Aubrey Coleman scored 18 points and Kelvin Lewis added 17 as Houston pulled away from Rice late for 78-70 victory Wednesday night.
Sean Coleman had 12 points for the Cougars (15-14, 7-8 Conference USA), who hit 12 3-pointers and turned 22 Rice turnovers into 28 points.
Suleiman Braimoh and Arsalan Kazemi each had a double-double for the Owls (8-21, 1-14), who have lost six straight and eight of nine. Braimoh finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds while Kazemi had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
After trailing by as many as 15, Rice took its only lead of the second half, 63-62, on a layup by Braimoh with 7:33 to play. Houston the responded with a 14-2 run for a 76-65 lead 1:24 remaining. Coleman scored six of his points during the deciding run.
The Cougars ended the first half on a 9-2 run for a 39-31 advantage.
