HOUSTON (AP) Egor Koulechov poured in 21 points and pulled down nine rebounds as Rice held off Stephen F. Austin, 70-63 on Saturday night.
TJ Holyfield got the Lumberjacks within four, 65-61, with a free throw with 1:17 left, but Marcus Evans, the leading scorer in Conference USA, answered with a jumper to push the lead back to six, 67-61 with :39 left.
Rice looked to get back on the winning track after losing to Texas Tech last Saturday.
Marcus Jackson finished with 11 points for the Owls, but Evans was held to just six points on 2-for-12 shooting. As a team Rice was 24 of 49 from the field (49 percent), including 7 of 19 from beyond the arc.
Leon Gilmore III and Ivan Canete led the Lumberjacks with 18 and 17 points, respectively.
Stephen F. Austin now has lost four of its last five games.
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