EDINBURG, Texas -- UTRGV used a strong outing from the arc to post a 81-64 win over UTSA men's basketball, on Saturday evening at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
UTSA (1-1) couldn't overcome the hot shooting of UTRGV (1-1) in Edinburg, as the Roadrunners struggled from behind the 3-point line and the Vaqueros sank 10 of 23 attempts from deep, including a stretch of four consecutive made threes on four straight trips down the floor in the second half.
Nine Roadrunners scored in the game, led by freshman guard Jordan Ivy-Curry, who had 12 points in 15 minutes off the bench. Senior guard Jhivvan Jackson scored 10 points. Luka Barisic and Erik Czumbel each added nine points. Keaton Wallace chipped in six points and a team-leading six rebounds, adding a club-best four assists.
The Roadrunners shot just 41.7 percent from the field in the game, with UTRGV shooting 42.6 percent and 43.5 percent from range. UTSA went 4 of 20 from distance, with UTRGV owning a 39-34 margin in rebounding.
UTRGV was paced by four players in double figures, led by Sean Rhea's 22 points.
The Roadrunners will return to action on Friday, playing host to Sul Ross State at 6 p.m. at the Convocation Center in a game broadcast live on CUSA TV and Ticket 760 AM.
Parrish opened the scoring with an offensive rebound putback and Jacob Germany responded to three points from UTRGV with a pair of free throws. The Vaqueros then went on a run to take a 10-6 lead before Jackson buried his first midrange jumper and Barisic struck for a corner trey that put the Roadrunners up 11-10.
An 8-0 run for the Vaqueros took the lead to 20-13 before Jordan Ivy-Curry sank a midrange jumper and Germany finished a powerful dunk in the lane to cut the lead to 20-17.
The Vaqueros went on a run to take a 31-18 lead before a Parrish basket in transition and a Barisic lay-in at the rim cut the lead to 32-22 at the final media break of the first half.
The Roadrunners spurted off on a 7-0 run to cut the UTRGV lead to three, including baskets from Barisic and Jackson and a corner triple from Czumbel, with the Vaqueros owning a 34-29 lead at the break. UTSA was led in the first half in scoring by Barisic, who had seven, with UTSA's senior guard duo of Jackson and Wallace combining for just six points.
A quick 5-0 run from UTSA opened the second half, including a triple from Czumbel and a putback from Germany. The teams traded blows until the first media timeout, with UTRGV owning a 45-38 lead with 15:14 left in regulation.
After an open 3-pointer on the defensive end forced a timeout from UTSA head coach Steve Henson, the Roadrunners got the next two buckets, including a paint basket from Adrian Rodriguez and a driving floater from Jackson to cut the lead to 55-47 with 11:21 left.
Ivy-Curry finished an offensive rebound putback and sank a pair of free-throws, and then found an open Wallace in the paint on a dribble drive to cut the lead to 57-53.
UTRGV answered to put the game out of reach, going on a 12-0 run with four consecutive made 3-pointers to take a 68-53 lead.
- UTSA -
