PHILADELPHIA – The UTSA men’s basketball team (4-10, 0-2 AMER) couldn’t secure timely stops to climb back into the game late in the second half, falling to Temple (10-5, 2-0 AMER) on Saturday at the Liacouras Center in a 76-57 final result.
The Roadrunners and Owls traded scores and kept things close early in the first half of Saturday’s American Conference tilt. Although the Roadrunners went down seven points, Jamir Simpson jumpstarted a rally with UTSA’s first three-pointer of the day, leading up to Austin Nunez hitting consecutive free throws to tie the game at 14-14 with 9:52 remaining.
However, Temple’s Gavin Griffiths responded with a long-range shot of his own, setting pace to be the game’s leading scorer – and starting his afternoon as spoiler for multiple UTSA comeback opportunities. Behind Griffiths’ triple, the Owls fired off seven unanswered points and earned trips to the line that fueled a 12-2 run over the next three minutes. Breaking up that scoring drought, Dorian Hayes and Baboucarr Njie each hit a pair at the line and Nunez’ layup chipped the deficit down to seven with 45 seconds left in the half. At the break, Temple held a 39-30 advantage.
Griffiths hit a triple on the first Temple possession of the second half, but the Roadrunners continued to battle, as Hayes, Brent Moss and Njie each cut the deficit to eight over the first six minutes of the new half.
Just 16 seconds after Njie stripped Temple and went the distance for a dunk off the steal, Griffiths lined up his third three-pointer of the half, sparking a 10-4 Temple push to a 63-46 advantage with 8:40 on the clock.
Grinding down from a 17-point disadvantage, Nunez scored six consecutive points for the Roadrunners to slice the game to 11 points with 4:50 remaining on the clock. With UTSA pressuring a comeback, the Owls found seams to break UTSA’s press for quick buckets and put the Roadrunners away in the 76-57 final.
Nunez paced the Roadrunners, scoring 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting, ahead of Simpson, Njie and Hayes with 11 apiece. Moss topped the Roadrunners on the glass with nine rebounds.
Offensive rebounds and timely scoring proved to be a difference-maker on Saturday, as the Owls came away with 20 offensive rebounds and scored 21 second-chance points.
Topping the Owls, Griffiths finished with 23 points, including six from three-point range, while also logging five rebounds and seven blocks.
Up Next
Hosting back-to-back home games for the first time since the opening week of the season, UTSA kicks off a three-game home stand hosting Charlotte in a Lights Out game on Jan. 7 at the Convocation Center, then bringing in Tulane on Jan. 10 for the Salute to First Responders.
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