BOCA RATON, Fla. – After Roadrunners’ shooting went cold early in the American Conference opener, the UTSA men’s basketball team (4-9) fell into a first-half hole on New Year’s Eve at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena. Despite a renewed scoring effort after halftime, the Roadrunners succumbed to a 110-70 setback to Florida Atlantic (9-5) to open the conference slate.
The scoring was not fast and furious for either team in the opening minutes, as UTSA took a 5-2 lead on a Jamir Simpson pull-up three in the first two minutes. While the game remained within two possessions through the first media timeout, Florida Atlantic was brewing a 21-point run that pushed the Owls away from the Roadrunners – snapped by a Daniel Akitoby putback with 12:15 on the clock. Simpson, Austin Nunez and Mo Njie chipped into the FAU lead, but each time the Owls had a response and closed the half on a second run of 21-5 over a four-minute stretch that set a 60-28 halftime margin.
Nunez led the revived scoring effort with 17 points in the second half and the Roadrunners rebounded after halftime with a tightly-contested second half, but the Owls continued to succeed at what built their lead – adding eight more threes for a total of 18 triples and finishing with 31 fast break points. The second half margin tilted 50-42 toward the Owls, ending in a 110-70 final.
Nunez led all scorers in Wednesday’s contest, putting up a career-high 22 points, shooting 7-of-12 (5-of-8 in the second half) and going 7-of-8 at the free throw line – both career highs. Meanwhile, Brent Moss finished with 14 points, a team-high eight rebounds and a season-best four steals.
Driving down the baseline with 5:48 remaining in the first half, Simpson hit a contested layup to score his 1,500th career NCAA points over the course of 101 games. Simpson finished with nine on the afternoon.
Up Next
The opening week of conference play continues into the weekend for UTSA, staying on the road and heading to Philadelphia for a nationally televised ESPNU matchup at Temple on Saturday in the Liacouras Center.
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