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Considering that UTSA and Southern Mississippi came into Thursday’s game as Conference USA’s two worst shooting teams, it wasn’t a surprise that points were at a premium.
The sputtering flow of both teams might have sent basketball purists screaming to the Convocation Center exits midway through the game.
But UTSA coach Steve Henson wasn’t apologetic about the Roadrunners’ grinding 57-51 win that came on a night when his team shot 36.7 percent.
“They aren’t ashamed,” Henson said about his team’s second straight victory. “They don’t care if it was an ugly win. We wish we had better flow and made shots, but it’s just not been the case this year. Our guys will take them however we can get them.”
Jeff Beverly rebounded from a slow start to score a team-high 17 points, including 13 in the second half. He notched six key points down the stretch to enable the Roadrunners (11-13, 6-5) to gain revenge for an earlier loss at USM on Jan. 5.
Beverly hit his first two shots of the second half after struggling earlier in the game. The rest of the team finally got going during a pivotal 17-3 spurt midway through the second half that gave them the lead for good.
“I got my confidence going and it got me in rhythm,” Beverly said. “It gave my teammates some energy because we were still down in the first half. We let them off (early) and we should have punished them.”
The importance of Beverly’s lift was noted by his teammates after his 20th double-figure scoring game of the season.
“That kid is a walking bucket,” UTSA forward Nick Allen said. “It was pretty big tonight and was awesome to watch.”
The Roadrunners’ defense did the rest as USM (7-17, 4-8) missed 14 of its last 18 shots and finished at 34 percent. USM was held to one basket during an 11-minute stretch late as it skidded to their seventh loss in their last nine games.
“I think we are fit for this type of game,” said Allen, who contributed 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench. “Not that it was ugly, but it’s our type of game. We like to get after it.”
UTSA had a 32-10 edge in points in the paint and a 45-35 rebounding advantage. The Roadrunners committed eight turnovers to match their season low.
“That’s the only way we can win if our offense was as ugly as it was,” Henson said.
tgriffin@express-news.net
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