SAN ANTONIO -- Prairie View A&M nailed its first five 3-pointers and used a 19-0 run early in the first half to fuel a 79-72 win over UTSA men's basketball, on Saturday night at the Convocation Center.
UTSA (1-6) fell behind early to defending South West Athletics Conference Champion Prairie View A&M (3-5) as the Panthers drilled their first five attempts from 3-point land, using a 19-0 run to take a commanding lead. The Roadrunners missed their first nine 3-point attempts as PVAMU, who went 17-1 in league play last year, built a double-figure lead early in the contest. Trailing by 21-4, UTSA mounted a 20-8 run to cut the lead to 34-29 with three minutes left in the first half and took a nine-point hole into halftime.
The Roadrunners scored 11 of the first 15 points in the second half to cut the lead to one but the Panthers answered with a 9-2 run to regain a three-possession lead and were able to stifle any extended UTSA run to close out the win.
A native of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Jackson had a game-leading 30 points, adding four rebounds and two assists.
Wallace, a member of the preseason Lute Olson National Player of the Year Watch List, chipped in 11 points but saw his streak of 47 straight games with a made 3-pointer – the third-longest in the nation – snapped after going 0-for-8 from distance. He added five assists and three steals.
Senior forward Byron Frohnen, making the 107th consecutive start to open his UTSA career, finished with 11 rebounds, while Bior had nine points and seven rebounds. Freshman guard Erik Czumbel chipped in seven points, two rebounds and one assist. Freshman center Jacob Germany had five points.
Prairie View A&M was led by a senior guard Gerard Andrus, who had 20 points and nine rebounds. Lenell Henry added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Darius Williams finished with 135points and three boards.
The Panthers finished with a blistering 56 percent shooting (30 of 54) from the field, including a 9 of 14 mark from 3-point land. UTSA was held to 41 percent shooting (26 of 67) and was 7 of 30 from distance. PVAMU owned a 42-31 lead in rebounding.
UTSA will return to action on Tuesday vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the Convocation Center, with tipoff slated for 7 p.m. with the game broadcast live on CUSA TV. The game will also be broadcast live on the Roadrunners Sports Network, with the Voice of the Roadrunners, Andy Everett, calling the action. Fans can hear the game live on the Ticket 760 AM and on goUTSA.com.
Out of the tip, a pair of Wallace steals on the defensive end led to transition baskets from Wallace and Jackson but the Panthers answered with 3-pointers on four consecutive trips down the court, a 12-0 run, taking a 14-4 lead with 15:48 left.
The run continued out of the break as Prairie View A&M used a putback dunk from Caleb Coleman, a triple from Chancellor Ellis and a run out from Tamir Bynum to stretch the lead to 21-4 with a 19-0 run over a five-minute stretch.
An aggressive take from Adokiye Iyaye led to a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 21-6. Frohnen and Barisic added baskets at the rim on nice finds from the perimeter to cut the led to 23-10 with just under 10 minutes left. Jacob Germany grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled after making the putback, completing the and-one play to cut the lead to 26-13. Atem Bior's fadeaway jumper in the paint cut the lead to 26-15 and forced a PVAMU timeout.
A dunk out of the timeout for PVAMU was answered by a triple on the wing from Erik Czumbel, making his second career start, to cut the lead to 28-18 with 7:13 left. After the lead reached 12, Jackson hit his first two 3-pointers of the night on consecutive trips down the court, narrowing to lead to 30-24.
After PVAMU took an eight-point lead, Frohnen found a streaking Barisic at the rim for his second bucket to cut the lead to 32-26. Jackson answered a PVAMU offensive rebound and putback with a triple on the other end, his third in four trips down the court, cutting the Panthers lead to 34-29 with 3:15 left.
The Panthers made their last four shots to end the half, sandwiched around a Jackson triple from deep, to take a 41-32 lead into the half. Jackson had 14 of UTSA's 32 at the half, with UTSA connecting on 12 of its 34 shots and PVAMU shooting 57 percent on 17 of 30 from the field.
Consecutive buckets from Jackson out of the break got the Roadrunners going, with Jackson drilling his fifth 3-pointer of the game in transition. That sparked a 7-0 run that saw Wallace get a basket at the rim to see the lead narrow to 42-39.
PVAMU took a 44-39 lead into the first media timeout but Iyaye drilled a pair of free throws out of the break to narrow the lead to three. After a steal from Wallace on the defensive end, Czumbel was fouled in the corner on a 3-pointer attempt, with the Italian guard hitting two of three to cut the PVAMU lead to 44-43.
The Panthers scored nine of the next 11 points to take a 54-45 lead with 12:38 left, with Jackson hitting a deep two to get up to 21 points. Dunks from Germany and Jackson cut the lead to 55-49 at the under 12-minute media timeout. Wallace hit a pair of free throws to get the lead down to six but PVAMU answered with a basket from Andrus. UTSA then got consecutive baskets from Bior, an up-and-under at the rim and a 3-pointer from the wing, cutting the lead to 61-56 with 6:52 left in regulation.
A 3-pointer and a Bynum take to the rim took the lead to 66-56 and forced a timeout from the Roadrunners. Wallace completed an and-one out of the break but the Panthers immediately responded with a deep 3-pointer to regain the 10-point lead.
Jackson wouldn't let the Roadrunners go quietly, getting a basket in transition at the rim to cut the led to 69-61. He then hit a deep two to cut it to 70-64 but Ellis answered with an open trey to take a 70-63 lead.
UTSA continued to apply pressure, getting within three after a trio of free throws from Jackson. After PVAMU answered with two free throws of its own with under a minute left, Wallace sank a runner in the lane. PVAMU followed with two free throws on its end to take a 77-72 lead in the closing seconds.
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