SAN ANTONIO — Jhivvan Jackson scored a game-high 24 points and Nick Allen and Giovanni De Nicolao both notched career-scoring efforts to help UTSA extend its winning streak to six games and improve to 3-0 in Conference USA play with a 95-79 victory over Rice on Thursday night at the Convocation Center.
The Roadrunners, who moved to 9-7 overall, now have won their first three league contests for the first time in 28 years and are riding the program's longest win streak since the 2010-11 squad also won six straight.
Jackson led four Roadrunners in double figures with his 10th 20-point output of his sophomore season. The guard poured in 16 second-half points to help UTSA down the Owls (7-10, 2-2) for the third straight meeting. The Puerto Rico native also posted five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals in 34 minutes of action.
Meanwhile, Allen tallied a career-high 20 points on the strength of a 4-for-8 showing from behind the 3-point line to go along with five boards and a theft. It marked the senior's fourth straight and ninth double-digit scoring effort of the season.
De Nicolao matched his career high with 19 points on the strength of a 3-for-6 shooting night from downtown. The Italian also pulled down five rebounds, dished out a season high-tying seven assists and came up with a pair of steals.
Keaton Wallace joined that trio in double figures with 16 points and the sophomore from Dallas pitched in with a season-high seven dimes, five boards and two steals to help the Roadrunners to their ninth win in the last 11 games.
UTSA shot 50 percent from the field in the second half and 49.3 percent for the game, posted a season-high 22 assists against just eight turnovers and forced 15 Rice miscues that were converted into 22 points. The Roadrunners made 12 threes and registered a 21-3 edge in fast-break points in tallying their highest point total since a 101-77 win over Bethany on Dec. 17, the first game of the winning streak.
Jackson scored eight early points to help stake UTSA to a 22-14 lead through the first six and a half minutes.
A four-point play on a made 3-pointer and foul by Trey Murphy pulled the Owls within four, but the Roadrunners pushed the margin out to double digits when De Nicolao knocked down a jumper that made it 32-22 with 6:17 left in the half.
Rice again cut into the lead, as Josh Parrish was fouled and converted a pair at the line and Jack Williams connected from long distance from the top of the key to make it a five-point contest.
The Owls were within four after a three-point play by Robert Martin, but UTSA closed the half with a 10-5 stretch over the final three minutes and took a 46-37 advantage into the locker room.
Rice used a 7-2 run to start the second half and make it a four-point game, but UTSA responded with nine unanswered points, the last on a corner three from Jackson that gave the home side a 57-44 lead.
The Roadrunners increased their advantage to 64-48 on a De Nicolao layup followed by his third trey of the night at the 14:53 mark.
UTSA then used its second 9-0 spurt of the half, as an Adokiye Iyaye three-point play following an offensive rebound sandwiched by a pair of Jackson 3-pointers gave the Roadrunners their largest lead at 77-53 near the midway point of the half.
Rice cut the deficit to 12 when Ako Adams dropped in a three to make it 81-69 with a little more than five minutes remaining, but that is as close as the visitors would get as UTSA cruised to its ninth all-time win against the Owls.
Chris Mullins and Quentin Millora-Brown scored 14 apiece to lead Rice, which shot 44.4 percent but made just 6-of-24 from beyond the arc.
The Roadrunners will host North Texas on Saturday, Jan. 12. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. at the Convocation Center and the game will air on ESPN+ and Ticket 760 AM.
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