HOUSTON - Jordan Callahan scored eight of his career-high 18 points in overtime and Johnny Mayhane posted a career-best 18 points as the Tulane men's basketball team came back from 13 points down in the second half to beat Rice, 79-74, on Wednesday night in Tudor Fieldhouse.

"This win could not have come at a better time," Tulane head coach Dave Dickerson said. "We were not playing well and losing games I thought we had a chance to win. Going into this game we talked about trying to get ourselves whole and trying to get ourselves into situations where we can make plays to win games both offensively and defensively."

The victory for the Green Wave (7-14, 2-6 C-USA) snapped a four-game losing streak.

The game was sent to overtime when Kendall Timmons hit a jump shot with 0:30 remaining in the second half to knot the score at 61-61 that capped the 13-point comeback for the Green Wave. Timmons then blocked a lay-up by Rice's (7-14, 1-7 C-USA)Tamir Jackson with 0.08 remaining to secure the tie.

In overtime Tulane jumped on top by scoring the first six points that included a free throw by David Booker and a Callahan 3-pointer and jumper. Those points built a 67-61 lead for the Green Wave, a lead that Rice would only be able to cut down to three twice the rest of the overtime period.

The Green Wave connected on 10 of 14 free throws in the five-minute overtime session and hit three of four from the floor, including 3-pointers by Callahan and Mayhane.

"You look at the line-up that was in the game for us in the last 15 minutes and in overtime - you have two freshman in Kendall Timmons and Jordan Callahan, you have Johnny Mayhane who is a veteran and you have Kris Richard and David Booker- I felt great about those guys as far as taking this team down to the end and their defense was magnificent."

Tulane was not able to take its first lead of the game until 4:29 remaining in the second half when Mayhane hit one of his four 3-pointers, giving the Green Wave a 58-56 lead. Rice then built a three point lead after a lay-up and free throw by Jackson, the final points the Owls would score in regulation. Timmons then made one free throw and hit the jumper to tie the score at 61-61.

Rice built a 10-point lead in the first half, leading 20-10 with 10:12 left in the half, before Tulane used a 14-4 run that included a 7-0 spurt to tie the game at 24-24. The Owls then finished the half by outscoring Tulane 13-4 to lead 37-29 at the break.

The Owls then scored the first four points of the second half to hold a 41-28 lead, the largest of the game, with 18:47 left in the second half. Tulane then scored 17 of the next 23 points to cut the lead down to 47-45 with 10:48 left.

Callahan hit six of eight shots from the floor, including three of five from long range. Mayhane hit four of six from the field with all four coming from 3-point range. Mayhane also hit all six of his free throw attempts.

Timmons added 14 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots, while Kris Richard had 10 points.

As a team the Green Wave shot 52.0 percent from the floor in the game, including 52.4 percent in the first half.

Tulane's defense held Rice to 45.0 percent shooting, including just 36.0 percent in the second half. The Green Wave also collected 12 steals, five blocked shots and forced 17 turnovers that were converted into 25 points.

"Our second half defense was unbelievable," Dickerson added. "They shot 52 percent from the field in the first half and in the second half we held them to 36 percent on their own floor."

Tulane was outrebounded 35-28 in the game, but was equal on the boards, 20-20, in the second half and overtime. Booker led the Green Wave with six boards and Timmons added his five.

Arsalan Kazemi led Rice with 19 points and 13 rebounds and Trey Stanton had 16 points.