HOUSTON —Hassan Whiteside had 19 points, 17 rebounds and set a Conference USA season record for blocked shots in Marshall’s 77-54 victory against Rice on Wednesday night.

Whiteside, a 7-foot, 235-pound freshman, had four blocks, giving him 146 on the year. That eclipses the previous league high of 143 by Jerome Jordan of Tulsa in 2007-08.

Chris Lutz scored a team-high 20 points for streaky Marshall (21-7, 9-4 C-USA), which won 15 of its first 17 games, lost five straight, and now has six victories in a row.

Lawrence Ghoram had 16 points for Rice (8-19, 1-12).

The Thundering Herd never trailed. The Owls got as close as 35-27 early in the second half, but a 15-4 run, highlighted by a jumper and dunk by Whiteside, gave Marshall a 50-31 lead with 11:09 remaining.