Kazemi lifts Rice past Corpus Christi 78-66
Arsalan Kazemi had 13 points, 15 rebounds and five assists Wednesday night as Rice defeated Texas A&M Corpus Christi 78-66.
Dylan Ennis added 12 points, Lucas Kuipers and Tamir Jackson 11 each, and Connor Frizzelle 10 for the Owls (9-5).
Terence Jones had 15 points, Myron Dempsey 14 and Chris Hawkins-Mast 13 for Corpus Christi (1-11), which lost its ninth straight game.
Rice turned the ball over 23 times - leading to 30 points for the Islanders - but prevailed by shooting 50 percent from the field and outrebounding Corpus Christi 47-35. The Islanders shot 34 percent and were just 1 for 9 on 3-point attempts.
The game marked a homecoming for Corpus Christi coach Willis Wilson, who is the winningest coach in Rice history (219 wins from 1992-2008) and was playing against his former school for the first time since being fired after a 3-27 season.