SAN ANTONIO -- UTSA's Jhivvan Jackson poured in 22 points, but Jaylen Shead's free throw with less than a second left to play helped lift Texas State to a 69-68 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
Jackson scored 19 of his 22 in the second half, including a 3-pointer from the left corner with less than a minute remaining to hand the Roadrunners (2-6) a 66-65 lead.
After a steal by UTSA point guard Giovanni De Nicolao, Jackson was fouled and knocked down a pair of free throws with 24 seconds left that made it 68-65. The sophomore guard's two freebies helped finish off a 20-for-21 effort at the charity stripe for UTSA.
Nijal Pearson, who scored a game-high 26 points for the Bobcats (7-1), answered with a three from the top of the key to knot the score with 13 ticks on the clock.
Jackson, who notched his 17th 20-point game in his 34th career contest, had an open look at a potential game-winning trey from the right wing with time winding down, but it rimmed out and Shead was fouled while chasing the loose ball near the UTSA bench with 0.9 seconds remaining. He drained the first free throw to give the visitors the lead and missed the second on purpose, and the Roadrunners could not get a shot off as the final buzzer sounded.
Keaton Wallace and De Nicolao joined Jackson in double figures with 19 and 13 points, respectively, while Byron Frohnen pulled down a game- and season-high 12 rebounds for UTSA.
Texas State pulled ahead by six on a Shead jumper just over five minutes remaining
An old-fashioned three-point play by De Nicolao and back-to-back 3-pointers by Jackson helped UTSA reclaim the lead at 59-58 with 4:29 left.
After the Bobcats jumped out in front again, Jackson knocked down a pair of free throws with 1:48 left to help erase a 63-61 deficit.
Trey Nottingham's driving layup put the visitors back on top, but Jackson's 3-pointer from the corner gave UTSA a 66-65 lead with 56.8 seconds left.
Alex Peacock added 15 points for Texas State, which posted a 44-31 edge on the glass and shot 40.6 percent while holding the Roadrunners to 36.4 percent from the floor.
The Roadrunners will return to action next Saturday, Dec. 8, when they host Mid-America Christian at 3 p.m. at the Convocation Center.
