Tulsa pulls away down stretch to defeat Rice 69-50

TULSA, Okla. (AP) Jordan Clarkson scored 23 points, Steven Idlet added 18 and Tulsa closed the game on a 20-3 run to defeat Rice 69-50 Saturday night.

Clarkson hit 5 of 6 3-pointers - he was 6 for 12 overall from the floor - and was perfect on six free-throw attempts for the Golden Hurricane (16-11, 9-4 Conference USA), who have won nine of their past 11 games and defeated Rice for the 12th straight time.

The Owls (15-12, 6-6) got 11 points from Connor Frizzelle and 10 from Omar Oraby.

Rice was within 49-47 after Frizzelle hit a pair of free throws with 7:47 remaining. But Idlet hit six straight free throws and Clarkson followed with two more as the Hurricane pulled away down the stretch. Idlet had 10 points during the final surge, including a fast-break dunk with 1:02 remaining that closed out the scoring.

Updated February 18, 2012