SAN ANTONIO – Jhivvan Jackson, the reigning Conference USA Freshman of the Week, totaled his second straight 20-point scoring game to lead UTSA past Rice 79-66 in both team's Conference USA opener Thursday evening at the Convocation Center.
Jackson, who has scored 20-plus five times in his 14 career games, was 6 of 10 from the floor, including a season-high tying five 3-pointers. He was joined in double figures by junior Deon Lyle with 12 on five makes, including a trio of three. Byron Frohnen led UTSA on the boards with nine, while Giovanni De Nicolao and Jackson each had four steals.
Rice was led by Connor Cashaw's 14 points via four 3-pointers and two free throws. Malik Osborne grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
The Roadrunners shot 44 percent (27 of 62) from the floor, making 12 from 3-point range. Rice was 20 of 51 (39 percent) on its field goal attempts, but did knock down 11 threes. The Owls finished with a slight 40-39 edge on the boards, but UTSA scored 34 points off turnovers and 26 in the paint.
The win improved the Roadrunners to 8-6 (1-0 C-USA) on the season, including an unblemished 6-0 mark at home. Rice fell to 3-11 (0-1 C-USA).
UTSA quickly stretched its nine-point halftime edge to 15 with a 6-0 run in the early stages of the second half. Rice would respond with a 10-2 run of its own to cut the Roadrunners advantage to 42-35 with 15:35 to play.
However, over the next 5:35 UTSA outscored the Owls 17-3 to take a 59-38 lead via a Lyle corner three with 10:02 remaining. The scoring burst was fueled by two Lyle threes, a pair of buckets inside by Allen along with a triple by George Willborn III.
Jackson put the game away for good as he scored 13 straight UTSA points, including three 3-pointers in a three-minute stretch in the latter stages of the half to give the Roadrunners a game-high 21-point lead.
Rice scored 15 of the game's final 22 points to provide the 79-66 final.
With the game tied at 11 eight minutes into the first half, Willborn III sparked a 13-1 UTSA run with a strong finish on a fast break. Allen and Keaton Wallace capped the scoring streak with threes on back-to-back possessions to push the Roadrunners ahead 24-12 with 6:24 to go before the half. Rice outscored the Roadrunners 13-10 over the remainder of the period to send the squads into the break with UTSA up 34-25.
UTSA shot 41 percent in the opening 20 minutes and Rice 42 percent. The Roadrunners also turned 13 Rice turnovers into 20 points.
Up next
The Roadrunners continue their C-USA season-opening home stand on Saturday (Dec. 30) against North Texas. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the contest will be televised on KCWX-TV in San Antonio. The game will also feature a 'Los Roadrunners' promotion with the first 500 fans in attendance receiving a FREE t-shirt.
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