SAN ANTONIO — Keaton Wallace poured in a career-high 35 points and Jhivvan Jackson added 28 to lead UTSA to a 104-74 victory over Mid-America Christian on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
With the 30-point win, the largest margin of victory since a 125-64 triumph over Ottawa (Ariz.) last November, the Roadrunners improved to 3-6 on the season with their third victory in the last four contests.
Wallace made 12-of-16 shots to eclipse his previous career high of 24 set against Houston Baptist last season. The sophomore guard drained nine 3-pointers, the second-best single-game total in school history, en route to the Roadrunners' first 30-point outing since Deon Lyle had 33 at Rice on March 3, 2018. His 35 also marked the most points by a Roadrunner since J.R. Harris scored 36 on the strength of a school-record 10 3-pointers at UAB on Jan. 7, 2016, and it also stands as the second-highest point total by a Conference USA player this season.
Wallace nearly turned in a double-double, as the Dallas native had a career-high nine rebounds, three assists and a career-best three blocks in 33 minutes of action.
Meanwhile, Jackson tallied a season-high 28 points behind four treys and the sophomore guard added six boards and three assists in just 25 minutes.
Adokiye Iyaye added a season-high 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and a 4-for-5 effort at the free-throw line, while Byron Frohnen pitched in with eight points and eight rebounds.
Inserted into the starting lineup for the first time this season, Jackson scored 13 early points, including 11 straight on a layup and a trio of 3-pointers, to help the Roadrunners build a 27-17 advantage nine minutes into the first half.
Wallace then heated up, as three of his six first-half treys helped the lead grow to 41-25 with a little over six minutes left in the half.
A jumper by Wallace with a minute remaining until the intermission pushed UTSA's lead to 56-36 before a Will Gibbons three at the buzzer provided the 17-point halftime margin.
Wallace finished the half with 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor, including 6-for-7 from downtown, to stake the Roadrunners to their highest-scoring half since 62- and 63-point outbursts in both halves of the victory against Ottawa on Nov. 30, 2017.
Jackson added 19 points in the half, as UTSA shot 57.9 percent from the floor and made 9-of-18 from beyond the arc.
The Evangels, who were counting the game as an exhibition, cut the UTSA advantage to 14 when a dunk by Justin Bogle made it 65-51 at the 15:56 mark of the second half.
However, that is as close as Mid-American Christian, the 2016 NAIA National Champions, would get, as the Roadrunners used a 13-4 spurt to stretch the lead out to 23 with 11 minutes left to play.
The lead grew to as many 31 in the final minute, as UTSA turned in its 47th 100-point game and first since the Ottawa rout last season.
The Roadrunners will face Arkansas (6-2) next Saturday, Dec. 15, in a neutral-site contest at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, Ark. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game can be heard live on Ticket 760 AM.
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