Jacob Germany (right) hugs teammate John Buggs III after Buggs hit the winning 3-pointer at the buzzer in UTSA’s 75-72 Conference USA victory over Middle Tennessee on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, at the Convocation Center. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

First, UTSA guard John Buggs III won the game with a three-point shot at the buzzer, and then he nearly got mobbed on his homecourt.

Not to worry.

After Buggs drained the acrobatic jumper with a defender in his face to secure a 75-72 victory over the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders Thursday night, he turned and outran his teammates, who had come off the bench in hot pursuit.

Jacob Germany produced 23 points and 11 rebounds, helping the UTSA Roadrunners improve to 7-8 on the season and 1-3 in the C-USA. — Photo by Joe Alexander

He ran all the way off the floor and out of sight, somewhere on the south concourse of the Convocation Center.

“They were about to tackle me,” Buggs said, smiling and shaking his head as he sat at the table in the interview room. “I was trying to get away from everybody, you know what I’m saying? It turned from one person into 17. It was crazy.”

If officials had polled all the fans, they might have voted unanimously that the whole game was sort of crazy.

The Roadrunners entered the evening riding a three-game losing streak. They held an 0-3 record in Conference USA and were playing to keep their heads above water early in a 20-game schedule.

Moreover, all three of their C-USA losses were by 20 points or more.

The Roadrunners, however, put all of that behind them and played perhaps their best game of the season. At least, for the the first 32 minutes of the game, they did.

When DJ Richards knocked down a three with 8:19 remaining, it boosted UTSA into a 60-43 lead.

Middle Tennessee, a 26-11 team last season, refused to fold. The Blue Raiders mounted a charge that cut into the Roadrunners lead and made it a four-point game with 3:47 left.

Roadrunners point guard Japhet Medor attacked the paint and scored 19 to help defeat a Middle Tennessee team that dropped to 9-6 on the season and 2-2 in the C-USA. The Blue Raiders won 26 games last season. – Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA continued to lead by four as the clock ticked under one minute. Subsequently, Middle Tennessee started taking it to the basket off of middle ball screens.

Driving layups by Jestin Porter and Eli Lawrence chopped the advantage to one. Lawrence was fouled on his drive and sank a free throw to tie it 72-all with 13 seconds left, prompting UTSA to call time.

Back on the floor, UTSA inbounded on the far end of the court, 94 feet away from the rim.

As Roadrunners point guard Japhet Medor dribbled across halfcourt, Jacob Germany popped out to set a screen. Medor tried to get past the defense but was cut off, so he stopped and tossed the ball outside the 3-point line to Buggs.

Buggs caught it, elevated in preparation to shoot and then nearly had to double-clutch his attempt as Middle Tennessee guard Camryn Weston ran past him to contest. It didn’t matter. The shot was clean, swishing through the net at the buzzer.

“We ran a play for Japhet to get to the rim,” Germany said. “I was kind of on the three-point line cause I slipped the screen. I was calling for the ball. I see Buggs running out of the corner of my eye.

“He catches it. Double clutch. It was great.”

Records

UTSA 7-8, 1-3
Middle Tennessee 9-6, 2-2

Coming up

Western Kentucky at UTSA, Saturday, 3 p.m.

Letting it fly

First in a sequence of photos capturing the game-winning shot: John Buggs III launches the eventual winner as Middle Tennessee guard Camryn Weston (No. 24, at right) leaps to contest it. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Seeing daylight

Second in a sequence: UTSA’s John Buggs finds an opening and follows through on his shot as Camryn Weston from Middle Tennessee turns to watch the flight of the ball. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Feeling the satisfaction

Third in a sequence: John Buggs watches the ball swish through the net to give UTSA its first C-USA victory of the season after three losses. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Individuals

Middle Tennessee — Guard Eli Lawrence, 20 points on eight of 12 shooting. Guard Camryn Weston, 15, on five of 11 from the field. Jestin Porter, 12, on five of five shooting off the bench.

UTSA — Jacob Germany, 23 points and 11 rebounds. Germany hit nine of 14 afield. Japhet Medor, 19 points. John Buggs III, 11. DJ Richards, 11.

First half

Germany hit four of seven shots from the field and scored 12 first-half points as UTSA surged to a 34-28 lead at intermission. Germany was active on both ends of the floor, snaring five rebounds including four on the defensive glass.

Medor also played well in the half, penetrating in the paint and scoring eight points. Forcing the action inside, Germany and Medor were a combined six for six from the free-throw line. Germany, with a height advantage on the Blue Raiders, was four for four.

Defensively, the Roadrunners did a good job on DeAndre Dishman, the Blue Raiders’ leading scorer. Dishman, slowed by a combination of different looks from UTSA, including a variety of zone defenses, was scoreless on the half. He was zero for two from the field. Weston led Middle Tennessee in the half with seven points.

JB’s video replay

Knocking down a buzzer-beater

John Buggs III hits a game-winning three at the buzzer. UTSA downs Middle Tennessee State, 75-72. https://t.co/hyCDEtJ4sq pic.twitter.com/t6VVXNG0NL

— Jerry Briggs (@JerryBriggs) January 6, 2023

Alley-ooping to a teammate

Josh Farmer calls for the lob. DJ
Richards gives him one on the money. Farmer stuffs it. UTSA, playing well, leads Middle Tennessee, 62-46. https://t.co/hyCDEtJ4sq pic.twitter.com/SJeGxPJ5jT

— Jerry Briggs (@JerryBriggs) January 6, 2023

Scoring in the paint

UTSA's Jacob Germany, running the floor, hitting an easy shot. Roadrunners, 27-25. Germany has 12 points. https://t.co/hyCDEtJ4sq pic.twitter.com/CX8l0B2zXB

— Jerry Briggs (@JerryBriggs) January 6, 2023

Just when the UTSA Roadrunners seem to have discovered a semblance of rhythm on offense, their defense has collapsed.

