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FRISCO, Texas –  A layup waved off after the buzzer secured a 72-71 victory for Rice over UTSA in the opening round of the 2023 Conference USA Basketball Championships presented by TotalCare on Wednesday night at the Ford Center at the Star.
 
The Owls were led by Quincy Olivari with 18 points, including a difference-making jumper to make it 72-67 with 1:19 to go. The junior guard also paced the team with eight rebounds and dished out a trio of assists.
 
Rice (18-14, 8-12 C-USA) advances to Thursday’s quarterfinal round, where the Owls will meet No. 3 seed UAB (23-8, 14-6 C-USA) at 8:30 p.m. CT. The Blazers bested Rice in both regular-season meetings by an average of 23 points.