SAN ANTONIO – Jhivvan Jackson's 32 led three in double figures, spurring a UTSA men's basketball 86-79 win over UTEP, on Thursday night at the Convocation Center.
UTSA (8-8, 4-5 Conference USA) topped UTEP (7-8, 3-6 C-USA) in the first of two meetings over the week with league standings implications, as the Roadrunners, Miners and Southern Miss all entered play on Thursday tied in the league standings. Southern Miss fell on Thursday night vs. Louisiana Tech.
The Roadrunners fought off a second-half charge from the Miners to secure the win, using the scoring output of Jackson, Keaton Wallace and Jordan Ivy-Curry. UTSA's defense turned in a strong effort, holding the Miners to 41 percent from the field.
The win improved UTSA head coach Steve Henson to 8-2 all-time against rival UTEP and moved his home record at the Convocation Center to 52-17 over five seasons. UTSA is 8-1 at the Convocation Center in 2020-21, with the lone loss coming at the hands of the defending league champion, North Texas.
UTSA used a pair of big first half runs to build an eight-point first halftime lead, despite the Miners staying in the game in the first behind a 13-0 margin in second-chance points. UTEP rallied to take the lead in the second, using an 11-2 run as UTSA missed 10 of its first 12 shots. After UTEP's run led to a 49-48 lead, UTSA outscored the Miners 38-30 to clinch the win.
UTSA was led by Jackson's second 30+ scoring game of the year and the 21st of his career. He poured in 32 on 10 of 20 shooting, including 4 of 10 from distance, adding six rebounds and four assists. Jackson – who had 12 30+ point outings last year – set the league record with 26.8 points per game in 2019-20. He leads all active NCAA scorers in scoring, owns the UTSA program standard, and ranks third in league history.
Jackson's dynamic scoring backcourt mate, Keaton Wallace, had 19 points, a season-best nine assists, eight rebounds and a season-high four steals. Wallace was 7 of 12 from the field, sinking 2 of 4 3-pointers. The native of Dallas, Texas, ranks 13th in C-USA history with 1,880 career points, third-best in school annals.
UTSA also got 14 points from Ivy-Curry, who was 5 of 8 from the field with a career-high tying three 3-pointers. Cedrick Alley Jr. added nine points and a career-high seven rebounds, while Jacob Germany chipped in eight points and four rebounds.
Bryson Williams and Souley Boum led the Miners, with both charting 24-point games. Williams had 10 rebounds, one of two double-doubles for UTEP, who also got 12 points and 13 boards from Keonte Kennedy.
The Roadrunners shot 51 percent in the win, connecting on 10 of 23 3-point attempts. UTSA narrowly lost the rebounding battle, 37-35. UTEP outscored UTSA 36-16 in points in the paint.
UTSA and UTEP will meet on Saturday at 8 p.m. CT in El Paso, Texas, live on ESPN+ and Ticket 760 AM.
Germany set the tone with a pair of hook shoot buckets to open the scoring before UTEP ripped off three straight buckets to take its first lead of the game.
Wallace answered buckets from UTEP with midrange stepback jumpers to even the game at eight. After UTEP took a 10-8 lead, Ivy-Curry splashed a pair of transition 3-pointers for a 14-10 lead.
After the first media timeout, Erik Czumbel was fouled on a drive to the bucket, sinking a pair of free throws for a six-point lead.
UTSA's run stretched to 13-1 after a Phoenix Ford bucket at the rim and a Wallace and-1 gave the Roadrunners a 21-11 lead.
Jackson sank his first 3-pointer of the game to give UTSA an eight-point lead but Boum drilled his first trey to cut the UTSA lead to 24-15 with 8:12 left in the first.
UTSA then ripped off an 8-0 run to take a 16-point lead, getting a Jackson layup on a backdoor cut, a Jackson 3-pointer in transition and a Wallace midrange jumper from the corner for a 31-15 advantage.
The Miners scored the next six points before a Germany bucket in the paint snapped the streak. Alley answered two UTEP free throws with a pair of his own and Jackson gave UTSA a 13-point lead with a transition 30-footer.
A 6-0 UTEP run was answered by a Wallace wing 3-pointer but UTEP used a 5-point possession – featuring an and-1 call, an offensive rebound on a missed free throw, and a 3-pointer, to cut the lead to 41-36.
Alley immediately hit a midrange jumper and after a defensive stop, Ivy-Curry nailed a corner 3-pointer for a 10-point halftime lead. UTSA shot 56.7 percent in the first half, compared to 41.9 percent from the Miners, but UTEP stayed in the game with a 13-0 margin in second-chance points, owning a 20-14 lead in rebounds.
The Miners opened the second stanza on a 7-0 run, cutting the lead to 46-45 before Jackson found an alley for a layup. UTEP's second-half charge continued on an 11-2 run, as Williams sank a pair at the line for a 49-48 lead with 15:53 left before Alley drilled a corner 3-pointer to regain the lead.
UTEP scored the next four to take a 53-51 lead. Alley's hook shot and a deep two from Jackson gave UTSA a 55-53 lead with 10:36 left in regulation.
Ivy-Curry then went on a 5-2 run, sinking a floater and completing an and-1 after being fouled on a wing midrange jumper.
Wallace hit a pair at the foul line and after UTEP went 1 of 2 from the line, Germany slammed home an alley-oop for a 64-56 lead.
UTEP cut into the lead with a bucket from Christian Agnew, narrowing the UTSA lead to 64-58 with eight minutes left. Out of the media timeout, Henson drew up a play on the baseline for Jackson, who dropped the floater in, was fouled, and gave UTSA a 67-58 lead after hitting the free throw.
A Jackson 3-pointer and a Wallace jumper took the lead to 72-58 with just over six minutes left. UTEP scored the next four before Jackson sank a foot-on-the-line jumper from the wing.
UTEP cut the lead with six straight over the next 90 seconds, forcing a Henson timeout with UTSA leading 74-68. Jackson extended the lead to eight with a pair at the foul line. Wallace gave UTSA an 11-point lead with a corner 3-pointer with just over a minute left.
Williams cut the lead at the line with two, narrowing it to 79-70 with 60 seconds left.
- UTSA -
