When UTSA had last been on the floor of the Convocation Center it was the day before Valentines Day. The Roadrunners had just completed a sweep of Florida Atlantic and were riding a four game winning streak as well as a six game winning streak at home. There was every indication that UTSA would have a chance to extend their winning streak the next weekend in Charlotte.
The Roadrunners did not get the chance to face Charlotte as the Snowstorm that hit San Antonio and knocked power out to most of the city kept the Roadrunners from making the trip to North Carolina.
Instead the Roadrunners spent last weekend practicing against each other. after nearly two weeks off the Roadrunners returned to the court of the Convocation Center on Friday night to face the UAB Blazers in a two game series.
The Roadrunners entered the weekend with the senior duo of Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace both chasing milestone point totals. Jackson entered the weekend 39 points away from 2,500 for his career. Wallace entered 36 points away from 2,000 career points.
UAB entered the series with an 18-5 record overall and 10-4 in conference. UTSA entered with a 12-9 record and 8-6 in conference. If UTSA could sweep the weekend they would move into the top three of the west division. It was quickly apparent on Friday night that things might not go the way of the Roadrunners.
On Saturday though the Roadrunner fans who were in attendance would be treated to possibly the greatest game in program history as Jhivvan Jackson reached 2500 career points and Keaton Wallace became the second Roadrunner ever to score 2,000 points in his career. The two reached their respective feats just a few minutes apart.
UAB opened both halves with 10-0 runs. The Roadrunners were able to completely erase the deficit in the first half but never could overcome the fast start by the Blazers in the second half. A key factor in the Roadrunners inability to complete the comeback was turnovers. UTSA committed 19 turnovers on Friday night. The Blazers got 16 of their points off of turnovers.
“The turnovers were just awful,” UTSA Head Coach Steve Henson said. “19 is way too many. I was surprised we coughed it up like that. They didn’t trap that much. I think their length bothered us more than the actual defenses. The passing lanes were impacted by their lenghth.”
The game on Friday began with UAB opening on a 10-0 run in the first 2:40 of game action. Four of the Blazers first 10 points came off of two UTSA turnovers.
“We came out with the right mindset,” Keaton Wallace said after the game. “They hit us in the mouth first and we had to fight back and get back in the game.”
UTSA finally got on the board when Jacob Germany knocked down a free throw to cut the deficit to 10-1. That was the beginning of an 11-1 run by the Roadrunners that tied the score at 11-11 with 14:29 remaining in the first half.
Both teams went through a three minute scoring drought before Germany gave UTSA its first lead of the night, 13-11 with 11:14 remaining in the first half. UAB quickly answered to tie the score at 13.
The next 10 minutes of action saw UAB retake a lead followed by UTSA tying the score a few times. The Roadrunners retook the lead with 32 seconds left in the half when Eric Parrish made one of two free throws to give UTSA a 28-27 advantage at the intermission.
UAB opened the second half with a 10-0 run. Like their run in the first half, the Blazers second half run was aided by four points off of two Roadrunner turnovers. The Roadrunners answered but unlike the first half the Blazers had an answer for each time UTSA tried to claw back into the game.
In the second half the Roadrunners only got to within three points of the Blazers. Most of the second half saw the Blazers advantage pinball between four points up and seven points up.
Wallace led the Roadrunners with 21 points and a career high 13 rebounds. The 13 rebounds allowed Wallace to move into 10th on the Roadrunner career rebound list at 529, one rebound away from tying Devin Gibson for ninth on the all-time list.
Germany added 13 points to the Roadrunner effort. Jhivvan Jackson finished with 12 points but fouled out late in the second half. Cedrick Alley got 10 rebounds to go with five points.
Anybody who was in attendance on Saturday Afternoon will long remember it as the day UTSA got a new member of the 2,000 point club and the beginning of the 2,500 point club.
When the game began on Saturday Keaton Wallace was just 15 points away from 2,000 for his career. Jhivvan Jackson had a slightly higher hill to climb as he was 27 points away from 2,500 for his career.
It was apparent early that UTSA was in better form on Saturday afternoon. UAB did not open the game with a 10-0 run on Saturday. The Blazers did have a stretch in the first half in which they went on an 8-1 run to take a 15-7 lead over UTSA with 13:07 remaining in the first half.
