ESPN Men's Basketball

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Lawrence Ghoram scored 18 points and Rice held off a late Marshall rally to defeat the Thundering Herd 60-59 on Wednesday in the opening round of the Conference USA tournament.

The 10th-seeded Owls (10-21) also got 14 points from Connor Frizzelle and 12 from Rodney Foster, while shooting 40 percent from the field (20 of 50) in the game.

Darryl Merthie led Marshall (15-17) with 14 points, while Shaquille Johnson added 13 -- 12 of them in the second half to key the Thundering Herd comeback. Damier Pitts finished with 12 points for Marshall.

Pitts' 3-pointer with under one second left cut the Rice lead to the final margin, but seventh-seeded Marshall never got the ball back.

Marshall hit only three of its 24 shots from long-range, and the Thundering Herd were outscored 40-37 in the second half after leading by two points at halftime.