Jamel Artis scored a season-high 31 points to lead Pittsburgh to an 83-73 victory over visiting Rice on Saturday at Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh.

Ryan Luther came off the bench to post 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Panthers (9-2). Michael Young had 12 points and Cameron Johnson added 10.

Marcus Jackson scored 20 points for the Owls (8-3). Marcus Evans had 19 points and Egor Koulechov 13.

Pitt maintained a slight lead through much of the tightly contested first half. The Panthers went up 14-9 on a 3-pointer by Johnson, but the Owls battled back to tie the game on a layup by Koulechov. Pitt went up by six on a layup by Justice Kithcart and stretched the lead to eight on a 3-pointer by Artis with 1:40 to play in the opening period, but the Owls cut the deficit to four at the break.

The second half played out similarly with the Panthers holding onto a narrow advantage. Pitt led by as many as nine following a basket by Sheldon Jeter early in the second period, but Rice staged a 9-0 run to tie the game on two free throws by Evans.

The Panthers promptly responded with an 8-0 run to go up 58-50 on a 3-pointer by Jonathan Milligan. The Owls got within four on a 3-pointer by Evans with just under four minutes remaining, but couldn't get any closer.

Pitt shot 64.4 percent from the field, made 9 of 18 from 3-point range and amassed a 32-22 rebounding advantage. Rice shot 45.6 percent and made 8 of 26 from beyond the arc.

Artis made 10 of 14 from the field and 4 of 7 from long distance. He finished one point short of his career high of 32 points set against Bryant on Feb 2, 2015.