SAN ANTONIO – Trailing by one after a missed North Texas free throw, UTSA's Giovanni De Nicolao raced the length of the floor and laid the ball of the glass in the final second, but the shot along with the ensuing tip-in chance did not fall as the Mean Green escaped the Convocation Center with a 72-71 victory Saturday evening.
UTSA (8-7, 1-1 C-USA) outscored North Texas (9-6, 2-0 C-USA) 7-2 over the final 2:29 to trim its deficit to a single point and set up the final possession.
UTSA was led by 17 points each from Keaton Wallace and Jhivvan Jackson, while Nick Allen dropped in 11. Byron Frohnen had a near-double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds and eight points.
Roosevelt Smart paced the Mean Green with 22 points, while Ryan Woolridge added 18 and A.J. Lawson 14.
The Roadrunners shot 48 percent (28 of 60) for the game and North Texas 43 percent (26 of 60). UTSA outrebounded the Mean Green 40-32 and outscored the visitors 38-32 in the paint.
North Texas quickly erased its seven-point halftime deficit with a 12-5 run over the initial 4:19 of the period to knot the game at 46 via a Woolridge jumper. After an Allen finish at the rack, the Mean Green went on a 11-2 scoring spurt that included a trio of threes to take a 57-50 lead and force at UTSA timeout at the 12:44 mark.
Wallace and Jackson each scored six of UTSA's next 14 points to keep the Roadrunners within striking distance at 70-64 at the final media timeout. De Nicolao scored UTSA's first points after the break and two possessions later Austin Karrer brought the Roadrunners with two with a put-back dunk with 2:25 to play.
Jackson tied the score at 70 with a twisting layup a minute later, but the shot was quickly followed by Mean Green bucket from Lawson. Jackson split a pair at the line with 47 seconds showing on the clock to set up the final plays.
UTSA used 9-0 burst nine minutes into the first half to turn a two-point advantage into the Roadrunners' first double-digit lead of the game at 22-11. North Texas closed the UTSA lead to four at the 7:26 mark, but the Roadrunners responded with a 9-0 run to take a 13-point edge at 38-25 with 4:41 to go before the half.
North Texas scored nine of the half's final 12 points, including a Smart jumper at the buzzer, to send the teams into the break with UTSA holding a 41-34 lead.
The Roadrunners shot 45 percent (14 of 31) in the opening half, including a 5 of 11 effort from deep. North Texas made 11 of 33 first-half attempts along with an uncharacteristic 9 of 11 at the free-throw line.
Up next
The Roadrunners take to the road for C-USA contests at LA Tech (Thursday, Jan. 4) and Southern Miss (Saturday, Jan. 6). Thursday's tilt in Ruston, La., is set for 6:30 p.m. and will air on STADIUM, while Saturday's game in Hattisburg, Miss., is a 4 p.m. tipoff on CUSA.tv.
