SAN ANTONIO — Keaton Wallace led five Roadrunners in double figures with 27 points and UTSA raced past FIU 100-67 in Conference USA action Thursday night at the Convocation Center.
With the win, the Roadrunners, 14-10 overall, extended their home winning streak to nine games, the longest stretch in 27 years. UTSA improved to 8-3 in conference play to keep pace with North Texas (8-3) and Old Dominion (9-3) at the top of the league standings.
Wallace blistered the nets with an 11-for-13 night from the floor in notching his 12th 20-point game of the season and 17th of his career. The sophomore from Dallas drained 5-of-6 from behind the three-point line to tie the UTSA single-season record for 3-pointers with 96, and he added six rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes.
Nick Allen recorded his first double-double of the season and fourth of his career with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds while playing in his program-record 123rd game.
Meanwhile, Jhivvan Jackson scored 13 points to become the 16th Roadrunner to join the 1,000-point club. The sophomore from Puerto Rico also dished out a career-best six assists to go along with six boards and a pair of steals. The reigning C-USA Freshman of the Year surpassed the 1,000-point barrier with a three from the left wing early in the second half to become the youngest player and second quickest by games played (50) to reach that threshold.
Giovanni De Nicolao tallied 16 points and five rebounds and Atem Bior pitched in with 12 points for the Roadrunners, who reached 100 points in a game for the fourth time this season, the most in one campaign since 1990-91.
UTSA shot 58 percent (40-69), made 10 3-pointers and converted 10 of 12 (83.3%) at the line. The Roadrunners registered a season high-tying 22 assists and out-rebounded the Panthers (14-10, 5-6) by a 43-32 margin.
The Roadrunners, who never trailed, took control early and never looked back in cruising to their 11th win in the last 14 contests.
Byron Frohnen scored six early points to help stake UTSA to a 10-2 lead through the four minutes. De Nicolao then drained a short floater in the lane, Bior converted a fast-break layup and Jackson drained a long trey from the right wing to put an exclamation point on a 15-0 run, handing the home team a 17-2 advantage at the 14:21 mark.
UTSA led by as many as 23 in the opening half and took a 50-30 advantage into the break. It marked the most points in the first half for the Roadrunners since scoring 56 in the 104-74 win against Mid-America Christian on Dec. 8.
The Roadrunners scored the first eight points of the second half on 3-pointers by Wallace and De Nicolao and a Wallace layup and eventually built a 33-point lead while emptying the bench, as 10 players scored.
Brian Beard and Devon Andrews led the Panthers with 14 points apiece.
The Roadrunners will host Florida Atlantic on Saturday, Feb. 9. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. at the Convocation Center and the game will air on CUSA.tv and Ticket 760 AM.
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