HOUSTON (AP) - Max Guercy had 21 points, Tamir Jackson added 18 and Rice earned its first Conference USA victory of the season by beating Houston 79-69 on Wednesday night.
Rice (5-15, 1-5 C-USA) overcame an eight-point halftime deficit by outscoring the Cougars 54-36 in the second half.
The turn-around came with 5:31 remaining in the first half when Rice trailed 29-14 and Guercy hit a 3-pointer to cut Houston's lead to 12 and start an 11-4 run to end the half. The Owls continued their run in the second half and took only its second lead of the night after Jackson's jumper made it 49-48 with 9:40 remaining. Rice used a 20-8 run to end the game.
Jackson was 9 for 10 from the free-throw line and added six rebounds to his point total.
TaShawn Thomas led Houston (13-6, 2-4) with 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Joseph Young had 17 points and six rebounds.
| Scoreboard | |||
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
| Houston (13-7) | 33 | 36 | 69 |
| Rice (5-15) « | 25 | 54 | 79 |
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| Houston Cougars | |||||||
| STARTERS | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| D. House, F | 35 | 2-9 | 0-2 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| T. Thomas, F | 35 | 6-6 | 3-4 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 15 |
| L. Gibson, F | 17 | 2-3 | 3-4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| J. Young, G | 37 | 7-17 | 0-1 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 17 |
| J. Thompson, G | 26 | 2-5 | 1-2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| BENCH | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| J. Stiggers | 14 | 2-8 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| T. Womack | 14 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| J. Richardson | 13 | 5-6 | 3-5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 13 |
| M. McLean | 8 | 1-1 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| B. Morris | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 27-56 | 10-20 | 37 | 15 | 16 | 69 | |
| 48.2% | 50% | ||||||
| Rice Owls | |||||||
| STARTERS | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| S. Gearhart, F | 30 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| T. Jackson, G | 36 | 4-12 | 9-10 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 18 |
| J. DeBose, G | 33 | 3-9 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| M. Guercy, G | 32 | 7-9 | 4-5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 21 |
| A. Ramljak, G | 23 | 2-8 | 4-4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| BENCH | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| K. Washington | 19 | 2-5 | 3-3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| R. Wilson | 15 | 4-6 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| B. Firozgary | 8 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| D. Peera | 4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 25-55 | 21-24 | 29 | 12 | 15 | 79 | |
| 45.5% | 87.5% | ||||||
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