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| Senior Melvin Smith had a season-high 20 points on Saturday. |
SAN ANTONIO ? Senior Melvin Smith came off the bench to pour in a game-high 20 points, but Ryan White led four Bobcats in double figures with 17, as Texas State used a strong second half to defeat UTSA, 79-73, in Southland Conference action on Saturday night in front of 2,296 fans at the Convocation Center.
Smith topped 20 points for the second time in as many weeks to lead the Roadrunners (8-10, 2-3 SLC) in scoring for the first time this year. Meanwhile, freshman Devin Gibson ? who was battling a stomach virus ? added 15 points, a team-high seven rebounds, five assists and five steals. Senior Isaiah Allen contributed 11 points and four boards.
Brent Benson (14), Chris Agwumaro (13) and Ty Gough (10) also reached double digits for the Bobcats (10-9, 3-3 SLC), while Gough pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
It was a tale of two halves, as Texas State outscored the Roadrunners, 50-43, in the second stanza on the strength of 53.3-percent shooting ? including four 3-pointers ? from the field. Meanwhile, UTSA led by as many as 12 in the first half but made just 6-of-26 from downtown, including 3-of-14 in the second half, and 13-of-22 from the free throw line for the game.
A pair of Allen free throws at the 15:53 mark gave UTSA a 40-33 lead early in the second half. However, a Benson trey kick-started a 13-0 Texas State run over the next three minutes that put the Bobcats up by six.
The lead grew to 12 points on a Benson jumper with just over five minutes remaining, but four points from Smith keyed a UTSA run that pulled the Roadrunners to within 67-63 with 2:47 left.
Texas State responded with a 6-0 run to push the advantage to 10 with one minute remaining. A 3-point play by Smith and a pair of free throws from freshman Russ Permenter kept the Roadrunners within six with 25 ticks showing, but UTSA was forced to foul and the Bobcats made 3-of-4 from the line down the stretch to hold for a 79-73 victory, its fourth straight in the series.
Smith made five of his first six shots from the field and Allen, freshman JohnMark Ludwick and junior Joey Shank struck from downtown to help give UTSA a 26-14 lead with four minutes left in the first half. The Bobcats took advantage of UTSA foul trouble ? Gibson and senior Keith Spencer played a combined 15 minutes ? and closed the half on a 15-4 run to make it a one-point game at the break.
The Roadrunners held Texas State to 36.4 percent from the floor ? including 1-of-6 from behind the arc ? and 29 points, its second-lowest first-half scoring output this season.
UTSA hits the road next Saturday, Feb. 2, for a 4 p.m. game at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (changed from 2 p.m.). The contest will be televised on FOX Sports Southwest.