Wallace goes for 30 in Saturday win at The ConvoWallace goes for 30 in Saturday win at The Convo
Bobbie Modica
Men's Basketball

Wallace goes for 30 in Saturday win at The Convo

SAN ANTONIO -- Keaton Wallace had 30 points and the nation's leading scorer, Jhivvan Jackson, added 20 to lead UTSA men's basketball to a 99-64 win over Our Lady of the Lake University, on Saturday night at the Convocation Center.
 
UTSA (6-7) cruised by Our Lady of the Lake in its non-conference finale for the 2019-20 regular season, using a run to finish the first half and a furious start to the second half to post the win.
 
Wallace, a product of Dallas' Richardson High School, had his second game of the year with 30 or more points, on 11 of 16 from the field, with five 3-pointers. Wallace, who was playing with a cold and was a game time decision in the starting lineup, added four rebounds in 23 minutes.
 
Jackson, who entered the day leading the nation in scoring with 26.8 points per game, had 20 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals in 21 minutes. A native of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Jackson has scored 20 or more points in 11 of 13 games in 2019-20. He was 7 of 12 from the field and sank three 3-pointers. His average is now 26.2 points per game, which ranks second in the NCAA behind 26.3 points per game from Marquette's Markus Howard.
 
UTSA also got a 10-point, six-rebound effort from junior forward Luka Barisic. Junior guard Knox Hellums added 11 points and two boards, while senior Byron Frohnen – making his 113th straight start – had a season-best 12 rebounds in 22 minutes.

The Roadrunners shot 56 percent in the win, with a 58-40 advantage on the boards. In the paint, UTSA dominated with a 60-18 advantage. 
 
UTSA held OLLU to 29 percent shooting from the field, which marked its best defensive performance of the year and its best since holding Charlotte to 29.6 percent in 2018-19. The Roadrunners allowed the Saints to shoot 38.1 percent in the first half and then the defensive stifled, holding OLLU to 18.4 percent on seven made buckets in the second half.
 
UTSA will return to action on Jan. 2 on Thursday, Jan. 2, traveling to face Florida Atlantic in the conference lidlifter in Boca Raton, Fla. The game will tipoff at 6 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPN+. The game will also air live on Ticket 760 AM and goUTSA.com, with the Voice of the Roadrunners, Andy Everett, calling the action.
 
The teams raced out of the gate, making 10 of their first 16 shots, with OLLU owning a 17-12 lead at the first media timeout. Wallace got UTSA on the board with a take to the rim, and Barisic evened the game at six after a up-and-under move. Jackson gave UTSA its first lead at 8-6 after his first jumper and after an OLLU trey, Czumbel drilled a jumper for a 10-9 lead. Frohnen's nifty move on the baseline led to a 12-11 lead, but OLLU scored the next six to own a five-point lead at the first media break.
 
Jackson responded out of the media timeout, splashing his first triple and sinking a jumper on the next trip down the floor to even it at 17. Consecutive OLLU buckets were answered by a baseline drive from Adokiye Iyaye to cut the lead to 21-19, with the Saints taking a 23-19 lead at the second media break.
 
Wallace drilled a pair of 3-pointers on the following possessions to give UTSA a 25-23 lead, which was immediately erased by a trey from OLLU. Barisic's offensive rebound and putback and Jackson's run out gave the Roadrunners a 29-26 lead with 7:54 left in the first.
 
Jackson splashed a jumper to take the lead to 31-26, but OLLU scored the next six points to take a 33-31 lead until Atem Bior and Jacob Germany found space at the rim to give UTSA a 35-33 lead. Bior's dribble drive basket gave the Roadrunners a 37-36 lead with 3:54 left in the first.
 
The Roadrunners started to pull away in the final four minutes of the first half, with Knox Hellums sinking a pair in the paint, Iyaye drilling a wing 3-pointer and Wallace laying a floater in from the paint for a 46-41 lead. Wallace then scored UTSA's next six points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer – his fourth – from the top of the key. UTSA shot 55 percent from the field in the first, holding OLLU to 38 percent, despite seven treys from the Saints.
 
UTSA came out for the second half hot, getting a triple from Jackson, a post-bucket from Frohnen and a contact floater in the lane from Wallace to force an OLLU timeout with a 59-43 lead. The Saints sank a triple out of the break but consecutive trips with 3-pointers from Wallace and Jackson upped the lead to 65-46.
 
Barisic's third paint score took the lead to 67-48 at the first media break of the second half. UTSA scored nine of the next 11 points to take a 76-52 lead into the under 12-minute media timeout, with Germany recording a pair of offensive rebound putbacks, Hellums drilling a free-throw line jumper, and Wallace sinking a bucket in the paint.
 
Wallace drilled a jumper and then added his fifth triple out of the break to take the lead to 81-54. 
 
- UTSA -