BOWLING GREEN, Ky. —Jhivvan Jackson poured in a career-high 46 points and Keaton Wallace added 26, but Charles Bassey posted 22 points and 18 rebounds and WKU outlasted UTSA, 96-88, in an overtime thriller on Thursday night at E.A. Diddle Arena.
Jackson's 46 set an arena record for points by an opposing player and it marked the second-highest point total by a Conference USA player and the third-most points scored in a game by a Roadrunner. The sophomore guard made 16-of-31 shots from the floor, including a career-best and facility-record eight 3-pointers on 14 attempts, and he converted 6-of-8 at the free-throw line en route to his 15th 20-point effort in his last 17 games and the 29th of his career.
Bassey made 7-of-8 from the floor and 8-of-10 at the charity stripe to lead five Hilltoppers in double figures. Lamonte Bearden added 22 points and Josh Anderson pitched in with 19, while Jared Savage and Taveion Hollingsworth added 12 and 11, respectively for WKU (12-10, 5-4).
Trailing by two late in regulation, UTSA (12-10, 6-3) grabbed a 78-74 lead after Jackson converted a three-point play on a reverse layup and free throw and Giovanni De Nicolao drained a three from the wing with 1:33 on the clock.
Bassey collected an offensive rebound after a missed shot and was fouled. The freshman made 1-of-2 at the line to make it a three-point contest with 1:09 remaining.
Following a UTSA turnover, the Hilltoppers misfired on a 3-point attempt and Wallace was fouled while grabbing the rebound, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one situation.
WKU missed another shot, but Hollingsworth slammed home the put-back with 15.1 seconds left to make it 78-77.
UTSA then turned it over in the backcourt and fouled Bearden with 8.4 seconds to go. He made 1-of-2 to tie the score and De Nicolao's runner rimmed out just before the buzzer to send game into overtime.
Savage connected from long distance twice early in the extra frame and a Bassey layup and pair of Anderson free throws pushed the WKU lead to 88-82 with a little more than two minutes left.
At the other end, Wallace banked in a 3-pointer to cut the home team's lead in half, but Savage banked in one of his own for his third trey of overtime and a six-point advantage with 1:38 on the clock.
With UTSA forced to foul, the Hilltoppers converted 5-of-6 at the line down the stretch and the Roadrunners missed their final four shots from the field in the eight-point setback.
UTSA shot 45 percent (31-69), made 16-of-31 (52 percent) from behind the 3-point line and committed just nine turnovers, but WKU only turned it over six times and registered a 36-22 advantage for points in the paint and a 48-33 edge on the glass, including 15 offensive boards that led to 19 second-chance points.
Jackson scored 15 of UTSA's first 27 points in the first half and 20 of the team's first 25 in the second in tallying the highest point total by a Roadrunner since the school-record 52 by Roderic Hall against Maine on Dec. 6, 1997.
Meanwhile, Wallace's 26 came on the strength of a 7-for-13 night from downtown. The Dallas native now has topped 20 pints in 10 games this season and he has made 34 3-pointers in the last five games and 87 on the season, which ranks fourth on UTSA's single-season list.
UTSA's sophomore backcourt duo combined for 72 (81.8 percent) of the team's 88 points, 15 3-pointers and nine of the 10 makes at the free-throw line.
WKU scored the game's first seven points, but UTSA quickly closed the gap with a 9-2 spurt to knot the score.
Jackson then heated up from downtown with 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to cap an 8-0 run that gave the Roadrunners a 20-15 advantage at the 12:40 mark. Less than four minutes later, Jackson drained a long trey and Wallace knocked down his third 3-pointer of the half to put the visitors up, 30-22.
An offensive rebound by Byron Frohnen and an assist by Nick Allen led to Wallace's fourth trey of the half and handed UTSA a 37-33 lead. However, the Hilltoppers responded with an 8-2 stretch over the final 3:16 of the half and took a 41-39 advantage into the locker room.
With the gamed tied at 47-all early in the second half, Jackson reeled off 17 points in a row for UTSA, including four makes from beyond the arc, to help UTSA build a 64-56 lead near the midway point of the half.
Again, WKU answered and regained the lead with a 12-3 run, including eight unanswered points that made it 68-67 with 5:32 left to play.
The Roadrunners will stay on the road and play Marshall (13-9, 6-3) on Saturday, Feb. 2. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT and the game will air on Stadium on Facebook and Ticket 760 AM.
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