FRISCO, Texas – Fifth-seeded UTSA toppled No. 12 seed UTEP comfortably 71-58 on Wednesday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2018 C-USA Men's Basketball Championship presented by Baylor Scott & White Sports Performance Center at The Star in Frisco.
The Roadrunners (19-13) will face fourth-seeded Marshall (21-10) at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
Byron Frohnen led UTSA with his first double-double of the season as the sophomore totaled 14 points (13 in the first half) and a career-high 14 rebounds. Deon Lyle scored a team-high 18 points, making six field goals and four free throws, while Nick Allen and Giovanni De Nicolao each scored nine.
UTSA used a balanced attack to upend UTEP (11-20) in a C-USA Texas showdown, muscling more effective shooting percentages from the field (41.3), free throw line (80.0) and from beyond the arc (29.2). The squad also won the battle of the boards 45-34.
MBB G2: #5 UTSA vs #12 UTEP Press Conference https://t.co/cjRiTsmzvp
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Three Miners inked double figures, highlighted by Evan Gilyard's game-high 29 points. Trey Wade totaled 10 points (5-7),c10 rebounds and two blocks in 25 minutes of play and Omega Harris pitched in 12 points and six rebounds.
The Roadrunners moved their all-time record in league championship play to 2-4 after earning back-to-back first-round wins. UTSA upset the then eighth-seeded WKU in 2017 for its first C-USA tournament victory.
UTSA expanded its 10-point halftime lead out to 15 at 46-31 with a Lyle three just over three minutes into the second half. A minute and a half later, Gilyard scored inside to cut the Roadrunner advantage to 10 with just over 16 minutes to go. However, the UTEP run would stall as two Lyle free throws and two George Willborn III layups put UTSA back up 14 at 54-40.
Three minutes later Allen gave UTSA a game-high 17-point lead at 62-45 with 9:44 to go after a 3-pointer from the right wing followed by a strong 3-point play. UTEP answered with an 11-4 run, cutting UTSA's lead to 10 at the under-4 media timeout. However, the Roadrunners outscored the Miners 5-2 the rest of the way with the lone UTEP score coming with nine seconds to play.
The first 20 minutes squarely belonged to UTSA as the Roadrunners built as much as a 15-point lead at the under-4 media timeout before taking a 39-29 lead into the locker room. Frohnen scored four of UTSA's first seven points, then seven straight through the latter stages of the stanza to total 13 along with five rebounds and two assists.
The Roadrunners shot 47 percent in the opening half, making 16 shots with five coming from 3-point range. UTEP shot 40 percent for the period despite making only two of its first 10 attempts.
Up next
UTSA advances to the quarterfinals and will face No. 4 seed Marshall on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.