SAN ANTONIO – It was a wall-to-wall battle on Wednesday night at the Convocation Center in the American Conference tilt between UTSA men’s basketball (4-17, 0-9 AMER) and the visiting UAB Blazers (13-8, 4-4 AMER). The game went to half with a two-point difference and featured nine ties and seven lead changes that ran into the final four minutes before UAB strung together enough stops to claim the 83-73 road win.
The Roadrunners brought attacking energy right out of the gate, claiming a 7-3 lead early and opening up with three blocks and 4-of-7 shooting heading into the first media timeout. Five consecutive points from Brent Moss gave the Roadrunners a five-point advantage, but the Blazers chipped away and took their first lead off a Daniel Rivera scoop-and-score at 17-16 with 10:52 on the clock.
Dorian Hayes and Moss fired off five more unanswered and nudged UTSA back in front for three more minutes, until Evan Chatman flipped the advantage back to the Blazers at 24-23 with 7:48 to go. Again, the Roadrunners were quick to respond, as Baboucarr Njie hit back-to-back buckets, going back in front on a spinning drive for the score.
As the score continued to seesaw into the final moments of the half, Moss hit his third from three-point range to tie the game at 34-all. Then UAB’s Jacob Meyer hit a pull-up just off the right elbow with 51.9 seconds remaining. After getting a key turnover, the final UTSA shot of the half was off the mark and the Roadrunners trailed 38-36 at the break.
At the half, the Roadrunners shot 43.8 percent from the field, while rebounds and turnovers were deadlocked.
The frenetic pace of play continued right into the second half, but the Blazers clung to their edge until Dorian Hayes drained a pull-up three that tied the game at 51-51 just five minutes into the new period. Again, it was Rivera that bailed UAB out of the jam with a layup on the next possession, as the Blazers grew their lead to seven after Chatman got his hands on a blocked shot for the putback. Moss responded with two scores inside 35 seconds to get the Roadrunners moving and Jamir Simpson knotted the game at 62 on a pump fake pull-up deep in the paint.
The Roadrunner defense held the Blazers without a field goal for six minutes, but UAB was able to make its marks at the line with six free throws in that span to stay afloat. Meanwhile, Simpson broke through the lane on a highlight-reel poster dunk and then drilled the extra-pass three-pointer to trim the deficit to 68-67 with 4:38 remaining. Moss hit a pair of free throws with 4:06 to go, sweeping into the lead.
However, the celebration would be short-lived, as a Chatman free throw knotted the game 11 seconds later and Kyreon Lindsay-Martin’s turnaround jumper gave UAB the lead for good.
After the deficit swelled to eight, Austin Nunez chipped into the margin with a pair at the line and LJ Brown intercepted the inbound, setting up Kaidon Rayfield to make it a four-point game at the line in the final minute. However, six consecutive free throws from the Blazers sealed the 83-73 final.
Across the final 4:38, UAB held UTSA without a field goal to rally to the road win.
Tying his career high, Moss paced all scorers with 19 points, grabbing seven boards to co-lead the Roadrunners on the glass. Simpson shot 8-for-14 and had 18 points. Njie shared the rebounding lead with Moss, adding in 13 points and three blocks – bringing his five-game rejection total to 22.
Up Next
The Roadrunners will see the first single-game week since before American Conference play began, taking a weekend BYE for the first time since mid-December. Next time on the court, the Roadrunners will be at South Florida in the Yuengling Center on Feb. 4, before returning to the Convo for the North Texas rematch on Feb. 7.
- UTSA -