SAN ANTONIO — Keaton Wallace registered his sixth 20-point game of the season with a game-high 23 and UTSA opened Conference USA play with a 75-60 victory over UTEP on Thursday night at the Convocation Center.
The Roadrunners ran their record to 7-7 on the season and improved to 3-0 in league openers under head coach Steve Henson, 4-2 in C-USA lid-lifters and 19-14 all-time in what is the first of back-to-back games against UTEP (5-7, 0-1).
Wallace drained seven field goals, including three 3-pointers, and made 6-of-7 at the free-throw line en route to his 11th career 20-point performance. The sophomore guard added eight rebounds, a career-high four blocks, two assists and a pair of steals in logging 38 minutes
Jhivvan Jackson added 13 points on the strength of three treys, as the sophomore guard has reached double figures in all 11 of his outings this season. Nick Allen and Byron Frohnen pitched in with 11 and 10 points, respectively, and Atem Bior pulled down a season-high 12 rebounds to help UTSA post a 43-38 advantage on the glass.
The Roadrunners held the Miners to 34-percent shooting from the floor and just 2-of-17 (11.8 percent) from behind the 3-point line. UTSA also turned in a 38-22 edge in points in the paint and scored 24 points off 18 UTEP turnovers.
UTSA stormed out of the gates to a 13-0 lead through the four minutes on the strength of three early baskets from Frohnen.
The margin grew to 14 points on an off-balance jumper from the right wing by Jackson that made it 15-1 before UTEP used a 10-2 run capped by an Evan Gilyard trey at the 11:43 mark to close the gap to 17-11.
UTSA stretched its lead back out to double digits but had to settle for a 33-24 edge at the break after finishing the first half with just two points — a short jumper by Adrian Rodriguez — over the final four minutes.
Much like the first half, the Roadrunners opened the second on a tear, as they scored the first eight points to build a 41-24 advantage. Jackson provided six of the points on a pair of threes, including one from the right wing that forced a UTEP timeout at the 18:33 mark.
UTSA pushed the lead out to 19 after an Allen fast-break dunk and a pair of Wallace free throws following a technical foul on the visitors made it 47-28 with 16 minutes left to play.
The Miners cut into the deficit with an 11-4 spurt that was capped by a three-point play at the 13:34 mark from Nigel Hawkins, which came after Jackson was whistled for his fourth foul.
UTEP closed to within 59-48 on a Hawkins layup with seven minutes remaining, but would get no closer as UTSA opened up a 20-point in the final minutes en route to its fourth straight win against the Miners.
Hawkins led UTEP with 21 points, while Efe Odigie registered 19 points and 10 rebounds.
UTSA and UTEP will face off again on Saturday, Jan. 5, in El Paso. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT at the Don Haskins Center and the game will air on CUSA.tv and The Bull 93.3/92.5 FM in San Antonio.
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