Golden Eagles Fall at UTSA, 80-70

Saturday, January 11

San Antonio, TX

3 p.m. CT

Southern Miss

-413,04 CUSA

UTSA

-89,22 CUSA

Southern Miss.

UTSA

Golden Eagles Fall at UTSA, 80-70

1/11/2020 6:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats (PDF)

SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Southern Miss got within a single possession several times in the second half after trailing by 11 early in the period, but UTSA did just enough to pull out an 80-70 victory on Saturday afternoon.

"I was proud of our guys tonight," head coach Jay Ladner said. "We've had some adverse circumstances with an inexperienced basketball team. They continue to have a positive attitude every day. At some point, you would hope a break would fall our way, but that hasn't happened. Just like with the UTEP game [Thursday], you get to the 16-minute mark of the game and you're right there."

The Golden Eagles (4-13, 0-4 C-USA) found new life when Boban Jacdonmi picked up a loose ball and drew a flagrant foul on the layup at 10:08. He responded with two free-throws and then an up-and-under layup. After UTSA turned it over on the next possession, he went back to the line and added two more points, pulling the Black and Gold to within its smallest deficit of the half (63-60) at 9:34.

UTSA (8-9, 2-2 C-USA) led 67-64 with 6:28 left, but two free-throws and a layup pushed the lead to 71-64 with 4:58 on the clock. Southern Miss never drew any closer.

Nine Golden Eagles scored in the first half, led by Jay Malone and LaDavius Draine's five points. The Roadrunners led 35-31 at the break.

The Roadrunners entered the day as the conference leader in three-pointers (158) and went 15-for-27 from deep.

"You have to give UTSA credit," Ladner said. "They're a very well-coached team, and their guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace are as good as anyone in the country. When we made a mistake, they made us pay. They drove to the basket late and got to the line when they needed to."

Southern Miss returns home for a Thursday contest against North Texas (7 p.m. CT).

NOTABLE
-The home team has won all 12 meetings, with Southern Miss having seven of those.
-Southern Miss had more free-throw attempts (17-20) than its opponent (13-15) for the fourth time this year.
-LaDavius Draine passed Jimmie Floyd (1994-98) for No. 4 in school history with 144 three-pointers. Next up is Neil Watson (2011-14) with 164.
-Artur Konontsuk (14 points) had his first double-figure scoring game since a career-high 19 against now-No. 1 Gonzaga (Nov. 27).
-It also marked his fifth game in double-digits and the third time he was the leading scorer.
-Boban Jacdonmi scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half, and it was his first game in double-figures since accomplishing the feat in each of the first five games.
-Tyler Stevenson (11 points) was one rebound shy of his second double-double.