SAN ANTONIO – Jhivvan Jackson's 24 led four in double figures, pacing UTSA men's basketball past Southern Miss 78-72 – sweeping the two-game series – on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
UTSA (7-8, 3-5 Conference USA) pulled even with Southern Miss (7-8, 3-5 C-USA) in the standings and improved to 7-1 at home in 2020-21. UTSA owns a 51-17 mark at home under head coach Steve Henson. UTSA posted a 70-64 win over the Golden Eagles in the opener on Friday.
A native of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Jackson went for 24 on 8 of 18 shooting, including six 3-pointers, adding six assists and four rebounds. For UTSA's all-time leading scorer, it marked Jackson's 71st career game with 20 or more points. Last year, Jackson set a new C-USA record with 26.8 points per game.
Wallace, a native of Richardson, Texas, had 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. Jacob Germany – who had his third double-double of the year last night in the win over USM – had 13 points and eight rebounds.
Freshman Jordan Ivy-Curry sank a career-high three 3-pointers, part of a 14-point, four rebounds game in a career-high 27 minutes.
Cedrick Alley Jr. added seven points, four rebounds and one assist.
UTSA shot 39 percent in the win, while Southern Miss finished shooting 47 percent. UTSA was 13 of 34 from 3-point range, winning the rebounding battle 39-38.
The Golden Eagles were led by LaDavius Draine, who had 19, including four 3-pointers in the first half.
UTSA will return to action on Thursday, playing host to UTEP on ESPN+ and Ticket 760 AM at 6 p.m.
Germany opened the game with an alley-oop slam on the first possession of the game but Southern Miss scored the next seven points. UTSA then spurted off an 8-0 run, getting 3-pointers on consecutive trips down the floor and a run out from Eric Parrish for a 10-7 lead.
The Eagles took a 14-12 lead with seven of the next nine points before UTSA ripped off a 7-0 run. Germany had a pair of buckets in the paint, including a lefty hook shot, and Jackson drilled a transition 3-pointer to give UTSA a 19-14 lead.
Phoenix Ford got on the board with a putback after a Southern Miss bucket and Wallace sank a midrange jumper for a 24-18 lead, with Jackson's 3-pointer stretching the lead to nine.
Alley Jr. answered a USM bucket with his first 3-pointer of the game and after USM responded with its own triple, Ivy-Curry sank the first of two 3-pointers, coming on consecutive trips as UTSA took the lead to 36-25.
The Golden Eagles scored four straight points to cut the lead to 36-29 with 3:29 left in the first, prompting the use-it-or-lose-it timeout called from Henson.
The run continued to 11-0 for Southern Miss, who pulled even after Draine's fourth 3-pointer of the half at 36-36.
Jackson answered with his own 3-pointer to regain the lead at 39-36 and splashed a buzzer-beating 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left to take UTSA into the locker room with a 42-36 lead. Jackson had 12 while Draine chipped in 14 in the first half. UTSA shot 47 percent in the frame, with USM shooting 54 percent.
The Golden Eagles opened the scoring in the second half before Jackson sank a 3-pointer. That sparked a 7-0 run for Southern Miss to even then game at 45 before Jackson hit his sixth three of the game just before the under 16-minute media break.
Southern Miss cut the lead to two before Wallace drilled a corner three, Alley finished a putback and Ivy-Curry sank a pair at the line. The run continued to 10-0 after Ivy-Curry sank a wing 3-pointer in transition with 12:41 left, giving UTSA a 58-46 lead, its largest of the game.
The Eagles used a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 58-52 before Jackson sank a deep midrange jumper for an eight-point lead. Germany's tip-in gave UTSA a 10-point lead with 10 minutes left. Jackson's corner midrange was drilled on the out of bounds play, giving UTSA a 12-point advantage.
Germany's and-1 stretched the lead to 67-52 with 8:48 left but an 7-0 run from USM cut the lead to 67-59 with six minutes left. Ford snapped the run with a tip-in for a 10-point lead.
Alley's monstrous slam dunk in transition gave UTSA a 71-59 lead as the clock ticked under five minutes. Three straight points from the charity stripe put USM down single digits with four minutes left.
Over three trips down the floor, Tyler Stevenson and Jaron Pierre Jr. sank a combined five at the line to cut the lead to 72-67 with 2:29 left.
UTSA got stops on consecutive trips down the floor and Jackson was fouled by Pierre, sinking one for a 73-67 lead with 51.1 left in regulation. Jackson grabbed the defensive rebound on the other end and was fouled on a take to the rim with 25.9 left. He hit one for a seven-point lead.
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