Old Dominion beats Rice 74-67
HOUSTON (AP) Trey Freeman scored 33 points to lead Old Dominion to a 74-67 victory over Rice on Saturday, finishing the regular season with four-straight wins.
The Monarchs (19-12, 12-6 Conference USA) continue to the tournament on March 9.
Freeman was 11 of 28 from the field including 7 of 14 from 3-point range and hit all four of his free throws. Aaron Bacote added 14 points, Brandan Stith had eight points and 10 rebounds and Denzell Taylor led the team with 12 rebounds.
The Monarchs led by double digits through most of the second half with Rice cutting the lead to 64-61 on a pair of Marcus Evans free throws with 2:03 to play. Freeman sank his seventh 3-pointer for a 67-61 lead with 1:01 remaining and Jordan Baker's 3-point play made it 70-63 with 41 seconds left, sealing the win.
Evans scored 28 points and grabbed five rebounds for the Owls (12-19, 7-11).