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HOUSTON — Junior Melvin Johnson III poured in a season-high 24 points, but Jonathon Simmons, Alandise Harris and Darian Thibodeaux combined for 54 to help Houston hold off UTSA, 77-75, on Tuesday night at Hofheinz Pavilion.
The Cougars (5-5) led by as many as nine late in the second half, but they had to survive a wild rally by the Roadrunners (5-5) in the final minutes.
After Harris made 1-of-2 at the free-throw line and TaShawn Thomas slammed one home for a seven-point Houston cushion, junior Kannon Burrage found the bottom of the net from the right elbow to cut the deficit to 72-67 with 1:12 left.
The two teams traded possessions before a dunk by Harris gave Houston a 74-67 lead.
However, UTSA did not go away quietly.
Sophomore Jeromie Hill sank a three-ball from the left corner with 29.9 ticks on the clock. Johnson III then came up with a steal off the full-court press and calmly drained a jumper from the free-throw line to pull UTSA to within two at 74-72.
The Roadrunners fouled J.J. Thompson, who made both with 19.9 on the clock, but Hill connected again from downtown to make it 76-75. The Birds then fouled Simmons with 4.6 seconds remaining. He made 1-of-2 and Johnson III missed an off-balance, potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Johnson went 10-of-23 from the field, including four treys, while Burrage tacked on 18 points and Hill posted 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Simmons led Houston with 22 points behind 8-for-13 shooting. Harris and Thibodeaux added 18 and 14, respectively, while Harris had a game-leading eight boards.
The Cougars, who won in the series for the first time since 1996, shot 59.2 percent (29-of-49) from the floor and had 21 assists on their 29 field goals.
UTSA knocked down 51.5 percent of its shots in the second half to help overcome a tough first-half shooting effort (30.6 percent) and shot 40.6 percent for the game. The Roadrunners out-rebounded the Cougars, 35-31, and forced 19 turnovers, which were converted into 21 points.
The Cougars turned a 35-33 halftime lead into an eight-point advantage after Thibodeaux and Simmons connected from long distance on their first two possessions of the second half.
Simmons later made a pair at the line to put Houston out in front by seven at 48-41, but UTSA responded with a 10-4 run that was keyed by a pair of treys from Johnson III to pull to within 52-51 with just under 12 minutes remaining.
Simmons drained a jumper from the baseline to put Houston up 61-55, but a Burrage three form the top of the key and a tip-in by senior Alex Vouyoukas pulled the Roadrunners within one with 6:22 to play.
The Cougars answered with a 9-0 run over the next three minutes, but Hill knocked down a 3-pointer and a layup on the next two possessions to make it a four-point contest with 2:42 on the clock, setting up the wild final minutes.
The Roadrunners received 24 points off the bench and had 17 offensive rebounds, which led to 11 second-chance points. UTSA also made 10-of-11 (90.9 percent) at the charity stripe and now has converted 54-of-59 (91.5 percent) from the line in the last four games.
UTSA jumped out to a 17-9 lead through the first six minutes behind two early 3-pointers from Johnson III and another from Burrage. Senior Sei Paye converted a pair of free throws at the 2:25 mark to give the Roadrunners a 33-28 lead, but the Cougars closed the half with seven unanswered points while UTSA missed its final four shot attempts in falling behind by two at the intermission.
Johnson III scored 14 points in the first 20 minutes by knocking down six of his 13 field goal attempts, all season highs.
The Roadrunners will face Troy (5-5) at 7 p.m. on Thursday.