March 9, 2011
SMU vs. Rice - boxscore 
SMU Season Stats
Photo Gallery 
EL PASO, Texas (AP) - Arsalan Kazemi had 24 points and 13 rebounds, and Rice held off SMU in the final moments for a 58-57 victory in the first round of the Conference USA tournament on Wednesday night.
Connor Frizzelle had 12 points and Tamir Jackson 11 for the 10th-seeded Owls (14-17), who advance to play No. 2 seed Tulsa in a quarterfinal contest on Thursday.
Papa Dia had 22 points and 15 rebounds for the seventh-seeded Mustangs (17-14), who beat Rice twice during the regular season. Collin Mangrum scored 12 points and Jeremiah Samarrippas 11.
Mangrum's jumper got SMU within a point with 33 seconds left, and his steal from Frizzelle gave the Mustangs an opportunity to take the last shot. After a timeout, SMU bled the clock to a second, when Robert Nyakundi's long jumper missed.
Nyakundi, who averaged 27.5 points and made 11 of 17 3-point tries against the Owls during the regular season, was held to five on Wednesday on 2 of 7 shooting.
Rice 58, SMU 57
No. 10 Rice Owls (14-17), No. 7 SMU Mustangs (17-14)
March 9, 2011
Don Haskins Center
El Paso, Texas
TEAM NOTES
SMU hit 6 3FG, extending a new school record for team 3FG made (253) in a season
- (Record was 215 in 2006-07)
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Papa Dia
- Had his 14th double-double of the season and 27th of his career
- Scored 22 pts
o Is 12th at SMU in career points (1375)
o Now 6th at SMU for points in a season (577)
o Reached double-digits for the 29th time this season in 31 games
o Had 20+ points for 15th time this season
- Grabbed a season-high tying 15 rebounds
o Is 5th at SMU in career rebounds (862)
o Now 9th at SMU for rebounds in a season (286)
o Had 25th game this season with 8+ rebounds, and 15th game with 10+ rebounds
o Has grabbed 8+ rebounds in 20 of the past 22 games
- Had 1 blocked shot
o Has 68 blocks this season, 5th at SMU for a single season
o Is 5th at SMU in career blocks (133)
- Now 5th at SMU in career games played (120)
Collin Mangrum
- Scored 12 points, his 6th double-digit game of the season
- Tied his career-high of 8 rebounds
Robert Nyakundi
- Mad a 3FG extending a new school record for 3FGM in a single-season (89)
- Is 4th all-time at SMU in 3FG made (175)
Jeremiah Samarrippas
- Scored 11 points
- Had 3 assists
o Has 111 assists for the season, 5th for a freshman at SMU
