BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Jhivvan Jackson poured in 29 points to lead UTSA to an 81-76 overtime win at WKU in Conference USA Bonus Play action Wednesday night at E.A. Diddle Arena.
Jackson scored 24 of his points after halftime to help the Roadrunners, 17-13 overall, improve to 11-6 in the league and secure a top-four seed and first-round bye for the C-USA Championship next week in Frisco, Texas.
The sophomore from Puerto Rico had nine of UTSA's 13 points in what turned out to be the second overtime period of the season against the Hilltoppers (18-13, 11-7).
With just under two minutes left to play in the extra period, Jackson was fouled while shooting and made both. Giovanni De Nicolao's layup with a little less than two minutes remaining in the extra period gave UTSA a 76-72 lead.
After a Charles Bassey jumper cut the deficit in half, Jackson's fourth 3-pointer of the night — this one from the left wing — put the Roadrunners up by five with 1:08 remaining.
WKU missed two attempts from beyond the arc in the final minute and was forced to foul. UTSA missed the front end of a one-and-one with 9.6 ticks on the clock and Lamonte Bearden's layup with two seconds left pulled the home team within 79-76.
The Toppers quickly fouled Jackson, who sank both free throws to clinch the win.
Jackson hit four 3-pointers — all in the final 25 minutes — and made 9 of 10 at the free-throw line on his way to topping 20 points for the 22nd time this season and 36th time in his career, and he now has tallied 75 points in two overtime thrillers against WKU this year. The Euless Trinity High School product also posted a team-high eight rebounds and a pair of assists in logging 37 minutes.
Hear from @CoachHensonUTSA
— UTSA Basketball (@UTSAMBB) March 7, 2019
& Jhivvan Jackson in the postgame with Andy Everett. #BirdsUp 🤙
HENSON: https://t.co/v3tzMeBvWn
JACKSON: https://t.co/EXIatrxv40 pic.twitter.com/HTjI05fSU5
De Nicolao and Keaton Wallace joined Jackson in double figures with 17 and 13 points, respectively, while Byron Frohnen pitched in with nine points and seven boards.
Bassey led WKU with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Bearden (17), Jared Savage (14) and Taveion Hollingsworth (10) also scored in double digits for the Toppers, who forced 21 UTSA turnovers.
With the score knotted at 65-65 and less than two minutes remaining, Savage grabbed a loose ball under the WKU basket and was fouled. He made both free throws to give the Toppers a two-point advantage.
After UTSA nearly turned the ball over, Jackson drained a deep three from the right wing with 20 seconds left to put the visitors up 68-67.
Bearden was fouled while shooting with 6.4 seconds left. He missed the first freebie but made the second to tie the game.
WKU forced a turnover on the ensuing possession but missed a desperation heave from midcourt, sending the game into overtime.
UTSA shot 47.4 (27-57) percent from the field and made 13 of 27 (48.1%) from behind the three-point line. The Roadrunners also registered a 37-29 edged on the boards and converted 12 WKU turnovers into 21 points.
De Nicolao hit a trio of 3-pointers and Wallace and Adkoiye Iyaye, who scored nine, also connected from long distance to help stake the Roadrunners to a 26-18 lead through the first 11 minutes.
Later in the opening stanza, De Nicolao knocked down runners on back-to-back possessions to put UTSA up 31-25 and give him 13 points.
However, WKU closed the half with an 11-5 run to even the score at 36-all at the break. UTSA went the final four and a half minutes without a field goal after a Wallace trey made it 34-30, while WKU made just one shot in the same span but converted 4 of 6 at the charity stripe to help erase the deficit.
Iyaye drained his second 3-pointer of the night and Jackson knocked down his second trey a little more than a minute later to hand the Roadrunners a 55-49 advantage near the midway point of the second half.
The Toppers closed the gap by getting to the line twice and converting all four free throws to make it a two-point contest with a little more than nine minutes left to play.
Jackson was fouled on a runner and made both free throws to put the visitors up 59-55, but WKU answered with a 5-0 spurt capped by a fast-break dunk from Bassey that pulled the Toppers ahead by one.
Iyaye and Wallace each connected from downtown sandwiched around a Savage trey before a Bassey layup knotted the score at 65-all with a little less than three minutes on the clock, setting up the final stretch.
The Roadrunners will conclude the regular season at Southern Miss (18-11, 10-7) Saturday, March 9. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. in Hattiesburg and the game will air on CUSA TV and Ticket 760 AM.
- UTSA -