PHILADELPHIA – Despite a strong opening half at the Liacouras Center on Sunday, the momentum swung against the Roadrunners in the second half of the UTSA men’s basketball (8-18, 2-11 AAC) game at Temple (9-17, 2-11 AAC). While UTSA earned a seven-point halftime lead, the Owls outscored the Roadrunners by 13 in the next 20 minutes to edge out an 83-77 win, snapping a 10-game losing skid for the Owls.
Shaking off a slow start, Jordan Ivy-Curry contributed quickly as the Roadrunners rallied from an early deficit, scoring seven points in the first eight minutes, then setting Dre Fuller Jr. for a go-ahead three on the right wing. Chandler Cuthrell grabbed a defensive rebound and pushed the ball to Fuller, who returned it for Cuthrell’s triple that pushed UTSA ahead 19-15. Though UTSA scored on its next three possessions, Temple rallied for a tie game at 27-all with under six to go. Overcoming a slight deficit, PJ Carter’s free throws sparked a huge push to the break, combining with Carlton Linguard Jr., Isaiah Wyatt and Ivy-Curry to outscore Temple 14-3 across the final four minutes – pushing UTSA to a 41-34 halftime lead.
In a play that would prove consequential toward UTSA’s rotation, Temple’s Hysier Miller was docked a technical foul for pushing a UTSA player with .06 on the clock, while Christian Tucker was disqualified for leaving the bench to help his teammate off the court.
The Roadrunners shot 47.1 percent in the first half, limiting the Owls to 37.5 percent.
While Trey Edmonds opened the second half by slicing the lane for a dunk, the Owls launched a 10-1 run to tie the game at 44-all. Carter led the Roadrunners back to a seven-point lead, but again that lead evaporated and flipped the other way on a Miller three with 12 minutes to go – though the game stayed at a single-possession Temple lead for nearly all of the next five minutes. Fueling the shift toward Temple, the Owls made nine consecutive shots over a six-minute stretch, including seven layups in the string.
The Owls hit an eight-point advantage and the Roadrunners made their move, slicing the deficit to just three on a Carter three with 2:11 to go, but that was as close as UTSA would get. The Owls netted a four-point play with Steve Settle dropping a three at :57 after a Temple got the rebound on their own split free throws. The Owls then took care of the line the rest of the way and survived for the slump-breaking 83-77 win.
In the loss, the Roadrunners’ own setback streak grows to six games.
Ivy-Curry led all scorers with 22 points, hitting 8-for-18, also grabbing five rebounds with three assists. Carter put up 13 for his third consecutive double-figure game, collecting four rebounds. Cuthrell had nine points and a team-best nine rebounds.
Up Next
After two games out of the region, UTSA returns to the Lone Star State and back to action on Wednesday against AAC-leading South Florida, at the Convocation Center on Feb. 21 in the Roadrunners’ Black History Month Game. UTSA then travels to Denton for a Saturday, Feb. 24 matchup at North Texas.
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