JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A slow offensive start proved costly for the UTSA men’s basketball team (3-3) in its first matchup at the Jacksonville Classic presented by JustPlay Solutions. Although the Roadrunners battled back to a single-possession game in the second half with Abilene Christian (4-2), the Wildcats were able to rebuild an advantage an limit UTSA’s scoring down the stretch to hold on for the 61-50 final at John Hurst Adams Gymnasium.
It was a quiet start for both teams, as nearly two minutes elapsed without a score, both teams applying heavy defensive pressure. Abilene Christian dropped the first bucket, but Mathéo Coffi dropped a layup to even things up just 27 seconds later. However, the Wildcats used three second-chance buckets and two UTSA turnovers to jump out 8-2 by the first media timeout.
Snapping a 12-0 ACU run early in the first half, Macaleab Rich put down a dunk on the break to spark UTSA’s scoring and the Roadrunners outscored the Wildcats 12-5 over the next four minutes to draw the deficit down to 19-14. ACU responded with perimeter shooting that rebuilt the lead, with Yaniel Rivera hitting from beyond the arc with :03 on the clock to go up 39-26 at the break.
The Roadrunners fired up the offense immediately after the half, with Coffi putting away a driving layup in the first 11 seconds, followed by back-to-back Jamir Simpson buckets and consecutive unanswered layups from Kaidon Rayfield and then Austin Nunez to draw the deficit to 39-37 just three minutes into the new period. The UTSA defensive pressure flipped the opportunities in that stretch, as the Wildcats missed their first six shots of the half and coughed up three turnovers.
However, just as UTSA had slowed ACU, the Wildcats snuffed out the Roadrunners’ surge and regained some cushion at the free throw line before Rich Smith sunk ACU’s first second-half bucket with 11:09 remaining. Five turnovers in the final 11 minutes came back to bite the Roadrunners, as ACU rebuilt its lead and held on for the 61-50 win.
Defensively, the Roadrunners put together a solid performance but couldn’t get the shots to fall on their own end. UTSA held ACU to just 35.5 percent from the field on the night, including a 25 percent shutdown in the second half, forcing the Wildcats into 15 turnovers and grabbing 11 steals.
The battle for ACU’s offensive glass was a key stat, as the Wildcats pulled down 19 offensive rebounds and got 19 second chance points.
Leading the Roadrunners offensively, Jamir Simpson registered his sixth straight double-figure outing, scoring 18 points, going along with five rebounds and three steals. Rich also scored 10 for UTSA, while Baboucarr Njie grabbed nine rebounds with two blocks.
Up Next
The Roadrunners return to Adams Gym tomorrow night for another late game, taking on Sun Belt opponent Georgia Southern (3-4) at 8 p.m. CT on Tuesday. The Eagles fell to Youngstown State in a low-scoring close affair right before UTSA/ACU, dropping a 67-61 setback to the Penguins.
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