Postgame radio interview with Brian Burg

HOUSTON – Ale Huseinovic scored 24 points off the bench, and Rice finished the game with a 19-2 run to overtake Georgia Southern 88-71 in men's basketball action Friday night in Tudor Fieldhouse.

Eagles of the Game
Tai Strickland led four Eagles in double-figure scoring with 15 points and added four steals, three rebounds and three assists. Tyren Moore, Kamari Brown and Andrei Savrasov each netted 13 points. Brown chipped in four rebounds, two steals and two assists, and Moore notched four assists and two steals.

Key Moments
Kaden Archie (9 points) tied the score 69-69 with 6:07 to play, but the Eagles, which had shot 54 percent from the field to that point, went freezing cold and finished the contest 1 for 10. Rice (2-2) made five in a row at the other end, and a Huseinovic jumper capped an 11-2 run that put the Owls ahead 80-71 with 2:41 to go. 

Strickland scored the last nine points of the first half for the Eagles (1-3), and the senior's 3-pointer with an Owl draped on him as the buzzer sounded put GS ahead 48-47 at the break.

Stats and Notes
- Georgia Southern shot 62 percent in the first half.
- The Eagles committed just six turnovers, the lowest in a game since Feb. 24, 2018, when the Eagles had six in an 81-77 win at Texas State.
- Rice outrebounded Georgia Southern 41-21 but only 5-2 on the offensive glass. 
- The Owls made 10 triples in the game but GS held them to 1 of 8 in the second half.
- It was the first meeting between Rice and Georgia Southern.

Next up
The Eagles play at Houston Christian Saturday at 8 p.m ET as part of the Owl Invitational. The game will air on ESPN+ and the Georgia Southern Sports Network.