SAN MARCOS, Texas – Down nine with 1:10 to go, UTSA hit three threes and Jhivvan Jackson sank two pressure free throws with 8.9 seconds to play as the Roadrunners came back to defeat Texas State 79-78 Wednesday night in Strahan Coliseum.
After a pair from Austin Karrer at the line, Jackson started the UTSA rally with a 3-pointer at the top of the arc that was answered by two Nijal Pearson free throws. Giovanni De Nicolao then sliced down the lane for a bucket, cutting the TXST lead to 76-74 with 20 seconds showing on the clock. Texas State responded with two more free throws; however, De Nicolao drilled a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, brining the Roadrunners within a point. UTSA fouled, Tyler Blount missed both at the line and Byron Frohnen grabbed the rebound, setting up the Birds' final possession.
Jackson drove the lane and was fouled on his layup attempt. The freshman calmly knocked down both free throws to seal the Roadrunners' 35th all-time victory over Texas State.
De Nicolao led four Roadrunners in double-figures with 17. Jackson poured in 15, while Keaton Wallace added 11 and Nick Allen 10. UTSA closed the game shooting 45.9 percent (28 of 61) and 47.1 percent (16 of 34) from 3-point range.
Texas State was led by Blount's 22 points as Pearson scored 14 and Deris Duncan 10. The Bobcats shot 40.3 percent (25 of 62) overall, but were hindered by 13 misses at the free-throw line.
The second half opened with the teams trading buckets until two Jackson 3-pointers and a De Nicolao layup gave the Roadrunners a 51-46 lead moments after the under-16 media timeout. Texas State trimmed the UTSA advantage to 56-55; however, George Willborn III answered with a knifing layup and completed the 3-point play for a 59-55 lead with 8:46 to play.
Texas State outscored the Roadrunners 10-5 over the ensuing five minutes to take a 65-64 lead on Nedelkjo Prijovic's inside score. The Bobcats proceeded the score the game's next six points to stretch their lead to 71-64 with just over two minutes remaining. Marlin Davis and Prijovic each split a pair of free throws to give TXST its nine-point lead with 70 seconds to go, setting up the late-game Roadrunner heroics.
UTSA jumped out to an eight-point lead at 13-5 in the game's opening minutes, but a 14-7 run over the next four minutes pushed the Bobcats out to a 22-20 advantage at the 8:28 mark. Toby Van Ry quickly leveled the score at the free-throw line, but 3-pointers by TXST's Deris Duncan and Tre'Larenz Nottingham on consecutive possessions pushed the home team back in front 28-22.
Wallace then bookended a Bobcat bucket inside with two threes of his own to trim the TXST lead to 30-28 with 6:04 to go before the half. The pace slowed down considerably with only a pair of TXST free throws increasing the score over the ensuing four minutes until Frohnen grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup at the 1:40 mark. A minute later Karrer, evened the score at 32. Kendell Ramlal put the Roadrunners up 34-32 at the intermission as he scored on an out-of-bounds play as the first-half clock expired.
Nine Roadrunners scored in the opening 20 minutes, led by Wallace's six, as the Birds shot 44.4 percent from the field and an even 50 percent from three.
Up next
UTSA competes in the inaugural eight-team bracketed Island of the Bahamas Showcase starting Friday in Nassau, The Bahamas. The Roadrunners will face Sun Belt-member Coastal Carolina in a quarterfinal game at 1 p.m. CT. The winner/loser takes on Vermont/Bradley at 10 a.m./4 p.m. CT on Nov. 18. UTSA wraps up its stay at the tournament against a to be determined team on Nov. 19.
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