rice improved to 2-2 in Conference USA games decided in the final seconds.
Rice is now 13-10 and improved to 4-4 in conference play heading into a stretch in which the team plays five of its next seven on the road. The Owls travel to East Carolina on Saturday. UTEP is now 10-12 and 3-5.
In a game which featured 26 lead changes and 10 ties Wednesday night, Rice led by seven with just over three minutes to play. UTEP would score eight unanswered points, taking a 73-72 lead with 24 seconds to play as the Owls went cold from the field and the free throw line.
After Connor Frizzelle's jumper gave Rice a 72-65 lead with 3:07 left to play, the Owls missed their next three shot attempts as well as the front end of two one-and-one opportunities and turned the ball over twice in the final minutes.
Gabriel McCulley's two free throws with 24 seconds remaining gave the Miners a one-point lead.
After a Rice timeout, Frizzelle threaded a pass to Arsalan Kazemi who was fouled while scoring to put the Owls back up by one. Kazemi's ensuing free throw gave the Owls a 75-73 lead with 15 seconds left.
At the other end of the floor, Cedrick Lang rebounded a Michael Perez jumper for a follow shot, tying the game at 75-75 with seven seconds to play.
After Lang's follow shot, Rice point guard Dylan Ennis raced the ball back up the court and found DeBose open across the floor on the wing. The freshman drove to the basket, elevated and with a double-pump got a good look at the basket over the defense of Perez for the game winner, his lone field goal of the night.
Kazemi scored 20 points and fell just one rebound shy of a double-double which would have been the 42nd of his career. His next double-double will tie the Conference USA career record. The junior struggled with a knee injury during the month of January but Wednesday went 6-for-8 from the field and 8-for-10 at the free throw line. He also had two assists and a steal.
Kazemi scored 20+ points for the fourth time this season and registered his first double-figure scoring game since mid-January.
Jarelle Reischel also scored 20 points, almost doubling his previous career scoring of 11. Reischel had 14 points at halftime. The rookie was 7-for-12 from the field and nailed all three of his three-point attempts. He also had six rebounds. His five steals was an individual team high for the season.
Off the bench, Omar Oraby scored 11 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked four shots.
McCulley led UTEP with a 23-point, 10-rebound double-double while John Bohannon scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
For Rice, the win snapped a five-game losing streak to the Miners who had won 10 of the previous 12 meetings in the series. UTEP fell to 0-8 in road games this season.
The two teams will meet again in El Paso on Feb. 29th to wrap up a C-USA home-and-home series.
