| Senior Demarco Stepter scored 18 points and hauled in 11 rebounds on Friday afternoon. |
SAN ANTONIO — Senior Demarco Stepter posted his fifth career double-double and UTSA extended its non-conference home court winning streak to 13 games with a thrilling 83-82 victory over Houston on Friday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
Stepter, a Memphis, Tenn., native, scored a career-high 18 points behind 7-for-10 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds in turning in the first double-double of the season for the Roadrunners, who improved to 9-3 with their 18th non-conference win in the last 23 contests and their third consecutive victory against a Conference USA opponent.
Three other Roadrunners joined Stepter in double figures. Senior Omar Johnson tallied 16 points on the strength of a 7-of-8 effort at the free throw line. Senior Morris Smith IV drained a season-high four 3-pointers en route to 12 points and he added eight rebounds, while junior Devin Gibson posted 11 points, four boards and three assists. Senior Terry Fields added nine points and matched Stepter’s effort on the glass with 11 rebounds, as UTSA dominated the boards by out-rebounding Houston, 52-25.
“There are a happy bunch of Roadrunners in that locker room right now,” head coach Brooks Thompson said. “This is a very good win for this program. Any time you can beat a Conference USA school with the tradition that Houston has, it’s a positive.”
Zamal Nixon led all players with 29 points for the Cougars, which fell to 7-5 on the year. Kelvin Lewis scored 14 and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. UTSA held Aubrey Coleman, the NCAA leader in scoring, to just 10 points, 16 below his season average.
The Roadrunners led by as many as 12 points in the second half, but Houston stormed back to make things interesting down the stretch.
Trailing 77-76 with two and a half minutes to play, Gibson was fouled and converted both free throws, part of his 4-for-4 afternoon, to put UTSA on top by one. Coleman quickly answered for the Cougars with a short jumper with just over two minutes remaining.
Both teams traded possessions before Johnson connected from the left corner on his first long ball of the day to put the Roadrunners up, 81-79, with 1:31 on the clock. After a Coleman miss, Johnson was fouled intentionally with just under a minute left and knocked down both to give UTSA a four-point cushion.
Nixon responded by converting a 3-point play with 46 ticks remaining to cut the lead to one. UTSA turned the ball back over to Houston on the next possession after a shot clock violation, but Nixon missed from close range with two seconds left and Stepter cleared the boards to secure the win for the Roadrunners.
UTSA led by as many as six points in the first half, but found itself trailing, 44-37, at the break. A 3-point play by Stepter kick-started a 9-2 run capped by a Stepter layup at the 8:30 mark that gave the Roadrunners a 25-19 lead. Houston fought back to knot the score at 31-all on a Nick Haywood trifecta and then closed the half with a 13-6 stretch.
UTSA shot 48.1 percent (26-54) from the floor, including 7-of-17 (41.2 percent) from behind the 3-point line, and made 24-of-27 (88.9 percent) at the free throw line. The Roadrunners did commit a season-high 22 turnovers, which Houston converted into 29 points. The Cougars shot 41.3 percent (31-75), but struggled from downtown (7-28/25 percent) and the line (13-22/59.1 percent).
The Roadrunners host McMurry at 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 3.