Tulsa dominates on the glass, beats UTSA, 100-96

UTSA freshman guard Jhivvan Jackson scored a career-high 29 points, but Tulsa dominated on the glass at home in a 100-96 victory Tuesday night.

The Golden Hurricane won the rebounding battle, 47-27, which served to off-set 15 3-point shots by the visiting Roadrunners.

“(On) the offensive side, we’ve got the ability to do that,” UTSA coach Steve Henson told the team’s radio broadcast. “I told the guys, we’re going to have nights when we make 12 or 15 threes, and we did. But the whole deal was the boards.”

Tulsa outscored UTSA 21-6 on second-chance points, many of them coming as a result of 15 offensive rebounds by a swarm of athletic, long-armed players.

Trailing by 13 points with 4:53 remaining, the Roadrunners didn’t give up. Instead, their offense started to roll with a 12-3 run.

Three-pointers by Giovanni DeNicolao, Deon Lyle and Jackson trimmed the Tulsa lead to 87-83 with 2:21 left.

With Tulsa making just enough free throws down the stretch, UTSA couldn’t get any closer until the final shot, when George Willborn III nailed the team’s 15th trey with 4 seconds left.

“We never back down,” Jackson said. “We just come out and play as hard as we can and try to get the dub (the win).”

Jackson hit 6 of 12 from the field, 3 of 7 on three pointers from long distance and 14 of 15 at the free-throw line.

“All my teammates (were) just putting me in the right spot, giving me right looks and coach was just trusting me in my game,” Jackson said.

Addressing the media in Oklahoma, Tulsa coach Frank Haith called Jackson “a terrific scorer.”

“I thought he was dynamite tonight, made some tough shots,” Haith said. “He knows how to put that ball in the hole.”

Records

UTSA: 4-3

Tulsa: 4-3

Leading scorers

UTSA: Jhivvan Jackson 29, Keaton Wallace 17, Deon Lyle 14, Giovanni De Nicolao 12, George Willborn III 11.

Tulsa: Junior Etou 20, Sterling Taplin 18, Curran Scott 16, Martins Igbanu 10.

Coming up

At home: UTSA returns home to play the Ottawa Spirit from Sunrise, Arizona, on Thursday night.

On the road: The team will hit the road again with games at Utah Valley on Saturday and at Oklahoma on Monday.