SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men’s basketball team suffered its first home loss on Saturday afternoon, falling to a tough Little Rock (2-2) squad picked to win the OVC at the Convocation Center. A shooting slump late in the first half pushed the Roadrunners behind, but the squad couldn’t string together enough scoring runs in the second half to overcome the deficit.
As Marcus Millender splashed a three in the opening moments to give the Roadrunners their first lead, a battle of dueling scores seemed near imminent. Although the Little Rock Trojans maintained a slight edge, UTSA was just a step behind much of the first half. With both teams’ heavy defensive effort on full display early, the Roadrunners retook the lead in the 11th minute on a pair of Skylar Wicks free throws at 18-17. The Trojans were quick to respond, but Primo Spears dropped another pair from the line to nudge UTSA in front for the final time at 21-20 with 7:45 remaining in the half. The Trojans reeled off a substantial run, scoring 16 unanswered. Down the stretch in the opening period, Jonnivius Smith and Nazar Mahmoud retracked the Roadrunners at the line and UTSA faced a 36-26 deficit at the break.
In the opening half, UTSA shot 19.2 percent from the field, but put away 70 percent at the free throw line, going 14-of-19 in the period.
With UTSA flashing more from the field early in the second half, Mahmoud hit a key three to trim the lead to 39-29 and Wicks hit from distance on the next trip up the court, but Little Rock responded by outpacing UTSA 19-7 over the next four minutes. UTSA forced three consecutive turnovers just beyond the midpoint of the half to trim it to a 10-point game once again, but Little Rock scored on their next six field goals to rebuild their cushion, holding off the Roadrunners to an 81-64 final.
UTSA ended the game shooting 30 percent and forced 16 turnovers, but allowed 17 of their own. At the line, the Roadrunners shot 74.1 percent, hitting 20-of-27.
A spark at multiple times, Mahmoud logged a career game with his first double-digit outing on 10 points. Primo Spears led the Roadrunners for the third time this season, putting up 15 points as he evaded the Trojans heavy defensive focus late in the second half, slicing the lane numerous times. Millender (12) and Wicks (10) also reached double-figures. Leading a 40-34 rebounding advantage, both Mo Njie and Smith tallied eight boards, while Wicks collected seven and Mahmoud had a career-best six.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Roadrunners have nine days between games, next traveling to Troy, Alabama for the Trojan Turkey Tipoff, with tournament contests scheduled against host Troy (Nov. 25) and Merrimack (Nov. 27) ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. UTSA is next back in the Convocation Center on Nov. 30 against Houston Christian.
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