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SAN MARCOS — Sophomore Jeromie Hill scored a season-high 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and UTSA held on to defeat I-35 rival Texas State, 80-75, on Saturday before 4,458 fans at Strahan Coliseum.
The Roadrunners improved to 12-7 overall and 5-1 in Southland Conference play for the first time since the 2001-02 season. Meanwhile, the Bobcats fell to 8-10 overall (1-4 SLC).
Hill was 10-for-12 from the floor and 4-of-5 at the free-throw line in posting in third 20-point game and first double-double of the season. Junior Melvin Johnson III added 15 and juniors Kannon Burrage and Michael Hale III pitched in with 13 and 12, respectively, as the pair combined to go a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 20 seconds.
UTSA built as much as a 13-point lead and survived Texas State’s one-two punch of Brooks Ybarra and Travis Jones, who combined for 42 points on the strength of nine 3-pointers. Ybarra matched Hill with a game-high 24 points, while Jones tallied 18.
After Hill gave UTSA a 56-43 edge early in the second half with a fast-break slam dunk, Jones capped a 9-2 stretch with a trey from the left wing to pull Texas State to within six at 58-52 with 14:43 left.
UTSA pushed the lead back to double digits on a pair of freebies by sophomore Igor Nujic and a follow by Hill that made it 62-52 with 11:50 remaining.
However, the Bobcats made a game of it in the final minutes with an 11-6 run.
Jones found his range from long distance again, this time from the top of the key, to pull Texas State to within 68-63 with just over five minutes to play.
The Roadrunners responded with five unanswered points over the next two-and-a-half minutes.
Senior Sei Paye drove to the right side of the basket and found senior Alex Vouyoukas all alone for a layup to make it a seven-point contest. Paye then drained a clutch three from the left corner with the shot clock winding down to give UTSA a 73-63 advantage with 2:29 remaining.
Jones kept Texas State’s hope alive with another three and, following a UTSA turnover, he was fouled on a shot attempt and made 1-of-2 to pull the Bobcats to within six with one minute later.
Forced to foul, the Bobcats hacked Hale III, who made 1-of-2 with 35.9 seconds on the clock. Ybarra connected from the corner with his fourth trey to make it 74-70 with 23.3 ticks left.
Texas State then sent Burrage to the line and he calmly made both to push the lead back to six with 20.7 seconds remaining.
The Bobcats did not quit, as Wesley Davis drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing with 12.1 on the clock to make it a one-possession contest.
UTSA survived a tipped throw-in that went out of bounds off the Bobcats and then Hale III was fouled with 10.1 ticks left. The Federal Way, Wash., native sunk both free throws for a 78-73 advantage.
Eddie Rios went coast-to-coast for a layup, but Burrage was fouled with 2.9 seconds left and made both to ice the Roadrunners’ first victory in San Marcos since a 103-98 overtime decision on Feb. 23, 2008.
UTSA shot 50 percent for the game (28-of-56) and made 7-of-17 (41.2 percent) from beyond the arc and 17-of-21 (81 percent) at the charity stripe. The Roadrunners held the Bobcats to 38.2 percent (26-of-68) from the field despite Texas State connecting on 15-of-33 (45.5 percent) from downtown..
UTSA stormed out to an 8-0 lead through the first minute-and-a-half.
Johnson III made 1-of-2 free throws before the game started after a technical foul was issued to Texas State for dunking in pregame warm-ups. Johnson III then knocked down a jumper from the free-throw line, while senior Stephen Franklin drained a trey from the right wing and Hill got free underneath for an easy layup to account for the quick start.
The lead grew to 11 when Hill followed a missed three with a putback that made it 19-8 with 14:11 left in the half. UTSA eventually made 15 of its first 20 shots, the last on a Burrage trey from the right wing at the 7:45 mark, in building a 38-25 advantage.
Ybarra made a pair of free throws with 1:37 on the clock to cut the deficit to single digits, but Hale III nailed a long 3-pointer from the top of the key on the next possession to give UTSA a 49-37 advantage. John Bowman made 1-of-2 at the line to pull Texas State to within 11 at intermission.
UTSA blistered the nets for 64.3 percent (18-of-28), including 5-for-8 from beyond the arc, in eclipsing the 48-31 halftime advantage it posted in the Nov. 22 Fresno State victory for the highest-scoring first half of the season.
Hill was 5-for-5 from the floor and 4-of-5 at the line en route to 14 points, while Johnson III tallied 10 on 3-of-4 shooting from the field and charity stripe.
The Bobcats used the long ball to keep the Roadrunners within striking distance, as Ybarra made three of their eight first-half 3-pointers en route to 16 points. Despite firing at a 47.1-percent clip from downtown, Texas State shot just 35.1 percent (13-of-37) from the floor overall in the half.
The Roadrunners will return to action when they host Jarvis Christian (4-10) in a non-conference game at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.