HOUSTON — Jeff Beverly recorded his ninth game of at least 20 points, but Rice outscored UTSA 15-3 in the final five minutes to break a 65-all tie and pick up an 80-68 victory on Thursday night at Tudor Fieldhouse.
Beverly went 8-of-17 from the floor and added four free throws to pace the Roadrunners (11-15, 6-7 C-USA), who held a 45-33 rebounding edge. Fresh off a career-high 23 points last Saturday, Lucas O'Brien just missed out on a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
UTSA shot 40 percent from the field and piled up 21 second-chance points off 15 offensive rebounds.
Meanwhile, reigning Conference USA Player of the Week Marcus Evans led the Owls (18-8, 8-5 C-USA) with 26 points and Egor Koulechov chipped in with 18. Rice shot 48.3 percent for the game, including 58.1 percent in the second half. The Owls missed all 10 of their 3-point tries in the first half, but bounced back to go 9-of-14 (.643) behind the arc in the second half.
The teams traded runs in the second half for a back-and-forth period that featured four ties and six lead-changes until the Owls pulled away in the final five minutes.
Rice, which led 28-27 at halftime, started the final 20 minutes with a 7-0 run that UTSA answered with nine consecutive points for a 38-37 lead. Evans quickly reclaimed the advantage for the Owls with a personal 8-0 stretch and Rice led 46-40 before the Roadrunners countered with a 10-3 run.
UTSA scored six points at the free-throw line during the stretch, which included a three-point play by George Willborn III. Mitar Stanojevic, who finished with eight points in 11 minutes, capped the run with a pair of free throws that gave the visitors a 50-49 lead with 10:33 left.
But again, the advantage was short-lived as Koulechov and Marcus Jackson drilled back-to-back 3-pointers, and a free throw from Jackson pushed the Rice cushion to 56-50.
UTSA kept fighting back and outscored Rice 15-9 over the next four-and-a-half minutes to knot the game at 65-all with 5:20 on the clock.
The stretch included another basket by Willborn III, a pair of jumpers by Beverly and a 3-pointer from O'Brien and it was capped by Giovanni De Nicolao's 17-foot jumper.
However, Evans scored the next five points to jump-start the game-deciding 15-3 run. Beverly hit a jumper to pull the Roadrunners within 70-67, but Koulechov ended any hopes of a comeback with a layup and a deep 3-pointer as Rice pulled away for the 80-68 victory.
After a back-and-forth opening to the contest, UTSA broke an 8-all tie with an 11-2 run to grab a 19-10 advantage. O'Brien got the run started with a 3-pointer before a baseline jumper from Nick Allen. Beverly then sandwiched a pair of jumpers around a Byron Frohnen bucket for the nine-point lead.
The Roadrunners took advantage of a four-minute scoreless stretch for the Owls, but Evans snapped the home squad out of its funk with three consecutive baskets to ignite a 17-2 run.
The burst gave Rice its largest lead of the half, 27-21. However, the Roadrunners scored six of the last seven points in the period, including a buzzer-beating layup by De Nicolao, to trim the deficit to 28-27 at intermission.
UTSA will continue its four-game road trip at 3 p.m. on Saturday when it will take on North Texas (7-18, 1-12 C-USA) at the Super Pit.
