March 8, 2006

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Devon Pearson and Donatas Rackauskas scored 15 points each to lead SMU to a 61-59 victory over Rice in the opening round of the Conference USA tournament Wednesday.

The Mustangs (13-15) will face No. 24 UAB, the tournament's No. 2 seed, on Thursday.

Bryan Hopkins, SMU's leading scorer, was held scoreless for the first time this season after missing all seven of his shots, but he grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds and had six assists.

Morris Almond, a C-USA first team all-conference selection, led the Rice (12-16) with 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting and hit three of his four shots outside the arc. His 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left cut the SMU lead to the final two-point margin.

J.R. Harrison added 13 for Owls.

SMU led throughout the second half, but never by more than six points.

The two teams were tied at 46 when the Rice's Cory Pflieger connected for his only points of the game on a 3-pointer with 6:26 left in the game. Pearson helped the Mustangs pull away down the stretch with a streak of 8 points.

SMU jumped out to an early lead thanks to Rackauskas, who scored 6 of the Mustang's first 8 points. But SMU went more than five minutes without scoring, allowing the Owls to score 10 straight points.

SMU shot 50 percent in the first half, but was hampered by 13 turnovers, leading to 13 Rice points. The Mustangs committed 21 turnovers in the game.