By By The Associated Press
HOUSTON — Aleks Perka scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, career highs in both categories, to lead Rice to a 76-70 victory over East Carolina.
The Owls (7-14, 2-4 C-USA) never trailed and snapped a four-game losing streak.
Lawrence Ghoram scored 15 points while Connor Frizzelle and Rodney Foster each scored 12 for the Owls. Trey Stanton grabbed 10 rebounds to go along with five points.
Chad Wynn came off the bench and scored 21 points for the Pirates (10-10, 2-5). Sam Hinnant added 17 and Brock Young scored 11.
East Carolina outscored the Rice bench 23-11, but lost the battle for points in the paint, 28-20. Rice led by as many as 19 in the first half and had a 10-point lead with less than a minute to go in the second half.
RICE 76, EAST CAROLINA 70
EAST CAROLINA (10-10)
Morrow 1-6 1-4 3, Abrams 3-8 0-0 8, Legan 2-9 2-2 8, Hinnant 5-15 3-5 17, Young 4-10 0-0 11, Turner 0-1 0-0 0, Sherrod 1-5 0-0 2, Wynn 9-10 3-7 21. Totals 25-64 9-18 70.
RICE (7-14)
Perka 10-15 1-4 21, Stanton 1-7 3-4 5, Frizzelle 4-10 1-2 12, Foster 3-8 4-4 12, Ghoram 6-10 3-6 15, Herndon 2-4 1-2 5, Braimoh 1-2 1-1 3, Beasley 0-0 0-0 0, Pflieger 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 28-60 14-23 76.
Halftime—Rice 44-37. 3-Point Goals—East Carolina 11-31 (Hinnant 4-10, Young 3-5, Abrams 2-6, Legan 2-8, Sherrod 0-2), Rice 6-13 (Frizzelle 3-4, Foster 2-5, Pflieger 1-3, Ghoram 0-1). Fouled Out—Morrow. Rebounds—East Carolina 37 (Morrow 7), Rice 44 (Perka 11). Assists—East Carolina 12 (Young 4), Rice 18 (Foster, Frizzelle 5). Total Fouls—East Carolina 18, Rice 13. A—1,429.