EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Freshman Jeromie Hill posted his second consecutive double-double and senior Devin Gibson broke the school’s career steals record, but it was not enough, as Evansville slipped past UTSA, 77-73, on Wednesday night at Roberts Stadium.
Hill scored a game-high 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-5 from beyond the 3-point line, and a 5-for-7 night at the free-throw line. The Cairns, Australia, native grabbed a game-best 12 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end, in leading the Roadrunners (1-1) in scoring and rebounding for the second straight game.
Meanwhile, Gibson recorded four steals to give him 238 for his career, breaking Lloyd Williams’s school standard of 237 set from 1996-2000. The Cy-Falls High product joined Hill in double figures with 21 points and he added five rebounds and four assists.
Gibson’s record-breaking steal came at a critical juncture of the contest, as he stripped the ball from Kavon Lacey near mid-court and went in for an uncontested layup to tie the score at 71 with 1:48 to play.
Kenneth Harris then made 1-of-2 at the line to give Evansville a one-point lead, but freshman T.J. Williams knocked down a 15-foot jumper from the left elbow to put UTSA up, 73-72, with a little more than a minute to play. A Colt Ryan free throw with 52 ticks remaining knotted the score at 73 to set up the final possessions.
UTSA came up empty on two shot attempts, giving the ball the Evansville with the shot clock turned off. Lacey then was fouled while driving into the lane with 2.2 seconds on the clock and made both free throws to give the Purple Aces a 75-73 lead.
UTSA’s ensuing inbound pass from the opposite baseline went to sophomore Melvin Johnson III near the left sideline, but he could not pull it down before stepping out. With 1.1 seconds left, Harris was fouled. He made both freebies to ice the game for the Purple Aces (2-0).
Johnson III also reached double figures for UTSA with 13, while junior Stephen Franklin pulled down seven boards. The Roadrunners shot 45.2 percent for the game and converted 16 Evansville turnovers into 24 points.
Ryan and Denver Holmes scored 15 apiece to lead the Purple Aces, while Harris and Jordan Jahr added 10 each. Evansville shot 47.1 percent and was 24-of-33 (72.7%) at the charity stripe.
Neither team led by more than five in a first half that featured 14 lead changes and 10 ties.
Gibson’s record-tying steal started a fast break that resulted in a foul on the Houston native, who converted a pair of free throws to give UTSA a 28-27 lead with 2:05 left in the first.
The Purple Aces took a 33-31 lead on a Ned Cox jumper, but Gibson stopped and popped from the top of the key just before the buzzer to knot the score at the break. Gibson and Hill had 12 points apiece in the half to lead all players.
The Roadrunners begin a three-game home stand against Cameron (2-0) at 5 p.m. on Friday.
