FRISCO, Texas – Fifth-seeded UTSA fell by a 95-81 final to fourth-seeded Marshall Thursday evening in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Conference USA Men's Basketball Championship presented by Baylor Scott & White Sports Performance Center at The Star in Frisco.
The loss eliminates the Roadrunners (19-14) from the C-USA tournament, while Marshall (22-10) advances to play No. 9 seed Southern Miss, which upset top-seeded Middle Tennessee, in Saturday's first semifinal.
Five Roadrunners reached double-figures in the contest as Byron Frohnen, Nick Allen, and George Willborn III each scored 16, and Giovanni De Nicolao and Keaton Wallace chipped in 13 each. Frohnen also led UTSA on the glass with 13 to mark his second double-double in as many days.
MBB G6: #4 Marshall vs #5 UTSA Press Conference https://t.co/zUHdFXBoaR
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Marshall's C.J. Burks fueled the Thundering Herd with 29 points and Ajdin Penava totaled a 23-points, 12-rebound double-double. Jannson Williams and Jon Elmore each scored 15 as Elmore added a game-high 11 assists for a double-double.
UTSA shot 42 percent for the contest and Marshall 45 percent. The Roadrunners held a 43-37 advantage on the glass, but Marshall took full advantage at the foul line, going 32 of 38.
Marshal regained its early-game momentum in the beginning stages of the second half, building 15-point lead as Burks scored the Thundering Herd's first six points of the stanza. UTSA later trailed 68-54 at the 11:53 mark before piecing together a 15-9 run over the next four minutes that cut the Marshall advantage to 74-69 after De Nicolao kissed a floater off the glass and in with 7:19 showing on the clock.
Williams kept the Roadrunners at bay with the games next four point as he split a pair at the line then drilled a 3-pointer from the right corner to provide Marshall with a 78-69 cushion. Wallace made a 3-pointer on UTSA's next possession, but the Roadrunners would not get closer than six the rest of the way as Marshall counted 13 of their final 17 points at the free-throw line en route to the 95-81 final.
UTSA led 4-2 early, but a 9-0 start to a larger 24-7 Marshall run left the Roadrunners down 15 at 26-11 just 10 minutes into the contest. De Nicolao ignited a 9-2 spurt with a fast break 3-pointer from the left wing that brought the Roadrunners within nine at 35-26 with six minutes to go in the first half. However, Marshall made five 3-pointers over the next three minutes to take as much as an 18-point lead before UTSA battled back to outscore the Thundering Herd 13-6 over the remainder of the half, trimming Marshall's halftime lead to 52-41.
Marshall shot an even 50 percent in the first half, including 47 percent from three with seven makes. UTSA, which stated 5 of 15 from the field, closed the opening half at 53 percent with a trio of threes.
Up next
UTSA now awaits a possible NIT, College Basketball Invitational (CBI) or CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) invitation.