UTSA rallies to turn back Southeastern Oklahoma, 70-67

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Sophomore Jhivvan Jackson takes it to the basket against Southeastern Oklahoma State. The Puerto Rico native sparked UTSA to its third win in a row. — Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA guard Jhivvan Jackson poured in a career-high 32 points Saturday afternoon, but, surprisingly, the Roadrunners needed almost every one of them to avoid a second loss this season to a Division II program.

In the end, UTSA rallied in the final minutes to post a 70-67 victory over the Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm.

It was the third win in a row for the Roadrunners, who are 6-2 in their last eight games.

“We all know that in the first half, basically in the whole game, we got whooped,” Jackson said. “They came out and played great on us. I mean, we prepared really great in practice. But it just didn’t translate in the game.”

Jackson finished with career bests in points and also rebounds, with 10, as UTSA played the last game before the Conference USA phase of the schedule commences next week.

The Roadrunners will host the UTEP Miners on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Records

UTSA 6-7
Southeastern Oklahoma 7-2


Forward Nick Allen forces an air ball by Southeastern Oklahoma’s Kellen Manek at the buzzer, allowing UTSA to escape with a three-point victory.

The visitors from Durant, Oklahoma, had the Roadrunners on their heels for much of the night, and they led by nine points with 6:42 remaining.

With 2:41 left, the Savage Storm held a 62-57 edge and was on the verge of joining Austin-based St. Edward’s University as Division II teams to win at the UTSA Convocation Center this year.

But in crunch time, the Roadrunners started to click, with Jackson and Keaton Wallace sparking an 11-2 run to take charge in a game they couldn’t afford to lose.

Trailing by the eventual final score, SOSU had the ball on the side with five seconds left, but UTSA stepped up to make a key defensive play, forcing an air ball.

Replay showed that the Storm tried to throw it down to the corner, but Wallace had that angle covered, prompting a pass to Kellen Manek on the left-wing arc.

That’s where UTSA forward Nick Allen showed up to force the miss. Jackson secured the rebound with one hand to end the game.


Guard DJ Henderson curves around around a screen early in the second half to knock down an easy three-point shot for the Savage Storm.

SOSU hit five 3-pointers in the first half and cruised to a 35-34 lead at intermission. For the game, the Savage Storm knocked down nine treys, including three by guard Jett Jobe and two by Manek.

As it turned out, UTSA made just enough plays to win, holding the visitors to 40.6 percent shooting from the field.

Notable

UTSA showed up on Saturday night rated 177th out of 353 Division I programs in the nation on Ken Pomeroy’s computer. The Roadrunners are 3-6 against teams in Division I and 3-1 against sub-D-I.

Three of their D-I losses have come against teams rated in Pomeroy’s top 70, including Oklahoma (26), Arkansas (58) and South Dakota State (69).

With the win over SOSU, the Roadrunners improved to 2-7 after trailing at the half this season. In two plus seasons under Coach Steve Henson, they are 8-33 in those situations.

Winning with defense

During the 6-2 streak, UTSA hasn’t allowed an opponent to shoot better than 42.4 percent. Here’s the breakdown:

Southeastern Oklahoma State, 40.6 percent, W 70-67
@Texas A&M Corpus Christi, 28.8, W, 64-50
Bethany, Kansas, 42.4, W, 101-77
@Arkansas, 41.8, L, 67-79
Mid-America Christian, 40.3, W, 104-74
Texas State, 40.6, L, 68-69
Houston Baptist, 41.8, W, 86-82
@Florida Gulf Coast, 39.3, W, 76-65

C-USA openers

North Texas won on the road at Rice Saturday afternoon, claiming a 103-87 victory, in the C-USA opener for both teams. Also, Louisiana Tech won at home, downing Southern Miss, 71-56.

UTSA forward Nick Allen looks to score on Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Kevin Buckingham. Allen finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Photo gallery: UTSA vs. SE Oklahoma State

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UTSA guard Jhivvan Jackson recorded 32 points and 10 rebounds to carry the Roadrunners to a 70-67 non-conference victory over Southeastern Oklahoma State on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018, at the UTSA Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA guard Jhivvan Jackson recorded 32 points and 10 rebounds to carry the Roadrunners.

UTSA beat Southeastern Oklahoma State 70-67 on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018, at the UTSA Convocation Center.

Texas Tech routs UTRGV, 71-46, in tuneup for Big 12 opener

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The 11th-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders held UT Rio Grande Valley to two field goals in the first eight minutes of the second half Friday night, using the defensive stand to break open a close game en route to a 71-46 victory in Lubbock.

Regarded as one of the best defensive teams in the nation, Tech limited the Broncs to 32.7 percent shooting from the field.

