BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Byron Frohnen recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 11 points and a season-high 13 rebounds and ninth-seeded UTSA defeated No. 8 seed WKU, 56-52, on Wednesday in the opening round of the Conference USA Tournament presented by metroPCS.
UTSA now will face Regular Season Champion and 25th-ranked Middle Tennessee (27-4) at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday in a game that can be seen on the American Sports Network.
Frohnen, who was announced as a member of the C-USA All-Freshman team on Tuesday, went 5-of-10 from the floor and pulled down seven boards on the offensive end to go along with four assists for the Roadrunners (14-18), who claimed their first-ever win in the C-USA Tournament and first over the Hilltoppers (15-17).
Jeff Beverly added 14 points, while Lucas O'Brien hit a pair of 3-pointers on his way to 10. UTSA held its ninth opponent to fewer than 60 points this season and limited WKU to just 30.4 percent shooting, which was its worst outing against a C-USA opponent this season.
All-conference honoree Justin Johnson paced the Hilltoppers with 15 points and 16 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the season and Pancake Thomas added a dozen points.
Giovanni De Nicolao drove the lane for a pair of layups to start the second half and Beverly's jumper with 17:47 to play gave UTSA a seven-point cushion, but the Hilltoppers scored the next seven points to knot the score at 29.
George Willborn III knifed through the WKU defense on back-to-back possessions for baskets at the rim to regain the advantage for UTSA. However, the Hilltoppers broke through minutes later on Johnson's 3-pointer with 8:39 to play for a 40-38 edge.
The key stretch of the contest followed Johnson's trey when the Roadrunners responded with a 10-1 run to take the lead for good.
Beverly started the run with a pair of free throws and UTSA would score its next eight points in the paint with two layups from the junior and buckets by Frohnen and O'Brien for a 48-41 lead.
WKU scored the next six points to get within 48-47, but Frohnen's three-point play with 1:42 to go extended the lead and got momentum back with the Roadrunners. Beverly then hit a guarded 17-footer on the baseline with just more than a minute remaining and after a defensive stop, the Hilltoppers were forced to foul.
Gino Littles hit two free throws with 37 seconds left and another from De Nicolao with just 10 ticks on the clock put the game out of reach.
In all, UTSA held WKU to just two field goals in the final eight minutes of the game.
The UTSA defense held WKU to just 20 points and 23.3 percent shooting in the opening half, as the visitors on the scoreboard led for much of the first 20 minutes.
Both teams started cold from the floor, but Frohnen got the offense going with a jumper to give the Roadrunners their first lead, 6-5. The basket started a stretch in which UTSA hit 6-of-8 attempts to grab its largest advantage of the period at 18-12.
O'Brien added a long jumper and a 3-pointer before Nick Allen beat the shot clock with a jumper. The Roadrunners penetrated the WKU zone on the team's next possession and Frohnen, who finished with six points, five boards and three assists in the first half, found Beverly down low for an easy layup. O'Brien then capped the stretch with another trey.
WKU scored the next five points, three of which came a the free-throw line, but Frohnen scored again inside and Littles ended the half with free throws to give the Roadrunners a 23-20 cushion at intermission.
