HOUSTON — Junior Stephen Franklin and freshman Jeromie Hill combined for 33 points and UTSA held off a late Houston rally in scoring a 68-63 win on Saturday night at Hofheinz Pavilion.
Franklin scored a season-high 18 points on the strength of four 3-pointers and he also grabbed a team-best nine rebounds to help the Roadrunners improve to 6-2 on the season and snap the Cougars’ eight-game home-court winning streak. Hill added 15 points and six boards, while senior Devin Gibson, who logged all 40 minutes in making a homecoming to his hometown, dished out a season-high 11 assists to go along with seven points, six rebounds and three steals, as UTSA won its fourth straight contest against a Conference USA opponent.
Maurice McNeil led all players with 26 points and a dozen rebounds for the Cougars (6-4), who lost to the Roadrunners for the second time this calendar year.
“This was a good, hard-fought win,” head coach Brooks Thompson. “It was tough down the stretch, but, once again, our guys made the plays down the stretch to win.”
UTSA held a 64-55 lead after a layup by junior Larry Wilkins at the 3:13 mark, but Houston rallied to make things interesting in the final minutes.
Alandise Harris made a free throw and Darian Thibodeaux knocked down a jumper to make it a six-point game with 2:38 left on the clock.
An off-balance three from the top of the key by Adam Brown pulled the Cougars to within 64-61 with 1:26 to play. A UTSA turnover on an inbounds pass led to two free throws by Zamal Nixon to make it a one-point contest with 47 seconds on the clock.
Gibson made 1-of-2 freebies at the other end to push the lead to two points with 36 ticks left. Houston’s Kendrick Washington was fouled near the basket with 19 seconds to play, but missed both free throws. Franklin grabbed the rebound and was fouled immediately. He then made 1-of-2 to put the Roadrunners up by three.
Houston set up a final play and Thibodeaux got a good look at a potential game-tying 3-pointer with four seconds left, but the shot was off the mark and Hill secured the rebound. He was fouled and made both free throws to put the finishing touches on UTSA’s first victory in Hofheinz Pavilion in four tries.
The Roadrunners shot 60.9 percent (14-23) in the second half and 46.3 percent for the game, including 8-of-17 (47.1%) from behind the 3-point line. Meanwhile, Houston struggled to just 34.8 percent from the floor and made only 3-of-14 from downtown.
Gibson came up with steals on back-to-back possessions to help UTSA build an eight-point lead in the first half. Gibson stripped Nixon and found Johnson III all alone for a fast-break layup. The Cy Falls High product then intercepted a Mikhail McClean pass and dished to Hill, who flushed it home to give the Roadrunners a 23-15 advantage with just under seven minutes on the clock.
UTSA held a 30-24 lead at the break, thanks in large part to limiting the Cougars to just 28.6-percent shooting from the floor, including 0-for-6 from beyond the arc. The 24 points marked the second-lowest first half output by an opponent this season (21, San Jose State).
Houston opened the second half with a 9-4 run over the first four minutes to climb right back into the contest. McNeil converted a 3-point play one and a half minutes later to answer a layup by freshman T.J. Williams and knot the score at 36-all. The Cougars briefly took a 38-36 lead after a pair of free throws by Nixon with just under 14 minutes remaining.
UTSA responded behind the outside shooting of Franklin, who drained a pair of treys during a 10-4 stretch that helped push the lead to six points at 46-40. Gibson then scored five consecutive points to increase the lead to eight at the midway points of the half.
The lead grew to 10 after freshman Tyler Wood sank a pair of free throws at the 4:51 mark to make it 60-50.
The Roadrunners will return home to host Samford on Monday, Dec. 20. Tip is set for 8 p.m. or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the women’s game against Kansas State.
