NORMAN, Okla. – UTSA's freshman Jhivvan Jackson outdueled Oklahoma's freshman Trae Young, who entered the game as the nation's second-leading scorer, in the points column; however, it was not enough as the Sooners defeated the Roadrunners 97-85 Monday evening at the Lloyd Noble Center.
Jackson scored a game and career-high 31 points on 11 field goals, including four 3-pointers. Young went for 28, making nine shots, including two triples.
Jackson was joined in double figures by fellow frosh Keaton Wallace with 17. Deon Lyle set his season-best scoring effort for the third time in the last four games with 16 points and Nick Allen added 10. Byron Frohnen led the Birds with eight rebounds and Wallace was the top assist-man with six.
Jamuni McNeace scored 15 and Christian James netted 14 to mark three Sooners (6-1) in double-figures. Khadeem Lattin grabbed a game-high 11 boards for Oklahoma.
OU outshot the Roadrunners (5-5) 46 percent (37 of 81) to 38 percent (31 of 81) and won the rebounding battle 54-47. The Sooners outscored UTSA 48-30 in the paint, but the Roadrunners bested OU 13-6 on the fast break and 54-37 off the bench.
Both teams got off to a slow start as only three of the first 20 and 14 of the first 45 shots fell. UTSA led by three early on a Wallace jumper, but the Sooners answered with a scoring spurt to take a 22-17 lead midway through the opening period. A solo 8-3 run by Young gave the Sooners their first double-digit lead of the night at 30-20. UTSA answered with an 8-1 spurt with 3-pointers by Jackson and Lyle, trimming the Roadrunners' deficit to three with five minutes to go before the intermission.
OU stretched its lead to 42-31 on Young's second 3-pointer on the game, but UTSA outscored the Sooners 6-0 over the final 1:52 to make it a two-possession game at 42-37 after 20 minutes of play.
UTSA outscored Oklahoma by three in the first 3:30 of the second half to cut the Sooner lead 50-48 as Allen made his second 3-pointer. OU again pushed its lead to 10 and the Roadrunners got as close as five at 64-59 via a Lyle triple at the 12:21 mark. However, the Sooners put separation on the scoreboard with a 14-3 run over the ensuing 2:23 to take a 75-59 lead.
UTSA closed the gap to single digits at 75-66 with Jackson's layup at the 9:15 mark, but again the Sooners answered with a 10-point scoring streak to put the game out of reach.
Up next
The Roadrunners return to the Convocation Center to take on Houston Baptist on Saturday, Dec 9 at 7 p.m. The game, which will feature a Star Wars promotion, will air live in San Antonio on KCWX-TV.