SAN ANTONIO — Jhivvan Jackson scored 17 points, including a game-winning jumper with 1.6 seconds left to play, to lead UTSA to a 76-74 victory over North Texas on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
With the game knotted at 74-all, Jackson drained his go-ahead basket from about 15 feet to send the Roadrunners to 4-0 in Conference USA play — marking the first 4-0 league start in 30 years — and they ran their winning streak to seven games, the longest in 10 years. UTSA moved to 10-7 overall, has won 10 of its last 12 contests and snapped the North Texas' eight-game winning streak with its first triumph over the Mean Green (16-2, 4-1) in four seasons.
North Texas had one final look at a tie after a long inbound pass to the other end of the court, but Zachary Simmons' shot from the left elbow was no good, putting the Roadrunners in sole possession of first place in the league standings after two weeks of play.
BIG mood. 😤 pic.twitter.com/3QZnR7hps5
— UTSA Basketball (@UTSAMBB) January 13, 2019
Jackson scored 15 of his team-high 17 after halftime in notching his 39th career double-digit scoring effort, including all 14 of his outings this season. The sophomore guard added three assists and a pair of steals in 34 minutes of action.
Meanwhile, Nick Allen posted 16 points for his fifth straight game in double figures to go along with seven rebounds. Keaton Wallace turned in his first career double-double with 11 points and a career-best 10 rebounds and Giovanni De Nicolao pitched in with 10 points.
pair of steals in 34 minutes of action.
🗣️ We've been making a lot of noise over the last few weeks. Can you hear us now? 👂 pic.twitter.com/MxtBtvUijI
— UTSA Basketball (@UTSAMBB) January 13, 2019
UTSA led by as many as 10 in the second half before North Texas used a 9-0 run to set up the thrilling final minutes.
Wallace knocked down a pair of free throws to push the lead to 52-44 at the midway point of the second half. Then, a block by Allen led to a Jackson layup that gave UTSA a 57-48 advantage at the 8:35 mark.
Jackson hit 3-of-4 from the charity stripe on back-to-back possessions to hand the home team a 67-57 lead with five and a half minutes left, but the Mean Green reeled off nine unanswered points over the next two minutes to cut the deficit to one with 3:40 remaining.
Jorden Duffy scored six points during the Mean Green run, including a layup that made it 67-66.
De Nicolao answered at the other end with a layup of his own, and after Ryan Woolridge and Jackson traded layups, Roosevelt Smart knocked down a 3-pointer to tie it at 71 with 2:40 on the clock.
Wallace was fouled on a shot attempt in the paint and made both free throws to send UTSA up by two with 1:38 remaining. Frohnen then was fouled on a defensive rebound and made 1-of-2 at the line for a 74-71 edge with a little more than a minute left.
However, Smart connected again from downtown to even the score with 48 ticks left.
Jackson had a good look from the left side of the basket on a runner that rimmed out with 25 seconds remaining, but Frohnen came up with an offensive rebound to give the ball back to the Roadrunners with the shot clock turned off.
UTSA then called timeout with 13 seconds on the clock to set up the final play, Jackson's off-balance jumper from the right elbow.
Smart led all players with 18 points on the strength of five 3-pointers and he was joined in double figures by Woolridge (17), Duffy (15) and Simmons (12).
UTSA shot 45.2 percent (28-62), despite making just 4-of-19 from beyond the arc, and made 80 percent (16-20) at the line.
North Texas shot 40.6 percent (26-64) and hit 8-of-29 (27.6 percent) from long distance and 14-of-17 (82.4 percent) from the charity stripe.
The first 10 minutes of the game saw four ties and seven lead changes before a five-point swing — all via Wallace on two free throws and a corner three — after a technical foul on Zachary Simmons gave UTSA a 19-16 lead at the 8:40 mark.
Roosevelt Smart drained a 3-pointer to cap and 7-0 spurt and hand the Mean Green a 23-19 lead at the 6:30 mark.
However, UTSA answered with a 14-4 run to close the first half and take a 33-27 advantage into the locker room. Nick Allen scored five points during the stretch and Adokiye Iyaye nailed a trey from the right corner just before the halftime buzzer, while the Roadrunners held the visitors without a field goal and to just a pair of free throws over the final four and a half minutes of the half.
The Roadrunners will hit the road to face Middle Tennessee next Thursday, Jan. 17. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will air on ESPN+ and Ticket 760 AM.
-UTSA-