The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders took advantage of it on their home court Monday night by shooting 64 percent in the second half en route to an 84-75 victory over the slumping Roadrunners.

Leading by six at intermission, Middle Tennessee started fast when it came out after the break, making seemingly everything from everywhere.

At one point, the Blue Raiders built a 19-point lead.

Plagued all season by inconsistent offense, the Roadrunners didn’t fold. They came from behind and pulled to within five down the stretch.

But with Middle Tennessee hitting clutch free throws in the final minute, that was as close as UTSA would get.

In the end, the Roadrunners lost their four straight game and their 13th out of 15 overall.

Records

UTSA 8-17, 1-11
Middle Tennessee 15-7, 6-3

Notable

UTSA finished 0-3 on its five-day road trip. The Roadrunners lost to Rice by 13. They lost to North Texas by 24. Now they’ve fallen to Middle Tennessee by nine. A common thread in all three games was a tendency to give up too many easy baskets. The Owls shot 62.3 percent in Houston. The Mean Green shot 54.8 percent in Denton. The Blue Raiders made 53.7 percent in Murfreesboro.

Quotable

“We’ve got to put it all together,” UTSA coach Steve Henson said on the team’s radio broadcast. “We’ve got to defend. Rebound. Get quality shots.”

UTSA by the numbers

Jordan Ivy-Curry, plagued by poor shooting in the first two games of the trip, played much better on the offensive end against the Blue Raiders. He led the Roadrunners with 19 points on 7 of 17 shooting from the field. Jacob Germany bounced back from a six-point outing at North Texas to score 16. The 6-11 center made 8 of 11 shots. Dhieu Deing scored 14 off the bench and hit four 3-point shots, including three in the second half.

Shots start to fall

For UTSA, one of the worst shooting teams in the nation, the road trip wasn’t a complete disappointment. The Roadrunners hit 50 percent from the field against Rice. After making only 29.2 percent against North Texas, they bounced back and hit 42.9 percent against Middle Tennessee, including 47 percent in the second half. UTSA hit six of 17 from the 3-point arc after intermission.

Middle Tennessee

Blue Raiders forward DeAndre Dishman played the role of Roadrunners nuisance in the second half, as he rang up 12 of his 18 points after intermission. In addition, senior guard Josh Jefferson scored 18, senior Donovan Sims produced 14 and junior Eli Lawrence 11. While the Blue Raiders hit five of their seven 3-pointers in the first half, they morphed after intermission into drivers attacking the paint. A critical play came with 54 seconds left when Sims, a 6-1 guard, drove down the middle for a layup for an 80-72 lead.

Coming up

Feb. 12 — Western Kentucky at UTSA
Feb. 17 — UTSA at Southern Miss
Feb. 19 — UTSA at Louisiana Tech

The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders snapped a 13-game losing streak at the expense of the UTSA Roadrunners, scoring an 89-86 victory at home Thursday night in Conference USA.

The Roadrunners fell behind by as many as 21 points in the second half and closed with a furious rally to make it a two-possession game for much of the final minute.

But they couldn’t sustain the momentum, ending their winning streak at seven games.

Coming into the game, UTSA held the lead in the C-USA standings and had a streak that was tied for the sixth longest in the nation.

They also had two of the top scorers in the conference in Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace.

As it turned out, the Blue Raiders didn’t let it bother them, limiting Jackson and Wallace to 19 of 49 shooting combined.

In addition, Middle Tennessee hit 27 of 55 from the field for 49.1 percent, the fourth-best shooting night of the season against the Roadrunners.

The UTSA defense hadn’t allowed a team to shoot better than 44 percent in 12 games, since South Dakota State hit 60 percent on Nov. 20 at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Florida.

Records

Middle Tennessee 4-14, 1-4
UTSA 10-8, 4-1

Notable

Marshall won at home, downing Florida Atlantic, to move into first place in the conference standings at 4-0. UTSA and the North Texas Mean Green, who were idle, are tied for second place at 4-1.

Quotable

“We were keyed in on a couple of their guys, and we did a decent job on them. A couple of guys that had not been making threes got real hot (and) that really had a big impact. They started feeling good, playing with confidence, and it snowballed on us.” — UTSA coach Steve Henson told the team’s radio broadcast.

Individuals

Middle Tennessee — Sophomore guard Donovan Sims 24 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds. Sims hit 5 threes. Junior guard Antonio Green, the team’s leading scorer, 21 points, 6 rebounds. Senior forward James Hawthorne, 20 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks. Hawthorne also had 5 threes. He had made only 5 of 19 on the season coming in.

UTSA — Jhivvan Jackson, 25 points on 10 of 28 shooting. Keaton Wallace, 24 points on 10 of 21. Wallace also had 10 rebounds and 4 steals. Byron Frohnen, 9 points, 8 rebounds. Nick Allen, 8 points on 2 of 5 shooting, including 2 of 3 from three.