By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Freshman PJ Haggerty scored seven points in a 21-4 burst in the first six minutes of the second half, and the home team Tulsa Golden Hurricane continued on to rout the UTSA Roadrunners 107-78 Wednesday night in the American Athletic Conference.
Tulsa’s opening burst after intermission expanded what had been a five-point lead at intermission and made it 22-point spread with 14:01 remaining. The Roadrunners never got closer than 15 the rest of the way.
With Tulsa shooting 59 percent from the field and knocking down 16 three pointers, the Golden Hurricane (10-7, 1-4) broke a four-game losing streak. In giving up a season-high in points in regulation play, the Roadrunners (7-11, 1-4) lost their third game in a row and their seventh in their last nine.
Haggerty. the second-leading scorer in the American, finished with 25 points. He came in averaging 18.8. The 6-foot-3 freshman from Crosby, Texas, also produced six rebounds and seven assists. He hit nine of 12 shots from the field, including four for four on three-point attempts.
For UTSA, Jordan Ivy-Curry scored 19 points and pulled down seven rebounds.
The Roadrunners shot the ball reasonably well in the first half, hitting 48 percent from the field, to stay within five points at intermission. But in the second half, the offense came undone, as the team hit only 9 of 33 for 27.3 percent.
First half
In a fast-paced half, the Golden Hurricane hoisted 15 three-point attempts and hit 10 of them to take a 53-48 lead on the Roadrunners at intermission.
Haggerty knocked down three for three from beyond the arc to lead the Golden Hurricane, who hit 63.6 percent from the field in the half. Another freshman, Isaiah Barnes, knocked down two from distance, as did Tyshawn Archie and Cobe Williams.
The Roadrunners also played well offensively, with Jordan Ivy-Curry and Christian Tucker scoring 12 points apiece.
The lead in the game went back and forth for the first eight minutes before the Golden Hurricane ran off on a 17-5 burst. Barnes emerged as a principal in the outburst by scoring nine points in a row for Tulsa.
Barnes capped the streak by rebounding his own miss and hitting a put-back for a 44-32 lead with 4:31 remaining. In response, the Roadrunners went off on a 12-0 run of their own. Two free throws by Tucker tied the game 44-44 with 2:16 left.
Notable
Tulsa’s 107 points ranked as an opponent season high in regulation against the Roadrunners. Minnesota beat UTSA 102-76 on Nov. 10 in the second game of the season. On Jan. 10,
the 15th-ranked Memphis Tigers downed the Roadrunners 107-101 in overtime, in a game that was tied at 94 at the end of the second half … Guard Adante’ Holiman has missed four straight games with an ankle sprain.
Records
UTSA 7-11, 1-4
Tulsa 10-7, 1-4
Coming up
Florida Atlantic at UTSA, Sunday, 2 p.m.
Tulane at UTSA, Jan. 24, 7 p.m.
UTSA at South Florida, Jan. 27, 3 p.m.