SAN ANTONIO – UTSA defeated I-35 rival Texas State on Thursday night in front of 1,587 fans at the Convocation Center behind a late second-half scoring run by lead guard Japhet Medor who poured in 11 of the last 12 Roadrunner points.
The Roadrunners (3-1) are off to their best start since the 2012-13 campaign, having won three of four to start the season. The Bobcats (2-2) trailed throughout most of the first half but were able to grab the lead a couple of times in the second half. UTSA used its point guard's late scoring run to pull away and down the Bobcats.
Medor finished the game with a career-high 16 points on 5-7 shooting and went 6-8 at the charity stripe. He also threw in five rebounds and two assists to round off his impressive evening. John Buggs III tallied his second-straight double-digit scoring performance, recording 13 points and a career-high eight boards. UTSA senior also turned in his second straight double-digit performance, his third of the season, chipping in 12 points and five rebounds. DJ Richards again had a big night off the bench, connecting on three of four three-pointers, giving the Roadrunners nine points and seven rebounds. Aleu Aleu also had a solid evening off the bench as the senior out of Austin grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and scored four points.
The Rundown
UTSA came out firing, claiming the first seven points of the game off an Isaiah Add-Ankrah three and four points from Germany. The Bobcats trimmed the lead to just two, 12-10, as the two teams entered the under 16 media timeout. UTSA went on a quick 6-2 run out of the break thanks to a Richards three-pointer, a Medor free throw and a Josh Farmer 18-foot jumper. Texas State evened up the score at 20 apiece and went on to grab a 25-23 lead with about four minutes left in the half. UTSA closed the first half on an 8-2 run to take a 31-27 lead into the break.
The Bobcats quickly knotted the game up at 31, opening the second half on a 4-0 spurt. UTSA then got back-to-back triples from Richards, holding a 37-33 lead. The two teams would exchange four-point leads, as Texas State reclaimed the advantage going up 45-41 with just under 12 minutes to go. The Roadrunner ripped off an eight-nothing run from there as Aleu and Buggs buried triples and Medor and Germany converted layups, putting UTSA up 51-45. The Bobcats had yet another rally in them, retaking the lead with just under four minutes remaining, 54-53. When the game was in crunch time, UTSA turned to Medor to get them through the night. The Wellington, Fla. native scored 11 of the final 12 Roadrunner points, converting three layups and cashing five freebies at the line. Medor's late scoring burst gave UTSA just enough as it took down Texas State 61-56.
Stat of the Game
The Roadrunners held the lead for 34:10, maintaining solid game control throughout, whereas Texas State led for just 3:32.
Up Next
UTSA will welcome Prairie View A&M to town on Nov. 22 in a contest that is set to begin at 7 p.m. That game will be streamed on CUSA.tv and broadcast on Ticket 760 AM. The matchup with Prairie View A&M is the final tune-up for the Roadrunners before the 210 San Antonio Shootout that they will host at the end of the month.
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