As a result, the Red Raiders (11-1) bounced back from their only loss of the season to Duke. Tech will open Big 12 conference play next Wednesday on the road at West Virginia.

Records

Texas Tech 11-1
UT Rio Grande Valley 8-7

Individuals

Texas Tech — Jarrett Culver, 19 points; Deshawn Coprew, 13 points, 10 rebounds

UT Rio Grande Valley — Terry Winn, 17 points.

Texas State’s Kaspar encouraged by effort at Arkansas

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Playing on the road in a traditionally hostile setting, the upstart Texas State Bobcats opened with a 19-6 burst Saturday afternoon against a higher-profile opponent that didn’t seem all that interested in competing.

Texas State coach Danny Kaspar. His Bobcats beat UTSA 69-68 at the UTSA Convocation Center on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018. - photo by Joe Alexander

Texas State coach Danny Kaspar. – Photo by Joe Alexander

But then the Arkansas Razorbacks woke up and found a rhythm, answering with a 17-0 run over a four-minute stretch that spelled the difference in a 73-70 victory, putting an end to the Bobcats’ eight-game winning streak.

“We started off strong, and Arkansas picked it up,” Texas State coach Danny Kaspar told reporters. “They counter-punched us and knocked us down, and we were a little slow to get up. I guess it went from 19-6 (in favor of Texas State) to 21-19, something like that.

“Other than that stretch right there, I thought we played pretty good.”

Kaspar’s comments were posted in a video published online at wholehogsports.com.

After a Christmas break, Texas State will continue its non-conference slate on Dec. 29 at home against Howard Payne. It’s the final test for the Bobcats before they open play in the Sun Belt on Jan. 3 at home against Georgia Southern.

Based on what has happened in the first few months of the season, the Bobcats should feel pretty good about their chances in conference.

In Nijal Pearson, Tre Nottingham, Jaylen Shead, Alex Peacock and Eric Terry, they’ve got a leadership nucleus that has played well together for most of the season.

Kaspar lamented 13 of 41 shooting combined by Pearson, Nottingham and Peacock.

“We got to have our main people shoot better than that,” Kaspar said. “But, I thought our defense was reasonably good, against a team in a pretty hostile environment, like this place is.”

Texas State also outrebounded Arkansas, 42-34, grabbing 17 offensive boards along the way.

“You know, we didn’t really have an answer for (Daniel) Gafford,” Kaspar said. “I’m not sure a lot of people are going to have an answer for him. He’s a good player.

“But then I thought Mason Jones was the one player that made a difference in the game today. He really had a good game. He was very efficient against us. He hurt us even more than Gafford.

“But we’ll take from this and learn from it and try to do better.”

Kaspar seemed particularly pleased with the rebounding statistics, particularly the 17 offensive rebounds.

“Shows me we were battling pretty good,” he said.

Notable

Texas State is 10-2 to lead all teams in the Sun Belt in non-conference victories.

Pearson ranks in the top ten in the conference in three major statistical categories, including scoring (19.6, sixth), field goal percentage (48.9, eighth) and three-point percentage (49.4, first).

Shead, the team’s starting point guard, is tied for second in assists (4.9) and leads in assist-turnover ratio (2.7-1).

Former Brennan standout leading the nation in rebounding

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Center Jordan Murphy, a University of Minnesota senior from Brennan High School, is coming on strong for the Golden Gophers from the Big Ten conference.

Murphy leads the Gophers with 16.2 points per game and leads all of Division I, averaging 12.9 rebounds.

The 6-foot-7 Murphy enjoyed another double-double performance Friday night (30 points, 16 rebounds) in a home victory over North Carolina A&T.

Minnesota is 10-2 on the season and 1-1 in the Big Ten.

UT basketball teams set for move into new arena

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The University of Texas men’s and women’s basketball teams are expected to move into a new 10,000-seat arena on the Austin campus in 2021.

The arena will be expandable to 15,000 seats for concerts and touring shows, according to a news release.

UT officials laid out the plans in a news conference Thursday. They said it would be built on parking lots south of Myers Stadium.

The arena is expected to carry a pricetag of $338 million and will be developed in partnership with the Oak View Group.

According to the news release, the arena will be home to men’s and women’s basketball games, graduations, concerts and other events.

A 35-year agreement between UT and ArenaCo — which includes OVG, Live Nation, C3 Presents and Matthew McConaughey — will be groundbreaking in college athletics and provide a public benefit for UT and the City of Austin for decades to come, according to the release.

The release said the venue will be constructed on land fully owned by UT without using any university or public money.

It will replace the 41-year-old Frank C. Erwin Center, which sits on land designated for future expansion of the Dell Medical School.

