BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — J.R. Harris scored a season-high 36 points on the strength of a school-record 10 3-pointers, but UAB shot 70 percent (42-of-60) en route to a 104-82 victory on Thursday night at Bartow Arena.
Harris finished 11-of-15 from the field and 10-of-14 from behind the arc for the Roadrunners (3-13, 1-2 C-USA). The junior scored 20 points in the second half and hit the team’s last three shots of the game, all of which were treys.
Christian Wilson added 17 points, while Ryan Bowie and Lucas O’Brien chipped in 11 and 10, respectively. UTSA shot 44.4 percent for the game and scored 20 points off 14 turnovers.
Meanwhile, Dirk Williams led five players in double figures for the Blazers (12-3, 2-0 C-USA), who scored 48 points in the paint, with 17 points. Denzel Watts hit all six of his shots on his way to 15 points and Robert Brown added 15 points of his own.
The Roadrunners started hot and hit six of their first eight shots, including a 3-for-4 effort from behind the arc, as they held the lead for much of the opening minutes.
O’Brien got UTSA on the board with a layup before Harris hit the first of his four first-half 3-pointers. Bowie and Harris sandwiched a pair of treys around another layup by O’Brien before Bowie knocked down a 17-foot jumper for a 15-10 lead.
However, UTSA went cold and connected on just on of its next 11 attempts. Harris knocked down a pair of free throws and then buried another triple to give the visitors a 20-14 cushion, but the Blazers rattled off a 12-0 run to take the lead for good.
Christian Wilson helped slow the momentum with a jumper and, minutes later, the Roadrunners pulled to within 34-29 after another Bowie trey. But UAB outscored UTSA 20-5 over the final five minutes to take a 54-34 advantage to halftime.
The Blazers opened the second half with a 13-3 run and a 67-37 lead and while the Roadrunners would get hot, they could not cool down the Blazers, who would shoot 70.4 percent in the final 20 minutes.
UTSA shot 50 percent for much of the second half, but could not slow down UAB.
Four straight buckets helped trim the deficit to 72-50 with just less than 12 minutes to play. Wilson had a pair of makes before Nick Billingsley scored inside and Harris drained a 3-pointer in the stretch.
Minutes later, the Roadrunners went through a stretch where they hit 8-of-10 shots, but they could not cut into that 22-point deficit as the score stood 88-66 following the spurt.
Harris hit all six of his 3-point attempts in the second half, including three makes in the final 2:04 to close out the 104-82 final margin.
UTSA will be back in action for a 3 p.m. matchup on Saturday, Jan. 9 at Middle Tennessee (9-5, 1-1 C-USA). The contest will be televised by the American Sports Network (KMYS-CW 35 in San Antonio).