| Senior Demarco Stepter led the Roadrunners with 14 points on Tuesday. |
SAN ANTONIO — Senior Demarco Stepter led a balanced attack with 14 points and UTSA won its 11th consecutive non-conference home game with a 73-42 decision over Cameron on Tuesday night at the Convocation Center.
The Roadrunners improved to 6-1 for the first time since 1988 and now have won 15 of their last 18 non-league matchups overall and 16 of the last 21 home contests. The game counted as an exhibition for the 4-0 Aggies.
UTSA broke open an 11-point game with a 20-6 run early in the second half and never looked back in outscoring the Aggies, 41-21, after the break.
“It took us a little longer than we wanted to put them away, but this was a good team win,” head coach Brooks Thompson said. “We got a lot of production out of a lot of different guys, and I really can say that everyone played well and contributed. It was nice to get the win and to see such a well-rounded team effort go into it.”
Stepter had nine of his 14 in the half and was 5-for-6 from the floor overall and 4-of-6 from the free throw line. The Memphis, Tenn., native also grabbed four rebounds and blocked a shot.
“Demarco is really coming along,” Thompson said. “We’ve talked to him about using his talent and ability better and he's been working hard to increase his minutes. We saw that hard work pay off tonight.”
Seniors Terry Fields and Omar Johnson joined Stepter in double figures with 11 apiece, while senior Morris Smith IV drained a trio of 3-pointers en route to scoring nine. Sophomore Sei Paye also tallied nine, a career high, and junior Devin Gibson posted seven points, a game-high nine rebounds, eight assists and a steal. Freshman Melvin Johnson III added seven as nine different Roadrunners scored.
UTSA shot 47.4 percent for the game and made 7-of-19 from downtown. The Roadrunners also out-rebounded the Aggies, 37-27, and converted 17 Cameron turnovers into 22 points.
Defensively, the Roadrunners held the Aggies to 36 points below their season average of 78.2 and limited them to 32-percent shooting, including a woeful 1-for-16 effort from beyond the arc. Nathan Murray led Cameron with 18 points and six rebounds, while no other player scored more than seven.
The Roadrunners stormed out to an 18-4 lead through the first nine minutes, holding Cameron to just 2-of-13 from the floor, including 0-for-6 from downtown.
The Aggies could not connect on nine attempts from behind the arc in the half, but did climb back to within nine late in the half before a tip-in at the buzzer by senior Demarco Stepter gave UTSA a 32-21 advantage.
After a Murray layup made it a nine-point game again, UTSA scored the next 10, the last two on an Omar Johnson jumper from the right side at the 15:32 mark. The Roadrunners did not let up, extending the run to 20-6 as a Gibson trey pushed the lead to 52-29 with 10:44 on the clock.
UTSA cruised from there, holding at least a 20-point lead over the final 10 minutes in the 31-point win, the largest margin of the season.
The Roadrunners travel to Stillwater, Okla., to face Oklahoma State this Saturday and tip is set for 3 p.m. at Gallagher-Iba Arena. The game will be televised by the Cowboy Sports Network (check local listings) and on ESPN360.com.