SAN ANTONIO – UTSA’s Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace combined for 52 points to lead the Roadrunners to a 96-79 victory over UAB on Saturday afternoon.
Jalen Benjamin led the Blazers (19-5, 11-5 C-USA) with a season-high tying 21 points. Tyreek Scott-Grayson scored 13 and Trey Jemison and Michael Ertel each added 10 for the Blazers.
UTSA (13-10, 9-7 C-USA) shot 58% from the field, including 59% from 3-point range making 13-of-22 attempts. Jackson led the way with 32 points and Wallace added 20.
UAB scored after winning the opening tip and took an eight-point lead after an Ertel 3-pointer followed by a Jemison free throw made the score 15-7 at the 13:07 mark. UTSA answered by going on a 16-0 run over the next 4:29 to take a 23-15 lead heading into the under-8 media timeout. Tavin Lovan’s first 3-point attempt of the season was good and stopped the drought and get UAB within five points at 23-18 with 7:39 remaining.
Jackson’s layup at 3:43 made the score 34-22 and gave the Roadrunners their largest lead of the half at 12 points. Benjamin’s 3-pointer would make it a two-possession contest at 2:04, but the Roadrunners would score the next seven points to take another 12-point lead. The Blazers had an inbound with 1.4 seconds remaining under their own basket and Benjamin heaved a shot that banked in from well beyond half court that cut UTSA’s lead to 42-33 heading into halftime.
UTSA scored the first six points of the 2nd half to take a 15-point lead at 48-33 at the 17:12 mark. The Blazers battled back and a Quan Jackson basket-and-1 capped a 7-0 run that pulled UAB within nine points at 56-47 with 12:36 left to play. This would be as close as the Blazers would get as the Roadrunners’ lead would reach 22 points four different times, the last coming with 1:28 remaining.
“Although tonight is a loss, we’re going to look big picture. We are 19-6 and 11-5,” said head coach Andy Kennedy. “I thought we had a run in us, but our inability to get any stops hurt us. We have to get back up and dust ourselves off and get ready for a good North Texas team.”
The Blazers will travel back to Texas next week when they face North Texas on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m. This is the final series of the regular season before the 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Basketball Championships held in Frisco, Texas held Mar. 9-13.
MEN’S BASKETBALL TICKET INFORMATION
Men’s basketball season tickets for the 2021-22 season are on sale now. Current basketball season ticket holders can click here to renew their original 2020-21 seat locations prior to social distancing adjustments. Click here to purchase new 2021-22 season which start as low as $100 with the Blaze’s Corner season ticket.
Fans interested in season tickets can fill out the season ticket request form or contact the UAB Ticket Office at (205) 975-UAB1 to receive additional information.
For more information on the UAB men’s basketball team, follow @UAB_MBB on Twitter and Instagram.
