HOUSTON, TEXAS (fEBRUARY 11, 2009) Rice freshman Connor Frizzelle paced Rice with 24 points and the Owls set a school record with 16 three-pointers in an 88-72 win over Southern Miss Wednesday at Tudor Fieldhouse.
Frizzelle was 6-for-9 from three-point range and also had four assists in 38 minutes of play. Rodney Foster, who finished with 20 points and Cory Pflieger who scored 18, each had five treys.
Rice shot 58 percent from the field and knocked down 67 percent of their three-point attempts including 8-of-9 from beyond the arc in the second half.
With the score tied at 12-12, Rice drilled three-point baskets on their next three possessions to build a 21-12 lead. Frizzelle made the first two and Pflieger added another from outside on a pass from Foster following an Aleks Perka offensive rebound. After a fastbreak layup by USM’s Courtney Beasley at the other end, Frizzelle knocked down another trey to give Rice a double-digit lead it only momentarily gave up in the second half.
The Owls led by as many as many as 17 points in the first half and 18 in the second period.
Southern Miss cut the Owls’ second-half lead to nine when Craig Craft scored inside at the 8:55 mark to make the score 62-53. At the other end, USM’s 6-5 guard Rodney McCauley picked up his fifth foul while guarding Rice center Trey Stanton. After the inbounds, Stanton got loose down low for an alley-oop dunk from Foster and Rice regained a double-digit lead for good.
The Golden Eagles’ leading scorer, Jeremy Wise, also fouled out of the game with 5:35 to play. Wise finished with 19 points and had two assists. R.L. Horton led USM with 23 points while Craft had a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double.
With the win, Rice improved to 8-15 and 3-6 in Conference USA with its second straight home-court victory. The Owls travel to East Carolina looking for a sweep of the Pirates before playing host to UTEP next Wednesday.
Southern Miss is now 13-10 and 3-6. USM plays host to league leader Memphis on Saturday.
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