HOUSTON — Rice started the 2nd half on a 15-3 run to blow open a close game and it claimed a 67-52 victory against UTSA in the Conference USA opener for both teams on Friday night at Tudor Fieldhouse.
Jeromie Hill led the Roadrunners (5-6, 0-1 C-USA) with 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Keon Lewis added 11 points. Phillip Jones came off the bench to score 10 points in 13 minutes off the bench in his first action of the season.
UTSA, who was held to 34.6 percent shooting for the game, registered 13 assists on its 18 baskets.
Meanwhile, Marcus Jackson led all scorers with 27 points and Max Guercy chipped in 13 and five assists for the Owls (4-8, 1-0 C-USA). Rice shot a season-high 54.8 percent and hit 11-of-22 attempts from behind the arc.
Hill scored eight of the Roadrunners’ first 11 points and the visitors held an 11-7 advantage after the first five minutes. UTSA led 15-11 after a pair of free throws from Lewis before the Owls made a charge over the final 10 minutes of the period, when they outscored UTSA 18-7 to grab a 29-22 lead at intermission.
Seth Gearhart opened the second half with a 3-pointer to ignite the 15-3 run for the home squad to start the stanza and claim a 44-25 advantage.
An Andrew Drone layup with 10 minutes to play pushed the Owls’ lead to 20, 54-34, before the Roadrunners could make a charge.
A triple by Gino Littles with 9:41 remaining started a 13-3 run for UTSA to cut into the deficit.
Littles then came up with a steal that turned into a Lewis layup before Hill’s steal and fast break dunk. Jones then hit a pair of freebies and Christian Wilson answered a Rice basket with a trey to pull UTSA within 10, 56-46, with 5:47 to go.
Hill’s jumper with 3:06 left again trimmed the deficit to 10, 58-48, but UTSA would get no closer as the Owls outscored the Roadrunners 9-4 the rest of the way.
UTSA will look to bounce back at North Texas (6-7, 0-1 C-USA) at 2 p.m. on Sunday. The game can be seen on FOX Sports Networks (FOX Sports Southwest in the state of Texas).