SAN ANTONIO — Jeff Beverly scored a career-high 32 points, 20 of which came in the first half, to help UTSA pick up its first-ever win against UAB, 82-67, on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
Beverly went 10-of-17 from the field and connected 11 times at the free-throw line as the Roadrunners (10-13, 5-5 C-USA) snapped a four-game skid and improved to 9-1 at home this season. It was the first 30-point performance for a UTSA player this season and the first since J.R. Harris hit a school-record 10 3-pointers en route to 36 points last season at UAB.
He was joined in double figures by Lucas O'Brien, who netted a season-high 16 points to go along with seven rebounds, and Giovanni De Nicolao added 12 points and six assists.
The Roadrunners had their best shooting performance of Conference USA play at 47.5 percent. UTSA also dominated inside, outscoring the lengthy Blazers (14-10, 7-4 C-USA) 32-20 to go along with a 38-23 rebounding advantage.
Meanwhile, Dirk Williams led UAB with 16 points and Hakeem Baxter chipped in with 13.
The first half belonged to the UTSA big men, as Beverly (20) and O'Brien (14) combined to score 34 of the team's 44 points. The pair totaled 19 of the team's first 21 points in a back-and-forth opening 10 minutes that featured six ties and 10 lead changes.
A Williams 3-pointer gave the Blazers a 27-26 lead, but UTSA would outscore the visitors 18-6 over the final five minutes to take a 44-33 cushion to halftime.
The UTSA defense did its part during the run as it allowed just a pair of baskets down the stretch and held UAB scoreless for three-and-a-half minutes.
After a Tosin Mehinti free throw pulled the Blazers within 33-30, the Roadrunners busted off an 11-0 run for their largest lead of the period. O'Brien opened the spurt with his fourth 3-pointer before Byron Frohnen and Beverly connected on jumpers.
De Nicolao and Beverly capped the run with four consecutive makes at the free-throw line to help UTSA finish a perfect 12-for-12 at the charity stripe in the half.
The Blazers were able to trim the Roadrunners' 11-point halftime lead down to just six, 52-46, in the early minutes of the second half. After turning it over just three times in the first half, UTSA let UAB back in it with four giveaways in the opening six minutes of the second half.
However, the Roadrunners went on a 13-4 run over the next four minutes to reclaim their double-digit cushion, 65-50, with 10 minutes to play.
O'Brien started the run with a pair of free throws before a Gino Littles steal that led to a layup and a dunk by Nick Allen. Austin Karrer came flying to the basket for a tip-in of a missed shot and Beverly capped the spurt with a pair of free throws and a triple.
UTSA would hold at least a 12-point lead the rest of the game and the home squad held its largest advantage, 73-54, following baskets by Allen and De Nicolao with 5:19 left on the clock.
With just 16 seconds to play, De Nicolao put the finishing touches on the win with a steal and layup as the Roadrunners cruised to the 82-67 final.
UTSA will be back in action at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 9 when it will host Southern Miss (7-15, 4-6 C-USA) at the Convocation Center.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Steve Henson
Question: You guys snapped your four-game losing streak today. What did it feel like?
Steve Henson: It felt great. It felt great to see our guys play the right way. We practiced the right way all week, approached the game on Thursday the right way and had a good first half, but we weren't ready Thursday to finish it off against a great team. We were today. We started off the right way and were able to make enough plays in the second half. They made a little run at us early in the second half, but our guys kept their poise and continued to make good plays. We rebounded the ball like crazy. I'm proud of the steps we took this week. We would have loved to win both games at home, but we are a better team today than we were a week ago.
Q: What got into Jeff Beverly to have today's game?
SH: Jeff has had games like that and tonight he had a few looks early on where you're kind of wondering if their interior shot blockers might not affect him in a negative way because they're huge and athletic. It's one of the best front lines we've seen so we moved him around a little bit and got him on the floor more. He didn't get frustrated when he got a couple blocked early. He just kept sticking his nose in there and made a lot of terrific plays for us.
Q: Considering the bulk that they have inside, you guys out rebounded them by 15 after being outrebounded last game. Talk about that.
SH: These last two opponents are two of the better rebounding teams in the league. We talked about the importance of that on Thursday and we lost the battle. We talked about it again yesterday and the guys responded. It was terrific. Everybody did it — guards stuck their nose in there and chased down the long rebounds, put bodies on people and we were able to block-out out of the zone, which was a big concern. It was a big key to the game. They feed off those offensive rebounds.
Q: You had a big day from Lucas O'Brien with those early 3s and then finished with 16…
SH: Lucas has been doing a good job. He got a couple three's to go down and gave us a different look offensively. We were able to run a lot of pick-n-pop stuff and that's stuff we were trying to do earlier in the year, we just weren't shooting the ball well enough. To get those big guys to come out on the floor and make them cover that way was really a big bonus. It felt like we made even more 3s than that because it's been such a tough part of the game for us, but Lucas' 3s stretched the game a lot.
Q: Is this the most consistent game you've played all season?
SH: I would say so. There was a stretch there early in the first half where we had a few turnovers, but overall, yes. There weren't many big runs from them. We rebounded all night long and valued the basketball. We continued to make shots. I thought we had a terrific first half on Thursday, but for 40 minutes, this may have been the best night.
Q: That performance in the first half and the way you put it together…what do you feel like that'll do for the rest of the season?
SH: Again, we didn't come out of Thursday feeling good about the final result. Middle Tennessee is the best team in the league right now according to record and they looked the part. We battled against them and came back against another terrific team in UAB. I think it just reinforces that if we play the right way, fight and take care of the basketball, we'll have a chance every single night. At this point in the season, when you can feel good about those types of things its really exciting moving forward. I think our guys will come in and approach practice the right way again this week. If we had lost this game, it would have been a big losing streak and would have been tough, but I think we're a better team now.
Jeff Beverly, Jr., F
Question: What does it feel like to get back into the win column here?
Jeff Beverly: It feels great, hard work pays off.
Q: You and Lucas both got off to really good starts after the struggles on Thursday. What does that mean to you guys?
JB: It means a lot. Me and Lucas push each other every day at practice. We go at it. He helps me get better at my defense and he helps all the young guys out a lot. For the team, it means a lot. We have been grinding hard at practice. The Middle Tennessee loss kind of had us down. We got our confidence back up though.
Q: You had a career high today. Just talk about your game today.
JB: My teammates found me out there. I made shots today. Like I said, hard work pays off. We've been shooting everyday in the gym. Coach (Henson) says I have to shoot 1,000 shots a day. It pays off.
Q: Lucas hit those threes early in the game and it seemed to get him going, but it also seemed to get the team going. Tell us about that.
JB: Lucas has been grinding in practice. We tell him to keep shooting, it's going to fall. Hard work pays off.
Q: You guys struggled on the boards the other night against Middle Tennessee, but outrebounded UAB by 15 today. Why were you guys so successful today?
JB: Like I said the last time, it's the little things we did today – the things that don't come up on the stat sheet, we did those.
