Last season, the Cougars lost a 79-71 heartbreaker in overtime in their meeting with Rice at Tudor Field House.
Darian Thibodeaux and the Cougars gave fans another dramatic ending on Saturday night, edging the Owls 76-75 on two decisive free throws by the senior with :02.7 left in the game.
Leading 75-73 with 5.2 seconds in the game, Rice bungled an inbounds pass and called a timeout, but had none.
The technical foul sent Thibodeaux to the line for two shots. He made both to seal the victory.
In his final regular season game as a Cougar, Thibodeaux scored a game-high 21 points on 6-9 shooting. Thibodeaux drained five 3-pointers and also recorded five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