UT may be responsible for certain infrastructure improvements near the site to make it ready for construction, according to the release.

UTSA rolls past Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 64-50

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Sophomore guard Jhivvan Jackson notched his seventh straight game of 20 points or more on Thursday night, scoring 22, as UTSA registered a 64-50 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Jhivvan Jackson. UTSA overpowered Bethany 101-77 on Monday, Dec. 17, 2018 at the UTSA Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Jhivvan Jackson

In the game played at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, the Roadrunners held the Islanders to 29 percent shooting from the field.

Jackson hit four 3-point buckets and pulled down eight rebounds to lead the Roadrunners, who have won two in a row and five of their last seven.

Kareem South led the Islanders with 23 points.

Records

UTSA 5-7
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 5-6

Notable

In his seven-game streak, Jackson has scored 21 against both Florida Gulf Coast and Houston Baptist, 22 against Texas State, 28 (Mid-America Christian), 20 (Arkansas), 23 (Bethany) and 22 (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi). He started the season on the bench, sitting out the first three games to complete rehabilitation from knee surgery.

Quotable

“I’m feeling great. I’m getting, basically, my conditioning back. My knee is good. It’s not bothering me or anything, and I’m just looking forward to the rest of the season.” — UTSA guard Jhivvan Jackson said on the team’s radio broadcast.

Duke rallies past Texas Tech, 69-58, in New York

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Forward RJ Barrett scored 10 of his 16 points in the last 14 minutes Thursday, leading the second-ranked Duke Blue Devils to a 69-58 victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders

Duke was down 42-34 with 14:22 remaining when Tech freshman guard Kyler Evans hit a layup off a feed from Jarrett Culver.

From there, the Blue Devils picked up the defensive intensity, started to flow in offensive transition and handed the Red Raiders from the Big 12 conference their first loss of the season.

As the Blue Devils gained momentum, a 3-pointer out of the corner from Cam Reddish served to deflate the Red Raiders further.

It lifted Duke into a 63-57 lead with 3:26 remaining.

Records

Texas Tech 10-1
Duke 10-1

Individuals

Texas Tech — Jarrett Culver, 25 points 6 rebounds, 4 assists. Culver also had 6 of his team’s 24 turnovers.

Duke — Zion Williamson, 17 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out. RJ Barrett, 16 points. Tre Jones, 13 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 steals.

Trailing 8-0 early, the 12th-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders rallied into a 29-28 halftime lead on No. 2 Duke at Madison Square Garden.

Tech looked out of sorts in the early going with turnovers leading to Duke transition points.

But the Red Raiders settled down under sophomore guard Jarrett Culver, taking a 21-14 lead on the heels of a 21-6 run.

Stanley Umude scores 28 points at Allen Fieldhouse

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Former San Antonio prep standout Stanley Umude enjoyed a breakout game Tuesday night for the South Dakota Coyotes.

Umude scored a season-high 28 points against top-ranked Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse, a legendary venue in college basketball.

The Jayhawks scored an 89-53 victory, but Umude made a statement, hitting 10 of 17 shots from the field.

Umude, a South Dakota sophomore from Warren High School, also had six rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

For the season, Umude is averaging 10.6 points on 53.6 percent shooting from the field.

Duke routs Princeton, 101-50, in warmup for Texas Tech

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Duke sensation Zion Williamson caught an elbow in the mouth in the first half, but that didn’t slow down the Blue Devils, who — figuratively speaking — smacked Princeton around for most of the rest of the night in a 101-50 victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Next up for the second-ranked Blue Devils? A trip to New York for a meeting with the undefeated and 12th-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders. The game is set for Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

Records

Duke 10-1
Princeton 5-5

Individuals

Duke — RJ Barrett, 27 points, 6 rebounds. Zion Williamson, 17 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks. Princeton — Myles Stephens, 19 points, 3 steals.

Notable

The Blue Devils had 14 blocked shots and 12 steals. It was the fifth time Duke has had 10 or more blocks in a game this season. Duke had double digit steals for the fifth straight game, which is tied for the third-longest streak in school history and the longest since a five-game streak in the 2000-01 season.

Quotable

— Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, in comments posted on the school’s website:

“The guys played great defense tonight, especially against an extended dribble. I thought RJ (Barrett) did a great job on (Devin) Cannady, who is an outstanding player. He didn’t leave him. His length and not letting him get the ball, and even when he got it, the length was a key factor in stopping him.

“Tre (Jones’) pressure on (Jaelin) Llewellyn was key, and for the most part we kept them out of the paint. And when they did get in the paint, our big guys came over and blocked a lot of shots. Which is what they are supposed to do and they did it.”