TAMPA, Fla. – Firing off a 50-point first half against the third-ranked team in the American, the UTSA men’s basketball (4-18, 0-10 AMER) team locked up a halftime lead over South Florida (15-8, 7-3 AMER) on Wednesday at the Yuengling Center, behind a monster first half from Brent Moss and Jamir Simpson. One of the top offensive squads in the league, the Bulls were able to get in front early in the second half and capitalize on Roadrunner miscues, weathering several UTSA scoring runs to pull away to a 109-88 final.
The Roadrunners’ shooting was locked in and showed up early on Wednesday against the Bulls, as South Florida was unable to create any separation while Moss and Simpson tag-teamed the home team early. After South Florida twice garnered its biggest early lead of seven in the first eight minutes of the half, Simpson drained a Moss-assisted triple and LJ Brown picked the inbound for an easy layup to trim the deficit to 22-20 with 11:45 on the clock. Two possessions later, Moss dropped his second three to cut the game to a single point and tied the game at 27 just over a minute later. After Mo Njie pulled down the board on the ensuing USF possession, Simpson muscled his way to a contested layup and the 29-27 lead with 8:55 remaining in the half.
Holding the Bulls without a field goal for three minutes, UTSA kept the upper hand via another Moss triple and a putback from Daniel Akitoby. However, the Bulls chipped away and started a scoring pendulum in motion with Izaiyah Nelson’s three with 5:50 to go, setting off a string of six lead changes and five ties across the next four minutes of play. After CJ Brown’s three-point play knotted the game at 45, Simpson drove on the opposite end to draw the foul and the go-ahead free throws with 1:03 remaining in the half. Moss hit his fifth long-ranger of the period to give UTSA a 50-45 lead, but the Roadrunners couldn’t hold off Wes Enis’ final USF attempt, heading to the break with a 50-48 advantage over the Bulls.
The Roadrunners notched their first 50-point half since Nov. 18 against Southwestern Christian, as Moss had already registered a career-high 23 points while hitting 7-of-9 from the field, including a perfect 5-for-5 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Simpson already had 14 while going 5-for-9 from the field. At the break, UTSA was shooting 62.1 percent from the field and a staggering 8-of-11 (72.7 percent) beyond the arc.
After the Roadrunners limited turnovers throughout the first half, USF opened the second half on an 8-0 run, forcing two quick UTSA turnovers and going up six before UTSA could reignite the offense.
Gavin Hightower came off the bench to spark the Bulls, hitting a three off a UTSA turnover to take the USF advantage to nine. However, the Roadrunners were hardly ready to lay down, as Akitoby pulled up from the free throw line and Austin Nunez sliced the deficit to four with a fast break three at 63-59.
Countering quickly, Hightower was responsible for eight of the next 18 points for the Bulls, leading the charge to a 15-point advantage. However, the Roadrunners came rushing back once again, with Akitoby and Moss cutting the deficit to single digits one final time at 83-74 with 8:27 on the clock.
This time, as the Bulls made their move, the Roadrunners didn’t have enough left in the tank while South Florida attacked the basket and worked the free throw line to pull away to a 109-88 finish.
Notching the biggest individual UTSA scoring performance of the year, Moss finished the night with a career-best 32 points, hitting 10-of-16 overall, 7-of-9 from the perimeter and 5-of-6 at the free throw line – while also grabbing six rebounds. Moss registered the ninth-best scoring performance in the American this season.
Joining him with a season-high 24 points, Simpson went 8-for-15 and 3-for-6 from three, 5-for-7 at the line. Shooting 7-for-8 on the night, Akitoby logged a season-high 14 points, along with eight rebounds and a pair of blocks.
Slowed to 50 percent shooting in the second half, UTSA finished with a season-high 56.1 percent shooting performance overall, putting away 12-of-21 (57.1 percent) from the perimeter.
Up Next
UTSA returns to action at home this weekend in the Convocation Center, honoring Black History Month on Saturday in the rematch with North Texas. The following week will see UTSA take on back-to-back road games in North Carolina at East Carolina (Feb. 11) and Charlotte (Feb. 15).
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