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SAN ANTONIO — Junior Melvin Johnson III led five Roadrunners in double figures with 18 points and UTSA extended its winning streak to five games with a 78-66 victory against Sam Houston State on Saturday at the Convocation Center.
The Roadrunners improved to 14-7 overall and 6-1 in Southland Conference play for the first time since 1992, their first year in the league. Meanwhile, the Bearkats fell to 8-13 (2-5 SLC).
Senior Alex Vouyoukas scored a career-high 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while junior Kannon Burrage added 13 points behind an 11-for-14 showing at the free-throw line. Junior Michael Hale III and sophomore Jeromie Hill pitched in with 12 and 11 points, respectively, to help UTSA sweep the season series from Sam Houston for the first time in a decade.
“I think we did a good job getting to the free-throw line tonight,” head coach Brooks Thompson said. “That was key and another was winning the turnover war. We have been rebounding the ball better lately, and as long as you do that and win the turnover battle, you have a chance to win.”
Steven Werner led all players with 27 points and nine rebounds, as he was 12-for-14 from the floor to help the Bearkats shoot 45.1 percent (23-of-51).
UTSA forced 22 turnovers, 11 via steals, and converted those into 22 points, and it committed only 10 miscues of its own. The Roadrunners shot 43.4 percent (23-of-53) and made 8-of-19 (42.1 percent) from behind the 3-point line and 24-of-31 (77.4 percent) at the free-throw line in scoring their ninth conference home victory in their last 10 tries.
UTSA led by as many 19 points, but it had to withstand a late push by Sam Houston in the final minutes.
A Werner layup cut the deficit to 69-58 with 3:44 remaining. After senior Sei Paye drained a pair of free throws, Werner knocked down a short jumper and Konner Tucker converted two at the charity stripe to trim the UTSA lead to single digits with 2:20 on the clock.
The game turned into a free-throw battle from that point.
Burrage was fouled and made both with 1:47 left to get the lead back to double figures, but Marcus James pulled the Bearkats back to within nine after making two freebies of his own with 1:32 to play.
Hale III made two trips to the line and knocked down one on each visit to put UTSA up, 75-64, with just under a minute left.
James was fouled at the other end and made good on both to once again cut the deficit to nine.
However, that was as close as Sam Houston got the rest of the way, as Burrage made a pair after being fouled on a breakaway layup attempt and senior Stephen Franklin drained 1-of-2 in the waning seconds to help secure the Roadrunners’ eighth win in their last nine outings.
“I’m proud of our basketball team,” Thompson said. “It’s been a tough conference this year. We’re excited about where we are right now and we wish we wouldn’t have let one slip. Now it’s a tough schedule for us. We have to go on the road to Arlington's new arena and to Lamar next weekend. We’re going to take it one game at a time, but if you would have told me that at the beginning of the year we'd be 6-1, I would have taken it.”
Vouyoukas and Hale had 10 points apiece, including the former’s first career 3-pointer, and Johnson III added nine to help UTSA build a 14-point halftime advantage.
Hale III was hot early on, as he nailed a pair of 3-pointers and completed an acrobatic layup to help UTSA build a 26-15 lead with nine minutes left in the opening stanza.
The Birds led 28-17 after a Johnson III fast-break dunk, but the Bearkats answered with a 7-0 run that was capped by a Werner jumper in the lane that made it a four-point game at the 5:33 mark.
The Roadrunners responded, useing a 12-1 stretch to extend the lead back to double digits. Hill then knocked down a three from the left wing with 44.5 seconds to play in the half to give UTSA a 43-27 advantage.
UTSA forced 14 turnovers before intermission, which it converted into 17 points to help offset sharp shooting (58.8 percent) by Sam Houston State. Werner led the Bearkats by going 7-for-7 from the floor en route to 16 first-half points.
Paye knocked down a trey and Johnson III converted a fast-break layup to help push the lead to 56-37 early in second half, which was the Roadrunners' largest margin of the contest.
UTSA returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 1, when it travels to the Metroplex to take on Southland-leading UT-Arlington (15-5, 7-0 SLC). Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m (or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the 6 p.m. women's game) at the brand-new College Park Center.