UTSA staged a late comeback but it was too little too late as UT Arlington held on for a comfortable 75-67 win at the Convocation Center on Thursday night.
Larry Wilkins managed a career high of 16 points but that was nothing compared to a perfect Jordan Reves who managed 21 points without missing a single field goal.
That was no doubt a part of the reason for UTA’s early run as they built a 19-4 lead thanks to a 14-0 run in the first eight minutes, holding UTSA scoreless for 6:16.
UTSA got back to within seven thanks to two Kannon Burrage free-throws before a Jeromie Hill 3-pointer made it 28-21 with 5:45 to play.
That would be Hill’s last contribution to the game as he was taken off the court with an injury at the 4:49 mark as the Mavericks pushed out to a 45-29 half-time lead.
UTA had their largest lead of the game just after the break when Brandon Edwards hit a three before a Reeves dunk made it 50-31 with 17:45 to play.
UTSA responded to that deficit with a 12-0 run ended through a Michael Hale III free-throw that closed the gap to just 50-43 with 12:13 to play.
Over nine minutes UTA kept pushing the lead back out to double figures only for the Roadrunners to fight back and cut the deficit with 3:39 left UTA lead 66-54.
A 5-0 run with a trey from Hale and a pair of free-throws from Burrage which narrowed the gap to 66-59 with 1:44 to play, giving them a glimmer of hope.
UTA broke their scoreless run when Shaquille White-Miller managed a layup before a turnover from UTSA and a blocking foul on Hale, his fifth, which allowed the Mavs to take a ten point lead.
UTSA were forced to foul late on but were not able to hit all of them, which allowed the Roadrunners to stage a come back as Edrico McGregor hit a short range jumper to cut the deficit to 71-65 with 36 seconds left.
UTSA could cut it down to a five point gap with 25.2 seconds left but that was as close as they got as UTA managed a 75-67 win breaking their winless streak.
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