Houston Cougars 75, Sam Houston St. Bearkats 71 (OT) -- It took overtime, but James Dickey's team finally got their first road win of the season. A game SHSU squad, which had already beaten the Mountain West Conference's Colorado State Rams on the road, forced 21 Cougar turnovers to keep the game close down the stretch. The Bearkats were able to keep the game close despite shooting just 33% from the floor--mainly thanks to turnovers and three pointers--but they ran out of steam in overtime. Kendrick Washington came off the bench for UH to score 21 points on 8-15 shooting, but fouled out. Gilberto Clavell led the Bearkats with 25 points, 13 of those coming from the charity stripe.
Rice Owls 75, Lamar Cardinals 71 -- Rice looked very vulnerable in this game, as the Cardinals jumped out to a 13-point-lead late in the first half and headed to intermission up 10. This, despite coming into the game without even a slightly impressive win to their credit. Blame those end of semester commitments for Rice, who always seem to go into the tank around finals time. They were rescued by Arsalan Kazemi, who had 24 points and 11 boards. Rice's saving grace was the foul line, where they had 13 more attempts than the Cardinals, and drained nine more free throws than their opponent to keep them in the game. Kendrick Harris paced the Cardinals with 20 points, and Charlie Harper did work inside to the tune of 16 points and nine rebounds.