SAN ANTONIO – A notable halftime deficit proved to be too steep for the rallying UTSA men’s basketball team (8-9, 2-3 AAC), as the Roadrunners ran out of time on their comeback against North Texas (13-4, 4-1 AAC), Saturday at the Convocation Center. Staring down a 22-point deficit at the half, the Roadrunners scrapped and clawed their way back to a seven-point game with just over three minutes remaining. But the Mean Green’s performance at the line allowed them to escape the momentum shift and leave San Antonio with a 72-57 win.
The first half was North Texas’ highlight, as the Mean Green hit nine of their first 12 shots and broke out to a 23-9 lead in the first nine minutes before the Roadrunners got the offense moving. On the other end, UTSA opened the afternoon making just two of their first eight field goals. Using 7-of-13 shooting from three in the first half, North Texas claimed the upper hand, while the typical staples for UTSA, creating defensive chaos and draining threes were in shorter supply. Facing that 14-point deficit, the Roadrunners began to chip away into the midpoint of the half, cutting the deficit to eight points with 8:39 to go, but an Atin Wright three kicked off a 10-0 run for the Mean Green that would carry them comfortably into the half with a 40-18 lead.
At the half, UNT was shooting 60 percent from the field and 53.8 percent from distance, while severely limiting UTSA fast breaks.
The quieted UTSA offense of the first half was gone after the break, as the Roadrunners scored on their first four possessions. However, the Mean Green weren’t slowing just yet, though they were making a living at the free throw line early in the second half – the first UNT field goal of the second didn’t come until the 16:40 mark.
Not shying away from a 51-29 mountain, Marcus Millender drained a three that sparked a 12-2 UTSA run, working in tandem with Raekwon Horton to slice the deficit to 12 points via a Horton steal transitioned into a Tai’Reon Joseph fast break layup. Upping the backcourt pressure, the Roadrunners turned over North Texas six times in that four-minute sequence.
Though Grant Newell put down a three to snap a four-minute stretch without a UNT field goal, the Roadrunners kept charging as Baboucarr Njie drove in for a layup and Horton stripped the Mean Green at half court on the next possession, taking it the distance for the layup. Njie then shut down Latrell Josell on the other end and Horton found Millender deep at the top of the key for a three-pointer that trimmed the game to 56-48 – forcing North Texas into a timeout that allowed the Mean Green to reset the offense. Trailing by 11, a pair of Primo Spears free throws drew things back to single-digits and then Spears found a back-cutting Millender for the easy layup and a seven-point game with 3:25 on the clock. However, the Roadrunners came up empty on their final four shots and the Mean Green worked above their average at the free throw line, making 8-of-9 to secure the 72-57 win.
Holding up UTSA’s offense in the first half, Joseph finished with a team-high 19 points, hitting 7-of-13 from the floor and 3-of-5 from three. A steady force on both ends of the court as always, Horton was 5-for-11 from the field and 5-of-5 at the line for 15 points, recording three steals and three assists. Fueling the second-half rally with some huge shots, Millender went 4-for-8 and 3-for-4 from deep for 13 points, also snagging three steals with two assists.
Finishing at 46.7 percent shooting in the second half, amidst the comeback UTSA was shooting 62 percent in the half while holding North Texas in the 30s.
The Roadrunners forced North Texas into 12 second-half turnovers.
WHAT’S NEXT
A key road test lays next for UTSA, as the Roadrunners head out to Alabama to face UAB on Tuesday night at Bartow Arena. After collecting the 92-83 win on Saturday at South Florida, the Blazers have won four straight and are in the top echelon of the American Athletic Conference standings.
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