After beating Alabama State in the First Four UTSA moved on to the Round of 64 where they faced top overall seed Ohio State
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EDITORS NOTE: This is the seventh installment of a seven part series looking back at the 2010-11 Roadrunner men's basketball team and their unlikely run to an NCAA Tournament berth
The Roadrunners reach the round of 64 for the fourth time in program history
Not long after beating Alabama State in the First Four on March 16, 2011 the UTSA Roadrunners hopped on a bus and made the 214 mile trek across Ohio from Dayton to Cleveland.
UTSA's reward for beating Alabama State was getting to face the top overall seed Ohio State on Friday March 18 on the court at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena.
The Roadrunners were heading to Cleveland on a six-game winning streak, their longest winning streak since they had won seven in a row from December 22, 2008 to January 14, 2009.
Ohio State entered the round of 64 with a 32-2 record. The Buckeyes were the 1-seed in the East Region as well as Big Ten regular season and tournament champions. As they made the short trek from Columbus to Cleveland they were riding a seven-game winning streak. Ohio State had not lost since February 20, 2011 when they fell on the road at Purdue.
UTSA had the added pressure of history weighing on them. Entering the game in Cleveland there had been 106 games played between one seeds and 16-seeds in the NCAA tournament. The 1 seeds were 106-0.
It would all be decided on the afternoon of March 18, 2011. A Roadrunner win would be historic not just for the Roadrunners but also nationally. A Roadrunner win would also set up a round of 32 meeting with 8-seed George Mason who had beaten 9-seed Villanova 61-57 in the first game of the afternoon in Cleveland.
A Roadrunner loss would mean the end of the road for the 2010-11 season. It would all come down to 40 minutes on the shores of Lake Erie.
A bright spot early before reality sets in
When the ball tipped off in Cleveland the Roadrunners showed they weren't afraid of the bright lights. UTSA opened the game making four of its first five shots. The Roadrunners built their lead to as large as four and even had a 9-7 lead heading into the first media timeout.
UTSA hoped to slow the game down long enough to stay competitive against the larger Buckeyes. The Roadrunners plan seemed to work in the early going but eventually the talent of the Buckeyes began to show.
Ohio State took the lead between the first and second media timeouts of the opening half. After UTSA had led 9-7 the Buckeyes outscored the Roadrunners 30-12 the rest of the half to take a 37-21 lead into the intermission.
UTSA had shot well in the first half. The Roadrunners made 10 of their 22 shots (45.5 percent) in the first 20 minutes. UTSA had only made one of eight three point attempts in the first half and did not attempt a single free throw in the opening 20 minutes of the game.
The Buckeyes finished the first half with 15 of the 24 attempts going in. Ohio State was also 6-for-10 from beyond the arc and made one of two free throws in the first half.
By halftime the good feelings that the Roadrunners had carried into Cleveland from Dayton had faded away. UTSA hadn't seen an opponent like Ohio State all season. By halftime it was apparent the best the Roadrunners could hope for was to keep the score respectable.
The clock strikes midnight on the Roadrunners
When the second half began, the Buckeyes made sure they wouldn't give UTSA a chance to make the score respectable. Ohio State picked up where they left off in the first half.
The Buckeyes 16-point halftime lead continued to grow in the second half. At one point the Buckeyes led by 38 points before UTSA battled back. The clock ran out on the Roadrunners with them on the short end of a 75-46 loss to Ohio State.
Ohio State defeated George Mason two days later by a score of 98-66. The Buckeyes run in the tournament ended in the Sweet 16 when they lost to 4-seed Kentucky, 62-60, in Newark, New Jersey.
When the clock ran out on the Roadrunners in Cleveland it also ran out on the career of Devin Gibson. The senior guard scored 24 for the Roadrunners against Ohio State and finished his career with 1,681 points, at the time the third most points in program history (He's now fifth on the Roadrunner career points list).
Gibson was the only Roadrunner in double figures against Ohio State. Melvin Johnson who had scored 29 against Alabama State was limited to five points. Freshman star Jeromie Hill who had recorded a double-double against Alabama State finished the game against Ohio State with six points and two rebounds.
As the Roadrunners returned to San Antonio there was belief that perhaps there would be more trips to the NCAA tournament in the program's future. Devin Gibson would be hard to replace but the Roadrunners had a lot of young players who had gotten experience in March.
A year later--their last as members of the Southland Conference--the Roadrunners entered the conference tournament as a five seed after posting an 18-14 record overall and 10-6 in conference. UTSA faced 4-seed McNeese in the quarterfinals but lost in overtime, 78-74.
UTSA would make the conference semifinals in their lone season in the WAC in 2012-13. That is the closest the Roadrunners have come to a return to the NCAA tournament.
Brooks Thompson would be let go after the 2015-16 season in which the Roadrunners went 5-27. He passed away in June of 2016
The Roadrunners did return to a national postseason tournament in 2017-18 when they made the College Insider Tournament (CIT). UTSA went 1-1 in the CIT with a win over Lamar in the first round and a loss to Sam Houston in the quarterfinals.
UTSA's current stretch of 10 seasons since their last trip to the NCAA tournament is the second longest drought in program history behind the 11 years between trips in 1988 and 1999.
The years have come and gone but for those who were part of the Ride of March 2011 the memories will last a lifetime. For three weeks in March the Roadrunners got hotter than a San Antonio sidewalk in August and rode their way into and through the Southland tournament to a pair of games in the NCAA tournament.
It was quite the Ride of March.
FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way
