Rice men's hoops pull away from Southern, 80-65

HOUSTON – Rice junior guard Tamir Jackson scored a career-high 29 points as the Owls opened play in the South Padre Island Invitational with an 80-65 win over Southern. The opening rounds of the tournament are being played at campus sites before concluding with games on the Island Thanksgiving weekend.

With the win, Rice improved to 2-0 on the year and continues a four-game home stand Sunday when the team plays host to Maryland-Eastern Shore. Tip-off for Sunday’s game is 3 p.m. and the contest will be broadcast by 1560 The Game (KGOW).

On Thursday, Junior forward Arsalan Kazemi registered his 29th career double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. He also had a career-high five assists in the contest.

Freshman point guard Dylan Ennis finished with 14 points, two assists and two steals while Lucas Kuipers had 10 points and five rebounds.

Rice trailed just once in the game, 23-22, on a three-pointer by Jameel Grace with 10:20 to play. A three-pointer by Jackson followed by a pair of treys from Ennis helped stretch the lead back to 31-24.

The Owls led 46-39 at intermission.

In the second half, Southern closed to within a basket on a three-point play by Cameron Monroe before the Owls scored 10 unanswered points to stretch out a 65-55 lead with 8:34 to play.

Kazemi sparked the rally with a dunk on an Ennis pass and Jackson scored the Owls’ next eight points including consecutive three-pointers.

Jackson’s four three-pointers also established a new career mark. He finished the night 9-for-13 from the field and was 7-for-10 from the free throw line. Jackson also had four assists and three steals while turning the ball over just once.

Rice had turned the ball over 25 times as a team in the season-opening win over New Orleans but had just nine turnovers against Southern.

Southern had six, second-chance points in the first half off five offensive rebounds but Rice shutout the Jaguars on the offensive glass in the second half. For the game, the Owls posted a 42-28 advantage on the boards.

Quinton Doggett led Southern with 18 points and eight rebounds while Derick Beltran added 14 points for the Jaguars.

Southern continues play in the South Padre Island Invitational next Tuesday when it travels toProvidence. Rice will play host to Florida A&M that night as part of the tournament.