The Roadrunners responded with a 16-0 run over the course of the next 5:08 of game action to take control with a 23-15 lead at the under-8-minute media timeout. UAB would cut the Roadrunner lead to five, 23-18 but never got any closer as the afternoon turned into a runaway for the Roadrunners.
“I thought it was one of our better games in a lot of areas,” Henson said “Today we really locked in and the guys did a good job of handling the press. We fought defensively. There were a lot of positives today. I liked what we did in almost every area today.”
UTSA pushed their lead to double digits a few times in the first half and it got to as large as 12 in the final minute of the half. UAB then knocked down a three-quarters-court buzzer-beating three to cut the UTSA lead to 42-33 at the break.
By halftime the crowd could sense that both Jackson and Wallace had a good chance of reaching those respective plateaus. Wallace ended the first half with eight points. Jackson ended it with 14 points.
At the 12:08 mark of the second half Keaton Wallace, sitting on 1,997 career points, drained a corner three in front of the Roadrunner bench. That gave UTSA a 59-47 lead.
“It was really a team effort tonight. We got things going, especially late in the second half.” Wallace said “It’s a blessing to be able to make history here at our school. I appreciate all the support and the love from the fans.”
Just 42 seconds later, with 11:26 left in the second half, Jhivvan Jackson knocked down a three that not only moved him to 2,497 career points but also gave him the record for most made three pointers by a player in Conference USA history.
Jackson would only have to wait 1:20 before his next chance to reach 2,500. Jackson got the ball on a pass from Eric Parrish and the swish was true. With 10:06 remaining in the second half against UAB Jackson became the first Roadrunner ever to score 2,500 points in a career. Ever the competitor, Jackson didn’t know he had reached the plateau until he was told after the game.
“I heard something during a timeout but I didn’t know what it was” Jackson said. “I’m grateful for everything that the coaches have done for me and my teammates trusting me. I took this game as a regular game. I’m not emotional because we still have some games left to play.”
While Jackson and Wallace had been pushing toward milestones the Roadrunners had been pushing UAB around in the second half. UTSA’s efforts in the second half began with three blocked shots in a row, the first of those three by Jackson was ruled a foul against the Roadrunner even though it appeared to have been a clean block.
“The ref even told me it was a great block and he missed the call.” Jackson said. “I’m jumping every time. I tell them if they are going up they better dunk on me if not I’m going to block it. I’m going to keep trying to contest them.”
The Blazers missed both free throws following the Jackson foul. It seemed to be living proof of the adage “ball don’t lie”. UAB would have their shots blocked on the next two trips down the court, by Jacob Germany and Cedrick Alley, respectively.
On the other end UTSA opened the second half with buckets from Jackson and Wallace to push their lead up to 46-33. It was pretty much a coasting from then on for UTSA as UAB only got to within nine of the Roadrunners in the second half and the Roadrunner lead ballooned to as much as 22 points.
With 2:26 remaining in the second half Henson called timeout and subbed Jackson and Wallace off. Both were given a chance to walk off the court to a loud ovation from the fans in attendance, all of them appreciative of the last four years from the Roadrunners historic duo.
“I was thanking them and they were thanking me. We appreciate everything they’ve done for this program,” Henson said. “It was fitting for them to finish it off this way with monster nights in the Convo. They came here four years ago and started making baskets and have kept making baskets.”
20 seconds after Jackson and Wallace were subbed off it was time for Phoenix Ford to have his curtain call. Ford made his second career start on Saturday afternoon.
Jackson finished the afternoon with 32 points. Wallace finished with 22 points. Jordan Ivy-Curry added 13 points and Eric Parrish finished with 10 points. Cedrick Alley (9 points), Germany (8 points) and Ford (2 points) were the other scorers for UTSA.
If Saturday afternoon was the final game in the Convocation Center for Jackson and Wallace they certainly left it on a high note. It was reminiscent of their early years in the Convo when both could be counted on for big nights.
Assuming the Roadrunners don’t get a game scheduled for next weekend Jackson will enter the Conference USA tournament with 2,505 career points. Wallace will enter the tournament in Frisco with 2,007 career points.
NEXT WEEK: UTSA (13-10, 9-7 conference) is not scheduled to play a game at present time. It is possible the Roadrunners are able to find a non-conference game for next weekend. If they do not then the next time the Roadrunners take the court for a game would be in the conference tournament in Frisco.
Source link
