UTSA missed seven of its first eight shots, fell behind by 10 points in the first six minutes and set the stage for a frustrating afternoon.
The home-team Southern Miss Golden Eagles took full advantage of the situation, rolling to a 93-83 victory over the Roadrunners Saturday at Reed Green Coliseum.
“We opened the game very poorly, almost sleep-walking out there,” UTSA coach Steve Henson told the team’s radio broadcast. “Their style of play has a little to do with that. There wasn’t much energy going either direction.”
Kevin Holland scored 23 points to lead the Golden Eagles (9-8, 2-2 in Conference USA) to a sweep of their two-game home stand.
The Roadrunners (9-8, 2-2) got 30 points from freshman Jhivvan Jackson and 21 from Deon Lyle, settling for a split of a two-game road trip.
UTSA defeated Louisiana Tech 78-76 Thursday night, winning the game on a buzzer-beater by Giovanni De Nicolao.
At Southern Miss, the Roadrunners couldn’t get anything going early, and it cost them dearly.
“We had some good looks,” Henson said. “Wide open three-pointers didn’t go down. It was almost as if they were daring us to shoot there for awhile. We’re usually a pretty aggressive team.
“We just got a little tentative (and) didn’t make aggressive plays.”
UTSA returns home for two games next week, against Florida International and Florida Atlantic.