HOUSTON -- LeRon Barnes scored 13 points and had six rebounds to lead Houston to a 59-48 win over crosstown-rival Rice on Wednesday night.

Mikhail McLean, a senior, had a career-high 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Danrad Knowles added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Cougars (8-12).

Jherrod Stiggers, leading Houston with 15.3 points per game, was held to seven points after notching 25 in a loss to SMU.

Seth Gearhart had 15 points and six boards and Bishop Mercy added nine points for Rice (6-13, 3-4).

L.J. Rose hit a jumper to push the Houston lead to 14, its largest of the game, with 3:05 left in the game. The Cougars finished the final 1:24 of the game 5 of 6 from the free throw line, four from Barnes, to keep the lead in double digits.

Houston forced 15 Rice turnovers, while only coughing it up five times.