SAN ANTONIO — Jhivvan Jackson poured in a career-high 32 points and added a career-best 10 rebounds to lead UTSA to a 70-67 victory over Southeastern Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
Jackson knocked down 10-of-20 field goals, including four 3-pointers, and was a perfect 8-for-8 at the free-throw line in registering his eighth straight game with 20-plus points. In addition to his career effort on the glass, the sophomore guard added three assists and a trio of steals to help the Roadrunners improve to 6-7 on the season with their sixth win in the last eight contests.
Nick Allen and Keaton Wallace joined Jackson in double figures with 12 points apiece, while Giovanni De Nicolao pitched in with six points, six boards, five assists and three steals.
The win in their final nonconference game of the season did not come easy, as the Roadrunners rallied from a nine-point deficit in the second half to run their record to 2-0 all-time against the NCAA Division II Savage Storm, who counted the game as an exhibition.
Staring at a 60-51 Southeastern Oklahoma State advantage with 6:42 left to play, UTSA closed the gap with a 6-0 run over the next two minutes. After a Kellen Manek layup put the visitors back up by five, Jackson drained an off-balance trey to make it a two-point game with 2:27 left.
After a missed shot by the Savage Storm and an Allen rebound, Wallace was fouled and made both free throws to knot the score at 62-all with 1:39 on the clock.
Manek reclaimed the lead for Southeastern Oklahoma State with a jumper in the lane 18 seconds later, only to see Wallace answer with a three from left wing to give the Roadrunners a one-point edge with a little more than one minute remaining.
After another missed shot by the visitors, Allen cleared the boards and was hacked with 35 seconds left. The senior forward made both foul shots for a 67-64 lead.
The Savage Storm turned it over on an offensive foul and quickly fouled De Nicolao, who made 1-of-2 at the line for a four-point margin.
However, Jett Jobe connected from long distance with 7.5 seconds on the clock to make it a one-point contest.
Jackson was fouled and knocked down both free throws and the Savage Storm's final shot attempt off an inbounds pass with 2.5 seconds remaining was no good.
Manek led Southeastern Oklahoma State with 14 points, while Jobe and Adam Dworsky added 11 each.
Jackson scored eight of UTSA's first nine points to help stake the home team to an early five-point advantage. His hot start helped spur a 13-2 run which led to a 14-6 lead through the first six minutes.
The Roadrunners led by as many as nine after a Jackson fast-break layup at the 9:09 mark made it 22-13, only to see the Savage Storm take a 28-27 lead on a Jobe 3-pointer — the last of three straight makes from downtown by the visitors — with 4:43 left until halftime.
Southeastern Oklahoma State went up by three on a layup by Al Ervin and took a 35-34 edge into the locker room after a Jobe bucket just before the buzzer.
The visitors pushed their lead to 49-43 on a baseline jumper by Dworsky six minutes into the second half.
Jackson converted a three-point play at the 13:03 mark and a layup by Atem Bior two minutes later capped a 7-0 run and gave UTSA a 50-49 lead, its first since the final minute of the first half.
Southeastern Oklahoma State responded with a 9-0 stretch to build a 58-50 lead with a little more than seven minutes remaining.
UTSA shot 41.8 percent from the floor, made 18-of-24 (75 percent) at the charity stripe and posted a 42-36 edge on the glass in running its home record to 3-3 on the year.
The Savage Storm shot 40.6 percent from the field, made 9-of-30 (30 percent) from downtown and made their only two free-throw attempts of the afternoon.
The Roadrunners will open Conference USA play against UTEP (5-6) next Thursday, Jan. 3. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center and the game will air on ESPN+ and Ticket 760 AM.
Video recap: Sights and sounds from today's final game of 2018. We'll open conference play on Jan. 3 against UTEP.#BirdsUp🤙 pic.twitter.com/KC47grwa8k
— UTSA Basketball (@UTSAMBB) December 30, 2018
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