March 8, 2006

Recap | Final Stats | Quotes

GAME 1: (10) SMU 61, (7) RICE 59

• SMU shot 46.6% from the floor and out-rebounded Rice 42 to 30 en route to winning its first conference basketball tournament game since a first round win over Tulsa in the 2004 Western Athletic Conference Tournament.

• SMU junior forward Devon Pearson and center Donatas Rackauskas led the Mustangs with 15 points each. Ten of Pearson's points came in the second half. Mustang guard Bryan Hopkins recorded a game-high 10 rebounds in the win.

• Rice forward Morris Almond, a first-team All-Conference USA selection, led all scorers with 28 points and led his squad with seven rebounds. The Owls finish the 2006 season with a record of 12-16.

• SMU (13-15) will advance to play No. 2 UAB (22-5) in the first quarterfinal of the Conference USA Men's Basketball Championship presented by Aeropostale at Noon (CT) on Thursday.

• SMU took a 27-22 lead into halftime. Mustangs connected on 13 of 26 first half shots (50%), while limiting the Owls to only 9-of-31 shooting (29%).

• Three of Rice and SMU's last four regular season meetings have gone into overtime, with the lone exception being a 68-66 Rice home win on March 4.

• SMU opened the game with an 8-0 run, only to have Rice answer with a 10-0 run of its own. The Mustangs held a 32-20 advantage in scoring in the paint and a 12 to 3 advantage in second chance points.

• This is the second consecutive year that SMU and Rice have opened a conference tournament. Last season, both schools faced each other in the first game of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament in Reno, Nevada, with Rice coming away with a 63-47 win.