Roadrunners win both games against Southern Miss to climb closer to middle of the pack in conference play
Free 30-Days | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram
In the early going this season the Roadrunner basketball team has been trying to improve on defense and at the free throw line.
This weekend those two things seemed to come together for the Roadrunners as they beat Southern Miss in both games of the two game series.
Coming off a weekend in which they had been swept on the road at Louisiana Tech the home games were just what the Roadrunners needed.
With the two wins UTSA improved to 7-8 overall and 3-5 in conference. The Roadrunners were able to move out of last place in the west division. That position is now held by the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.
Friday Night: UTSA 70, Southern Miss 64
UTSA opened the weekend against the Golden Eagles with a hard earned victory. The Roadrunners opened the night on a 4-0 run and never trailed on their way to the win.
At one point in the first half the Roadrunners led by 17 points. After UTSA went ahead 30-13 at the 6:22 mark of the first half the Golden Eagles closed the half on a 16-4 run to cut UTSA's lead to 34-29 at halftime.
In the second half the Roadrunners opened with another 4-0 run to increase their advantage to 38-29 with 17:05 left in the second half. For the next 11 minutes of the game UTSA's lead pinballed from as large as nine points to as low as four points.
"We knew they weren't going to go away," UTSA Head Coach Steve Henson said after the game Friday. "We knew they were going to keep fighting."
Southern Miss cut the Roadrunner lead down to one point, 57-56, with 4:09 remaining in the game. Jordan Ivy-Curry then hit a three to put UTSA back in front by four points. The Golden Eagles then cut the lead to one point again, 60-59, at the 2:59 mark with a three pointer of their own.
Once again the Roadrunners had an answer for the Golden Eagles. Jacob Germany hit a layup to spark a 10-5 close out by the Roadrunners.
"We went on our run, they went on their run," Germany said after Friday's game. "We just had to put our feet in the sand and buckle down, lock it down defensively."
Jhivvan Jackson led the Roadrunners with 25 points. Keaton Wallace added 18. Germany finished the game with a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. Ivy-Curry and Eric Parrish both added eight points to the Roadrunner efforts
Saturday Afternoon: UTSA 78, Southern Miss 72
Things started a little differently on Saturday afternoon. A day after Southern Miss started out colder than Alaska in January the Golden Eagles were as hot as a Texas sidewalk in August. Southern Miss opened the game with a 7-2 run in the first few minutes.
UTSA also started the game hot. After falling behind 7-2 the Roadrunners scored eight unanswered to take their first lead of the afternoon at 10-7. The next few minutes saw the lead bounce back and forth. After Southern Miss went ahead 14-12 the Roadrunners began a 7-0 run to take a 19-14 lead at the 13:18 mark of the first half.
From there the first half on Saturday played out almost the same as it had on Friday night. UTSA built their lead up to double digits. The lead grew to as much as 11 points when Jordan Ivy-Curry drained a three at the 5:47 mark of the first half. The Roadrunners didn't score again for five minutes. In that span the Golden Eagles went on an 11-0 run to tie the score at 36.
Jhivvan Jackson then retook the lead for UTSA with a three just 47 seconds before halftime. Jackson then added another three at the buzzer to give UTSA a 42-36 cushion at the intermission.
Jackson carried his hot hand into the second half. He knocked down both of his first two three point attempts. His second three of the half broke a tie at 45-45. It was the start of a stretch where UTSA outscored Southern Miss 13-1 to take a 58-46 lead with 12:50 remaining.
Jackson finished the afternoon with six made three pointers out of 10 attempted.
"I felt good," Jackson said after the game. "They're freshman (Blake Roberts) was guarding me a lot. I got him on a couple of pump fakes and tried to get the best shots I can."
UTSA's lead ballooned to 15 points later in the second half when Jacob Germany made a layup and an and-one free throw to put UTSA ahead 67-52. A few minutes later Cedric Alley slammed down what appeared to be the exclamation point of the afternoon. Alley's dunk put UTSA ahead 71-59 with 5:17 remaining in the game.
That proved to be UTSA's last field goal of the afternoon as the game turned into a free-throw contest the rest of the way.
"This is a big win for us," Ivy-Curry said after the game. "This will give us more confidence as a team going into the next games."
Four Roadrunners finished in double-figures on Saturday. Jackson led the Roadrunners with 24 points. Ivy-Curry added 14 points. Germany chipped in with 13 points and also blocked a pair of shots by the Golden Eagles. Wallace finished with 12 points.
Now the Roadrunners will get a few days to prepare for their next opponent, the UTEP Miners. But things feel better at 3-5 than they would have at 2-6 or 1-7.
NEXT WEEK: UTSA (7-8, 3-5 conference) will have a weekend of games with travel partner UTEP. The Roadrunners will host the Miners in the Convocation Center on Thursday night. Tip off of that game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Next Saturday the Roadrunners and Miners will play out in El Paso. Saturday's game is scheduled for an 8 p.m. Central tipoff.
FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way