SAN ANTONIO -- Lucas O'Brien scored a career-high 23 points, but Erik McCree finished with a game-high 25 to help Louisiana Tech hold off UTSA, 72-66, on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
O'Brien went 8-of-12 from the floor and tied a career high with five 3-pointers to pace the Roadrunners (11-14, 6-6 C-USA), who dropped just their second home game of the season. He was joined in double-figures by Jeff Beverly's dozen points to go along with eight rebounds.
Meanwhile, McCree went 7-of-14 and hit six triples and just missed out on a double-double with nine rebounds, three assists and a key block in the final minute for the Bulldogs (18-8, 10-3 C-USA). DaQuan Bracey and Jalen Harris each finished with 12 points and Louisiana Tech shot 46 percent in the contest.
Trailing 42-36 at halftime, UTSA opened the final period with five straight points on a Byron Frohnen jumper and O'Brien 3-pointer to trim the deficit to one.
The Roadrunners held Louisiana Tech scoreless for the first four minutes of the half, but the Bulldogs would respond with an 11-0 run to reclaim a double-digit lead, 53-41.
A Harris jumper minutes later extended the Bulldogs' cushion to 58-45, their largest of the day.
The Louisiana Tech lead stood at 68-58 with four minutes to play and UTSA rallied with eight consecutive points to trim the deficit to a basket.
Gino Littles started the spurt with a pair of free throws before a Beverly 3-pointer in the corner. Beverly then banked-in a triple from the wing with 1:14 to play that made it 68-66, but the Roadrunners would get no closer.
On the next Louisiana Tech possession, Giovanni De Nicolao stripped McCree, but the Bulldogs forced a pair of missed layups on the other end. Omar Sherman made it a two-possession game with a basket inside that extended the lead to 70-66 with 20 seconds to play.
McCree then sealed the win with a block and two free throws for the 72-66 final.
O'Brien saved the Roadrunners in the first half as the home squad saw three starters — Beverly, Littles and Frohnen — on the bench with two fouls apiece. The senior went 6-of-7, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc, in the half to lead all scorers with 17 points.
O'Brien hit the first of his three 3-pointers in the opening minutes to give the home squad its only lead of the day, 7-6. The Bulldogs followed with an 11-2 run that was cut off by a jumper from Nick Allen and another O'Brien triple.
However, Louisiana Tech would rattle off a 10-2 stretch, with the help of five free throws, minutes later to take its largest lead of the half, 28-18.
Again it was O'Brien who stopped the Bulldogs run with a trey that was followed by a pair of sensational plays from George Willborn III. The freshman chased down Jacobi Boykins and blocked a layup attempt, then raced down the floor and converted an acrobatic basket of his own that brought the home crowd to its feet.
O'Brien scored six straight points for UTSA to help offset 3-pointers by McCree and Harris. Willborn III then capped the half with a rainbow triple at the buzzer that pulled the Roadrunners within 42-36 at intermission.
UTSA will open a four-game road trip at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16, when it will take on Rice (16-8, 6-5 C-USA) at Tudor Fieldhouse.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Steve Henson
Question: What did you tell your guys in the locker room today?
Steve Henson: I was proud of our effort and our fight. We did a lot of things well, but we just didn't quite make enough plays. I was proud of the way we took care of the basketball in the second half. We competed for the most part, we just didn't finish enough plays. We had a lot of point-blank shots there that would have helped us out. We let (Erik) McCree get loose. He's such a good shooter. Those three pointers were killer. I'm proud of the way we hung in there in the first half. There was a point where it looked like they were about to pop it open on us and we hung in there. We made that three at the end of the first half that gave us a boost. Love the way we started the second half with a little run, just couldn't make enough plays.
Q: You have such a slim margin on offense when Jeff Beverly and Byron Frohnen are out. Explain how difficult it was to get things going.
SH: It is difficult. We played the first portion of the first half with three guys on the bench with fouls. We run a lot through Jeff (Beverly), Byron (Frohnen) can make things happen and Giovanni (De Nicolao) can make things happen. With two or three of those guys sitting it makes things tough. Lucas (O'Brien) bailed us out with a great night. He's playing with a lot of confidence right now. He hung in there and gave us a chance.
Q: You think he (Lucas O'Brien) can have another game like he had today?
SH: It was a big night for him. He's been feeling good lately. When big guys are guarding him and he gets those seals, we got good looks for him. I hope he just keeps his confidence.
Q: This LA Tech team is disciplined out front. How difficult was it to stop them?
SH: They're an athletic group and they're skilled. DaQuan Bracey'— point guard —can beat you off the dribble. (Omar) Sherman is one of the best post-up guys and he can score it. Then their main guys are (Erik) McCree and (Jacobi) Boykins so you spend all your time worrying about those guys who can go crazy and have huge nights. So it's just a very balanced attack. They're big strong guys, but they're skilled guys too.
Q: In the second half they got up by as much as 13, but then you all were able to battle back and it just seemed like you ran out of time.
SH: We had a legitimate chance there late. Our guys have hung in there. I'm not surprised by that. It's kind of been the nature of our group. We hang and hang and hang and get a few stops. Then we get something good to happen, which we did when Jeff banked-in a three. Our guys are going to hang in there and fight. It's just a matter of making a couple game-winning plays and that doesn't mean shooting—get a steal, take a charge. We needed to do more of those today.
Lucas O'Brien, Sr., C
Question: What did coach say in the locker room after the game?
Lucas O'Brien: They're a good team. You have to fight their runs and we didn't fight every run—they got us on a couple. It was a tough game, but we'll learn and go on to the next one.
Q: You had a career night tonight. What exactly did you do to get there?
LO: Coach set us some plays. Jeff Beverly had a rough have getting into foul trouble so someone had to pick it up. He was just giving me chances to get the ball up and I was lucky enough to get them to go down.
Q: How much did your offense change when both Byron Frohnen and Jeff Beverly went out?
LO: We just have to work harder and smarter. We didn't necessarily have the fire-power out there so we have to be a little more gritty and go after the ball more. I think we held up pretty good without having two of our main guys. I thought it could have been a lot worse, but I'm proud of our guys.
Q: You guys were down by as many as 13 in the second half and then battled back and kind of ran out of time there…
LO: They are a great team. They've had plenty of close games where they've pulled it out—a lot of them at home—but a couple on the road. They are a veteran team. We just have to keep working.
Q: You weren't just scoring from the three, but you were scoring from everywhere. Will we see more of that?
LO: Maybe. It's one of those things where coach just put me into a position to score. Jeff (Beverly) was having a rough one with foul trouble, couldn't get in a groove. It was a team effort. We have to move on to the next one.
