DENTON, Texas – The UTSA men’s basketball team (9-19, 3-12 AAC) stayed focused on working together to finish off a tough defensive effort on a win over North Texas (14-12, 7-7 AAC) on Saturday, notching the first Roadrunners’ win at The Super Pit since 2015. After falling behind early, the Roadrunners took the lead for a total of 4:22 in the closing moments of the second half, enough to hand the Mean Green a 64-62 loss and snap a seven-game losing skid for UTSA in the nationally televised AAC game.
Taking on the toughest defensive opponent in The American, PJ Carter scored the first five points to get UTSA moving. However, the Roadrunners fell behind early with four consecutive missed shots and four turnovers, sending the North Texas advantage to 13-5. Dre Fuller Jr. snapped UTSA out of it with 12:41 to go via a three in the corner. After nearly two minutes without a score, Jordan Ivy-Curry completely took over the game to lead UTSA out of an 11-point hole, scoring the next 13 consecutive points for the Roadrunners to bring it to a one-point game with 6:37 to go in the half. Heading into the break, UTSA saw another drought though, missing the last six shots to go in half trailing 37-32.
Spreading around the scoring, North Texas maintained momentum out of the locker room and kept UTSA at a safe distance until just under 10 minutes. After Trey Edmonds started the process of chipping the lead away, the Roadrunners held the Mean Green without a score on six consecutive possessions. In the meantime, Ivy-Curry cut the deficit to five and Fuller hit back-to-back threes to push UTSA ahead for the first time in the game at 54-53. Two additional triples from Ivy-Curry and then Carlton Linguard Jr. provided the Roadrunners a 60-57 lead.
The Mean Green tied the game for the final time at 60-all on a Robert Allen free throw. Playing with the lead off a Linguard putback, UTSA was whistled for a moving screen, but the Roadrunners covered all angles on the defensive possession and forced a North Texas turnover under the basket with under a minute left. The Mean Green had four fouls to give, but still managed to get stuck with Christian Tucker at the free throw line –both falling for a 64-60 lead. After Rubin Jones sliced the lead again with 24 seconds left, it was UTSA’s defense that closed things out on the final possession, as North Texas fell short with a blocked three on Tucker’s stat sheet and a huge 64-62 road victory in Denton – snapping a seven-game UTSA losing streak.
It was a game with players rising to the time they were needed. Ivy-Curry put up 16 points in the first half to keep UTSA in it, finishing with a game-high 21 points highlighted by 5-for-8 perimeter shooting, in addition to eight rebounds, three steals and three assists. Both instrumental in the late push, Linguard went 5-for-8 for 13 points with six rebounds and three blocks, while Fuller hit 3-of-4 from beyond the arc for 12 points that sparked UTSA down the line.
Up Next
The new week brings the rematch with Tulsa on Greek Night to The Convo on Feb. 28., followed by a road swing back to the Dallas Metroplex to meet SMU on March 2.
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