Rice forward Arsalan Kazemi had 24 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Owls over SMU in a mild upset in the Conference USA tournament. The Iranian sophomore was 9-for-14 from the field.
Kazemi led Conference USA in rebounding with 11.2 boards and added 15.3 points to lead the Owls. Rice faces Tulsa in the quarterfinals and the Golden Hurricane swept the season series. Kazemi averaged 12.5 points and 11.0 rebounds in the two Owl losses.