SAN ANTONIO – A balanced and efficient effort pushed the UTSA men's basketball team to a 91-62 win over Sul Ross State, on Friday night at the Convocation Center.
UTSA (2-2) faced its second straight week with back-to-back games, after suffering a loss at Oklahoma on Thursday night. UTSA bested Sul Ross State behind a balanced scoring effort and an efficient offensive performance that saw four Roadrunners score in double figures and 10 UTSA players chipping in points.
The Roadrunners got 18 points from Jhivvan Jackson, with Keaton Wallace chipping in 19 points and Eric Parrish adding 14 with five rebounds and three assists. Sophomore guard Erik Czumbel chipped in 10 points, including a pair from the 3-point line. Center Jacob Germany had nine points and seven rebounds.
Wallace moved up the all-time UTSA scoring list in the win, passing UTSA legends Derrick Gervin (1982-85) and Devin Gibson (2007-11) for sole possession of third place with 1,697 career points. Jackson owns the program standard with 2,109 points, with Jackson ranking fifth and Wallace checking in 20th in Conference USA history. Wallace passed C-USA standouts Jeremy Wise (Southern Miss; 2007-09) and Travis Diener (Marquette; 2002-05) to move into the top 20 scorers in league history.
UTSA shot 51 percent in the game, including 10 of 34 from 3-point range, owning a 46-33 margin in rebounding, a 36-29 margin in bench points and a 42-16 lead in points in the paint.
Sul Ross State was led by a 17-point performance from Omar Boone.
UTSA will return to action on Dec. 16 at Oregon State at 4 p.m. CT, with the game broadcast live on the Pac 12 Networks and Ticket 760 AM.
Sul Ross opened the game with an 8-6 lead at the first media timeout, with UTSA getting on the board with a pair of buckets from Wallace and a Jackson take to the rim.
The Roadrunners rallied to take its first lead after a 9-0 run, getting free throws from Germany, an offensive rebound and floater from Jordan Ivy-Curry and a triple from Wallace for a 15-11 lead, forcing a Sul Ross timeout.
Luka Barisic broke the 15-15 tie with a triple from the wing and Jackson stretched the lead to 20-15 with a foot-on-the-line jumper. After a pair of buckets from the Lobos, Parrish drilled a wing three and on the ensuring defensive possession, stepped into the passing lanes for a steal, slamming it home on the run for a 25-19 lead.
Cedrick Alley Jr. grabbed an offensive rebound and sank a jumper in the lane and Parrish sank a second wing 3-pointer for a 30-21 lead at the under eight-minute media timeout.
UTSA's lead grew to 35-21 after a bucket from Lachlan Bofinger and a wing triple from Erik Czumbel. Jackson answered an 8-0 run from the Lobos with a midrange pullup off the dribble for a 37-29 lead with 3:57 left in the first.
A Bofinger slam gave UTSA a nine-point lead and Jackson hit a pair of threes, sandwiched around a Sul Ross triple. His second three sparked a 7-0 run, including an offensive rebound putback from Barisic and a dunk off the dribble from Adrian Rodriguez. Sul Ross cut the lead to 49-39 at halftime, with Jackson leading all scorers with 12 points.
The Roadrunners raced out of the gate in the second, using an 8-0 run to build a 57-39 lead, getting buckets from Alley, Parrish, Jackson and Wallace.
A Wallace corner triple and a Parrish take to the rim extended the lead to 66-47 with 14:56 left in regulation. The lead was extended to over 21 after a basket from Germany in the post and a Czumbel run out, taking the advantage to 73-52 with just under 12 minutes remaining.
The Roadrunners put the game out of reach with a 19-3 run – including a 15-0 stretch over a six minute period – to build a lead of over 30 points.
- UTSA -
