PEORIA, Ill. – A tough stretch to end the first half proved troublesome for the UTSA men’s basketball team (1-1) on Tuesday night at Carver Arena, as the Roadrunners couldn’t dig their way out of a halftime deficit in an 82-75 loss at Bradley (2-1).
The game opened as a defensive stalemate, holding up scoring for nearly two minutes. From there, the teams traded scores after Primo Spears drove the length of the court on a rebound to put the Roadrunners on the board. It looked like the Roadrunners were gaining some steam, overtaking the Braves after a pair of Spears free throws pushed UTSA in front with 12:45 on the first half clock, sparking a 6-0 run that included a Jaquan Scott dunk and two more for him at the line. However, coming out of the second media timeout, Bradley chipped away until Darius Hannah’s fast-break dunk with 8:02 remaining pushed the Braves ahead for good. As the Roadrunners cooled, a one-possession game jumped to double-figures as Bradley outscored UTSA16-5 over the next four minutes and grew their lead to 48-30 at the half.
Coming out of the break, UTSA got right back to trading scores with the Braves, who gained little ground. Working behind another big half from Spears, aided by tough defense and big scores by Raekwon Horton and Marcus Millender, UTSA trimmed the deficit to 16 two times. However, the Braves held UTSA off long enough and time ran out on the UTSA comeback at 85-72 on the final stats.
The biggest obstacles for the Roadrunners were 34.8 percent shooting from the field and 24.0 percent from three, which also created a rebounding advantage for the Braves. Working in pressure the entire game, UTSA forced 18 turnovers and collected 10 steals, scoring 25 points off turnovers.
The other big challenge was a standout performance from Bradley’s Preseason Missouri Valley Player of the Year Duke Deen, who scored 22, with five assists and six boards, hitting roughly 50 percent from the field and long range.
For the Roadrunners, Spears finished the night as the top scorer once again, amassing 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting, with a perfect 5-for-5 at the free throw line. Horton turned in a big performance, going for 15 points with six rebounds and five steals. Millender chipped in 11 points with five rebounds and three assists.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Roadrunners are back at the Convocation Center on Saturday, hosting Little Rock in a return trip from last season. The Trojans (1-2) dropped an 83-60 setback tonight at Arkansas State.
- UTSA -