Post-Game Notes
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March 8, 2006
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.
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