SAN ANTONIO — Sophomore Melvin Johnson III registered his first career double-double and UTSA made 11-of-12 free throws down the stretch to defeat I-35 rival Texas State, 88-84, on Saturday night in front of a season-high 2,856 fans at the Convocation Center.
Johnson III led all players with 21 points and a career-high 10 rebounds to help the Roadrunners improve to 9-8 overall and 3-2 in Southland Conference play. Freshman Jeromie Hill added 17 points, while senior Devin Gibson pitched in with 15 points, eight assists, six rebounds and a pair of steals. Freshman Tyler Wood scored a season-high 15 behind three key second-half 3-pointers, as UTSA won for the 30th time in 50 all-time meetings with the Bobcats (7-11, 2-2 SLC).
Eddie Rios led Texas State with 20 points on the strength of five treys. Tony Bishop (17), Cameron Johnson (16) and Travis Jones (15) also reached double figures.
UTSA led by as many as 17 points but had to withstand a furious rally late in the second half.
Back-to-back layups by Hill gave the Roadrunners 67-50 advantage with 13:38 to play, matching the largest lead of the first half.
Texas State began to chip away, using a 13-4 run over the next 3:20 to pull to within single digits.
A pair of UTSA turnovers led to back-to-back baskets by the Bobcats, the last a slam dunk by Johnson to pull them to within 73-68 with 7:45 left. A free throw by Johnson made it a one-possession game with 5:33 to play.
Gibson, who battled foul trouble all evening and picked up his fourth at the 6:42 mark, answered with a layup 12 seconds later, but that would be the last field goal of the contest for the Roadrunners.
Gibson got to the line and converted a pair to push the lead to 79-72 with 4:27 to go, but Texas State would not quit.
Jones drained 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to pull the Bobcats to within 79-78 with under four minutes to play.
Hill was fouled with 2:22 remaining and made both to give UTSA an 83-80 lead, but Johnson was hacked on two consecutive trips and made all four freebies to hand Texas State its first and only lead of the game at 84-83 with 1:41 remaining.
Gibson got the advantage right back for the Roadrunners with two free throws of his own 16 ticks later. After a Bobcats turnover, junior Sei Paye had a great look at a three that rimmed out, giving the ball back to Texas State. UTSA forced another turnover, as Ryan White dribbled the ball off his leg out of bounds with 32 seconds left.
Gibson was quickly fouled and made one of two — the only UTSA miss in the final four-plus minutes — to push the lead to two.
Rios missed a three and Jones misfired on a put-back attempt with five seconds to go. Paye secured the rebound and was fouled. He made both to provide the final four-point margin.
Johnson III scored 16 of his points in the first half and UTSA shot 51.5 percent from the floor in building a double-digit lead for most of the stanza.
UTSA stormed out of the gates to a 13-0 lead through the first 3:23. Eight of the points came on layups, including a pair by Hill.
Meanwhile, Texas State missed its first nine attempts from floor, as the lead grew to 19-3 after Johnson III knocked down a pair of free throws following an intentional foul on a fast-break layup attempt.
Rios finally stopped the bleeding for the Bobcats with a three from the top of the circle at the 12:39 mark. Texas State got to within seven at 39-32 after a three-point play by Bishop, but UTSA used a 7-4 run over the final two minutes to take a 46-36 lead into the locker room.
The Roadrunners host Oklahoma Panhandle State (4-14) in their final non-conference game of the regular season at 7 p.m. on Monday.
