SAN ANTONIO – Despite a stellar 40-point effort from senior guard Primo Spears, the UTSA men’s basketball team (6-8, 0-2 AAC) came up short in holding off Tulsa’s (7-9, 1-2 AAC) push down the stretch. The Roadrunners fell behind in the final minute and the Golden Hurricane snuck out of the Convocation Center on Tuesday with an 82-77 win.
In a game of ups and downs that saw the lead change hands nine times, along with seven ties, it was UTSA that made the first big move after falling behind briefly near the four-minute mark, firing off a 12-0 run over the next three minutes, sparked by back-to-back threes from Tai’Reon Joseph and Damari Monsanto – hitting a 14-4 advantage at 13:00 in the first half. After starting the game 1-for-8, the Roadrunners went 6-of-7 seven in that stretch.
However, Tulsa quickly rallied to bring the deficit to 17-16, forcing head coach Austin Claunch into a timeout, just ahead of Tulsa claiming its first lead in eight minutes on a pair of Tyshawn Archie free throws. Monsanto drained another triple to move UTSA back in front, but again Archie countered to force the game’s third tie. Raekwon Horton spotted up for the three with 5:56 remaining that set off a 7-0 UTSA push. Once more, Tulsa countered, as Braeden Carrington scored the next six unanswered points for the Golden Hurricane to make it a one-point game at 30-29. Heading into the break, Marcus Millender, Spears and Jonnivius Smith combined on an 8-0 run across the final 2:16 to head to the locker room with a 38-29 lead.
The Roadrunners came out of the break firing on all cylinders, using a 12-2 run to extend to the game’s biggest divide at 16 points on Spears’ spot-up triple at the top of the key with 16:42 on the clock. However, the Golden Hurricane began to chip away as they got the three-point game going and got leading scorer Keaston Willis involved after a blanked first half – despite the momentum created by Horton’s posterizing dunk at the 14-minute mark, quickly followed by another Spears trey that gave him his ninth 20-point game of the season. While UTSA’s advantage hovered around double-digits for the next four minutes, the Roadrunners faced a scoring drought and Willis secured seven of Tulsa’s 12 points in racing to a one-point advantage at 63-62 with 6:58 to go.
Spears scored the next 10 UTSA points as the Roadrunners wrestled to regain control, twice building a four-point advantage. An Ian Smikle offensive board provided free throws and Willis knotted the game at 72-all with 3:17 left. Both offenses stalled across the next two minutes, but a wrap-around baseline layup by Archie broke the deadlock in the final minute. Spears made his move on the next possession earning a physical and-1 layup that gave UTSA the 75-74 advantage with 39 seconds on the clock, but Archie again responded with a three on the other end just 11 seconds later. Dwon Odom and Spears traded free throws to leave a three-point game with :07 on the clock, but a costly turnover for the Roadrunners gave up the opportunity and another Tulsa score for the 82-77 final margin.
For his efforts in leading the Roadrunners in the second half, Spears 40 points ties Frank Hampton (1988) for the ninth-biggest individual scoring performance in UTSA history and the first 40-point game since Jhivvan Jackson put down 45 at Old Dominion in 2020. A career high for the Hartford, Conn. Senior, Spears went 13-for-23 and was 5-for-7 beyond the arc, logging five assists and two steals. Smith earned his second UTSA double-double and the 10th of his career with a 12-point, 12-rebound output.
For the Golden Hurricane, Carrington led with 20 points, while Archie had 19 and Willis scored all 19 of his points in the second half.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Roadrunners’ home stand continues on Saturday with Wichita State coming to the Convocation Center for the UTSA’s Salute to the Military, featuring a 3 p.m. tip time on Jan. 11.
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