Jackson, Gearhart lead Rice past Southern Miss 58-56

HOUSTON (AP) Marcus Jackson had 19 points, and Seth Gearhart scored five of his 16 in the final 68 seconds on Thursday night to help Rice beat Southern Miss 58-56.

Norville Carey's dunk with 7:28 left gave Southern Miss (5-12, 0-6 Conference USA), which lost its ninth-consecutive game, a 52-42 lead.

Gearhart hit a 3, Andrew Drone a jumper and Bishop Mency another 3-pointer to pull Rice (6-11, 3-3) within two about 2 minutes later.

A jumper by Carey gave the Golden Eagles a 54-51 lead but a three-point play by Gearhart tied it with 1:08 to play.

Carey found Matt Bingaya for a layup and a 56-54 lead before Gearhart's layup tied it with 41 seconds remaining.

After Bingaya missed a jumper, Jackson made two free throws and Rice led 58-56 with 5 seconds to go.

Bingaya missed a potential tying jumper.

Chip Armelin led Southern Miss with 18 points and Carey added 15.