FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The UTSA men’s basketball team (3-5) gave highly-touted RV Arkansas (7-2) everything it could handle in the first half of Saturday’s non-conference matchup at Bud Walton Arena. Despite a stalwart defensive effort that provided a five-point halftime advantage, the Razorbacks turned the tides in the second half and pulled away to down the Roadrunners, 75-60.
The Roadrunners made an early defensive stand to shut down the Razorbacks early, as center Mo Njie collected two blocks in a 13-second span and added another 95 seconds later, while the Roadrunners collected two steals to keep Arkansas off the board for nearly three minutes. The second of those steals was a pick and fast-break dunk by Tai’Reon Joseph, making waves early with his 2024-25 debut for the Roadrunners. The Razorbacks stayed just one small step ahead of the Roadrunners until they reached a 15-10 advantage with 11:30 left in the first half. Back-to-back scores from Jonnivius Smith and Primo Spears knotted the score at 15-all for the first tie of the game. UTSA tied it up twice more on a Jaquan Scott dunk and Raekwon Horton free throws, but back-to-back triples from Spears and Damari Monsanto set UTSA onto an 11-2 run as Arkansas struggled against the Roadrunners’ zone – wrapping up on a Njie dunk that made it a game-high eight-point lead with 25 seconds left. Despite D.J. Wagner’s last-second Arkansas score, UTSA went into the break with a 32-27 lead – limiting the Razorbacks to their second-lowest first half total this season.
The Roadrunners also finished the opening half shooting 41.9 percent from the field, scoring five off turnovers while forcing the Razorbacks into eight giveaways with five steals and UTSA giving up the ball only twice.
Coming back out of the locker room, the Razorbacks shook off their offensive struggles while scoring eight unanswered before Spears snapped the Roadrunners’ slump with a pull-up at 16:19 – restarting the Roadrunners’ offense after an 0-for-4 start to the period. Spears and Scott twice more brought the game to only a single-point Arkansas lead, but free throws fueled a 9-0 run over the next three minutes that created the game’s first double-digit lead.
The Roadrunners’ defense held star freshman Boogie Fland well below his average, but notably off the scoreboard for over 30 minutes, also forcing him into four turnovers. However, Fland proved important to the Razorbacks as they expanded that lead to 16 with 4:59 remaining before Spears, Joseph and Millender chipped the deficit down to 11 – the closest the Roadrunners would get as Arkansas held up the 75-60 win at the final buzzer.
Leading a UTSA squad that shot 40.7 percent overall and saw eight players score, Spears logged his eighth consecutive double-digit scoring performance at 19 on 8-of-19 shooting. Millender logged 18 as well for his sixth of the year. Raekwon Horton scored six and led UTSA with five boards. Njie also collected a career-high four blocks – the most by a Roadrunner this season.
WHAT'S NEXT
Completing the toughest week of the non-conference season opponent-wise with both teams receiving votes, the Roadrunners will have six days back in San Antonio with no game on the docket. Returning to action at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13, UTSA will welcome North Dakota to the Convocation Center in the game rescheduled from November. UTSA will then face the Fighting Hawks a second time in less than 48 hours, traveling immediately to Grand Forks for a Dec. 15 rematch at UND.
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