By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Close losses are getting old for the UTSA men’s basketball team.
The Tulsa Golden Hurricane won a duel between teams battling for 10th place in the American Athletic Conference standings, building a 19-point lead late in the first half before holding on at the end for an 80-76 victory.
It was UTSA’s second straight loss on a two-game AAC road trip and its fourth overall, all by five points or less.
“In (the) last five games we’re going to really push ourselves and test ourselves,” first-year UTSA coach Austin Claunch told Andy Everett on the team’s postgame radio broadcast. “Obviously, we’ve had a tough little stretch. We’re close.
“And so, we’re frustrated obviously. We’ve been close, but that’s part of what this is all about. We’re going to keep fighting.”
With the win, the Golden Hurricane (5-8, 11-15) swept two games against the Roadrunners (4-9, 10-15) in the season series and seized control of ninth place in the AAC standings.
UTSA fell to 11th place, two games in the loss column behind Wichita State (14-10, 4-7). The Roadrunners have five games remaining, with the next one coming up Wednesday at home against South Florida.
Tulsa won the game in the first half when it held UTSA to 23 points on five for 25 shooting. While the Roadrunners were struggling, the Golden Hurricane were sizzling, shooting 60.7 percent en route to a 40-21 lead late.
The Hurricane entered halftime up 40-23.
In the second half, the Roadrunners made a good push, outscoring the Golden Hurricane 26-14 in the first nine minutes.
A three pointer by Primo Spears with 11:14 remaining brought the Roadrunners to within five at 54-49.
UTSA kept coming at Tulsa late, reducing the deficit to four twice, the last time at 8:41 when forward Horton, running off a Jo Smith defensive rebound, took a pass from Spears and sank a driving layup to make it 58-54.
From there, the Golden Hurricane pushed back, going off on a 9-2 run. At the end of the run, Dwon Odom sank a couple of free throws for Tulsa. Suddenly, the Golden Hurricane were in charge again, leading 67-56.
UTSA kept battling to the end, reducing an eight-point deficit to only three in the last minute. Spears hit a three to give the Roadrunners life, down 77-74, with 16 seconds left.
Willis, a guard who once played in San Antonio at the University of the Incarnate Word, hit three of four free throws down the stretch to seal it.
For Tulsa, Willis led in scoring with 19 points, including 11 in the second half, all on free throws. Forward Isaiah Barnes scored 18, contributing 10 in the first half on four of seven shooting, including a couple of threes. Odom and Jared Garcia scored 16 each.
Raekowon Horton had 20 points and five rebounds to lead the Roadrunners. Millender, one of the hottest offensive players in the conference through the end of last week, scored 19 but was limited to seven of 21 shooting.
The 5-foot-11 guard from Houston knocked down four three pointers, reaching four long-distance makes for the fourth time since Jan. 11. Spears scored 18 points, coming on strong in the second half with 15. Spears, the team’s leading scorer, finished three of seven from three.
Records
UTSA 10-15, 4-9
Tulsa 11-15, 5-8
Coming up
South Florida at UTSA, Wednesday, 7 p.m.
UTSA at East Carolina, Sunday, Feb. 23, 1 p.m.