Brewer Leads Arkansas In Win Over Rice

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas` Ronnie Brewer scored 11 of his 17 points in the second half to lead the Razorbacks to an 80-61 victory Saturday night over the Rice Owls. Brewer, the Southeastern Conference`s leading scorer, had just one field goal in the first half but ignited a Razorback flurry to open the second half after Arkansas led just 30-28 at intermission. He scored half of the Razorbacks` points in an 18-3 run that opened the final period, allowing Arkansas (8-2) to build a 48-33 advantage with 14:22 left in the game. Aside from scoring production, Brewer also had seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. Arkansas got a balanced scoring performance from its players, with Darian Townes scoring 16 points, Jonathon Modica 15 and Eric Ferguson 13. Rice (4-5) was led by Morris Almond with a career-high 25. J.R. Harrison added 15 points. After shooting just 35 percent in the first half and being outrebounded 18-13, Arkansas hit 50 percent of its field-goal attempts in the second half and finished the game with a 36-30 rebound advantage. The Owls were troubled by nine turnovers, while the Razorbacks lost the ball only four times. Rice built a 9-3 lead at the start, but turned the ball over on four straight possessions in the midst of an 11-0 Razorback run. Arkansas` largest first-half lead was 26-19 with 7:58 on the clock. A 9-0 Rice run, sparked by five points from Almond, gave the Owls a 28-26 lead with 3:42 left in the half before Arkansas scored 4 straight points to take a 2-point lead at the half.