TULSA, Okla. – UTSA scored a season-high 96 points, but it was not enough to overcome Tulsa as the Golden Hurricane held on late for a 100-96 victory Tuesday evening at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Tulsa made only one field goal over the final 6:49, but converted 16 free throws to stave off a late UTSA rally that saw the Roadrunners trim a once 13-point deficit to only two possessions six times in the final 2:21.
UTSA (4-3) freshman guard Jhivvan Jackson led all scorers with a career-best 29 points, making 6 of 12 from the floor with three 3-pointers and 14 of 15 at the free-throw line in his 27 minutes on the floor. Fellow frosh Keaton Wallace scored 17 points – 14 of which came in the first half. Deon Lyle also scored a career-best with 14 on five field goals, including four treys. Giovanni De Nicolao added 12 and George Willborn III chipped in 11 to round out the Roadrunners in double-figures.
Junior Etou led four Golden Hurricane (4-3) in double-digits with 20 points. Sterling Taplin notched 18, Curran Scott 16 and Martins Igbanu 10. Igbanu also led all players with nine rebounds.
Tulsa closed the game shooting 49 percent (33 of 68) overall, 40 percent (10 of 25) from three and 71 percent (24 of 34) at the free-throw line. UTSA finished with a 45 percent clip (29 of 64) from the field, 41 percent (15 of 37) from deep and 85 percent (23 of 27) at the line. The Roadrunners' outscored Tulsa 57-33 off the bench, including Jackson's 29.
Tulsa opened the second half making six of its first seven shot attempts to expand an eight-point halftime lead to a 12-point margin (69-57) with 14:50 to play on a Taplin bucket. Lyle sank a three on UTSA's next possession and Jackson made four at the free-throw line as the Birds trimmed the Tulsa lead back to 71-64 at the 12:04 mark.
Tulsa stretched its lead to a game-high 13 points at 87-74 on an Etou free throw with 3:57 to play. However, De Nicolao, Lyle and Jackson made threes on consecutive possessions to pull the orange-clad Roadrunners within four (87-83) with 2:21 showing on the clock.
The Birds would get no closer the rest of the way as Tulsa hung on at the free throw line in improving to 6-0 all-time in the series.
The first half played tight for the initial 18 minutes as UTSA twice took a single-point lead and never allowed Tulsa to mount more than a three-possession advantage. However, the Golden Hurricane ended the final three minutes on an 11-6 run to take a 53-45 advantage into the locker rooms.
The Roadrunners' duo of Jackson and Wallace led all scorers through the opening 20 minutes as the pair scored 30 combined points. Jackson was 5 of 9 from the field, including a 4-point play, for 16 points, while Wallace went 5 of 11 with three triples for his 14 points.
Overall, the team made 37 field goals, including 14 treys, in the first half as UTSA shot 47 percent (16 of 34) and Tulsa 50 percent (21 of 42).
Up next
UTSA returns home for its third game in the Convocation Center on Thurs., Nov. 30 against Ottawa. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be carried live on CUSA.tv and Ticket 760.
