- Keaton Wallace (26) & Jhivvan Jackson (20) lead UTSA in scoring.
- UAB turns in dominating effort on glass, owning a 43-20 margin in rebounding.
- Senior Byron Frohnen breaks all-time UTSA rebounding record.
- UTSA hosts Middle Tennessee at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
SAN ANTONIO – Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace combined for 46 points but UAB dominated UTSA men's basketball on the glass, leading the Blazers to a 76-68 win over the Roadrunners, on Thursday night at the Convocation Center.
UTSA (10-12, 4-5 Conference USA) couldn't overcome a 10-point deficit as UAB (13-9, 4-5 C-USA) built a first-half lead on the strength of a dominating performance on the glass. The Blazers held a 46-24 margin in rebounding against UTSA – the league's top rebounding team – including a 14-6 margin on the offensive glass. It was the fewest rebounds for the Roadrunners in 2019-20
Jackson, the NCAA's No. 2 scorer, had 20 points, three rebounds and three assists in 38 minutes. Wallace, a native of Dallas, Texas, had a game-best 26 points on 10 made buckets, with three rebounds and two assists.
Frohnen, a native of Las Vegas, Nev., moved into the top spot on the UTSA career rebounding chart, passing UTSA great Jeromie Hill (2010-15) with 845 career boards. Frohnen had four points, four rebounds and two assists. Frohnen made his 122nd consecutive start to open his career, moving into second in program history in games started.
The Roadrunners got six points and five rebounds from freshman Jacob Germany.
UAB was led by a 19-point outing from Tavin Lovan, with Wil Butler owning 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
UTSA will return to action on Saturday, playing host to Middle Tennessee at 3 p.m. live on ESPN+ and CW-35. The game will also be live on the Roadrunners Sports Network on Ticket 760-AM and goUTSA.com, with the Voice of the Roadrunners, Andy Everett (play-by-play), calling the action.
UAB took an 8-4 lead into the first media timeout, with Jackson splashing an early triple and Wallace hitting a free throw. The lead grew to 10 – with UAB hitting seven of its first 12 shots – before UTSA got a corner triple from Jackson and a basket from Wallace at the rim to cut the lead to 20-13 with 11:53 left in the first.
UTSA fought back to cut the lead to five twice before the final media timeout of the half, with the Roadrunners getting buckets in the paint from Frohnen, Makani Whiteside and Jacob Germany, and a top of the key three from Jackson.
Trailing by three, Knox Hellums rose up with a fast break triple to even it at 32 and after a UAB bucket from Will Butler, Jackson drilled a midrange jumper to even it at 34. Wallace's transition slam gave UTSA a 36-34 lead at the break. UAB finished the half shooting 42 percent but missed 13 of its final 19 shots, with UTSA shooting 52 percent, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range. UAB owned a 22-12 margin in rebounding in the first half.
The Blazers took a 44-42 lead with an 8-6 run out of the break before Erik Czumbel rose for his first 3-pointer of the game, giving UTSA a 45-44 lead with 15:04 left in regulation. Jackson's trey gave UTSA a 48-46 lead before a 6-0 UAB run lifted the Blazers to a 52-48 lead. A pair of Wallace buckets in the midrange sandwiched a UAB basket to take the lead for the Blazers to 54-52 with 10:31 left.
The Blazers built an eight-point lead to take a 64-56 lead and force a timeout from UTSA Coach Steve Henson, who drew up a 3-pointer for Wallace out of the break, cutting the lead to five. Wallace then found space to get the rim on a nice look from Jackson, cutting the lead to 64-61 with 3:26 left at the final media timeout.
UAB gained a 66-61 lead before Wallace hit a deep triple to cut the lead to 66-64 with just under two minutes left. The Blazers made six of their last eight shots to secure the win, outscoring UTSA 42-32 in the second half.
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