SAN ANTONIO – Jhivvan Jackson, Nick Allen, Keaton Wallace and Giovanni De Nicolao all reached double-figures as UTSA was able to fend off the high-octane Marshall offense and capture an 81-77 win Thursday night at the Convocation Center.
The win improved UTSA to 12-11 overall and 5-5 in Conference USA action. Marshall fell to 14-8 on the season, including a 5-4 mark against league competition.
The contest featured three of the four leading scorers in Conference USA in Jackson along with Marshall's Jon Elmore and C.J. Burke. Jackson and Elmore each scored 23, while Burke added 16.
Allen nearly double-double for the Roadrunners, finishing with a season-high nine rebounds to go along with his 13 points. Wallace scored 12, but none bigger than his go-ahead 3-pointer 1:51 to play. De Nicolao scored eight of UTSA's first 15 points on his way to 10 for the contest.
Elmore also led the Thundering Herd with a game-high 13 rebounds. Ajdin Penava joined Elmore and Burks in double-digit with 18, including several dunks.
Marshall outshot the Roadrunners 46 percent to 43 percent overall and made one more 3-pointer, but UTSA dominated the boards 54-35, including 20-4 on the offensive glass. UTSA's plus-16 margin on the offensive end led to a definitive 18-5 edge in second-chance points.
UTSA maintained its halftime advantage, stretching the advantage to 62-55 with at the 8:12 mark of the second as Allen drained an 18-footer with the shot clock winding down. The Allen bucket capped a 7-0 run by the Roadrunners that took advantage of a three-plus minute Marshall scoring drought.
Marshal refused to go away, continuing to trim the Roadrunners lead before taking one of its own at 74-73 on a Burks layup with 2:54 to play. Jackson immediately answered with a rainbow jumper on the ensuing possession. However, Elmore would push the Thundering Herd back in front by two with his fifth 3-pointer of the night.
Wallace answered Elmore's three 27 seconds later with one of his own to push UTSA up 78-77 with 1:51 to go. The teams exchanged empty possessions before De Nicolao came away with a steal and Jackson went coast-to-coast for a layup and an 80-77 lead with a mere 43 seconds to play.
The Roadrunners defense held and secured the rebound on Marshall's final possession before Wallace provided the 81-77 final with one final free throw.
The first half played just as expected when the top two scoring offenses in Conference USA get together. A total of 67 possessions occurred in the opening 20 minutes that lasted all of 38 real-time minutes.
UTSA opened a 9-7 lead as Marshal missed eight attempts early. The Roadrunners would keep the lead for the majority of the next 15 minutes, swelling it to as many as seven at 34-27 on a Wallace jumper at the 4:57 mark. Elmore then scored the game's next seven points to knot the game at 34, but inside scores by Willborn III and Jackson pushed the Roadrunner back in front.
Less than two minutes later Marshall took a 39-38 lead as Bledsoe connected from deep with 1:39 to play; however, the lead would prove to be short lived as Lyle put the Birds back in front with a triple of his own and Jackson spun in a layup for the final points of the half and a 43-41 UTSA lead.
Up next
UTSA continues its home stand on Saturday as WKU comes to the Convocation Center. The matchup is slated for 3 p.m. and will air live on Fox College Sports/HSSN.
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