SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men’s basketball team (6-5) moved ahead in the wins column on Thursday afternoon at the Convocation Center, completely steamrolling Southwestern Adventist in the final home non-conference contest of the season, 117-58. Damari Monsanto had a breakout game beyond the arc to lead seven Roadrunners scoring in double-figures, as UTSA handled the visiting Knights from the opening tip to the final buzzer.
Monsanto went to work early, boosting UTSA to a 20-9 advantage just under five minutes in, nailing his fourth consecutive triple – eighth consecutive trey over the past two games. That’s where the Knights began to face a new threat, as Jonnivius Smith threw down the first of five rim-rattling, one-handed dunks, breaking away off Primo Spears’ steal for the fast-break show-stopper. That aerial display sparked the Roadrunners to a 14-4 run that ballooned the lead to 21 points near the midpoint of the half – forcing four turnovers in the five-minute stretch.
Though the Knights crept back with five unanswered points, Skylar Wicks drilled a triple to surge UTSA, and Spears and Smith turned a steal into a crowd-wowing alley-oop. Wicks hit again from distance one minute later, then picked the Knights’ pocket for a Spears fast break layup. Spears added a pair of free throws with 5:37 left in the half to complete a 9-0 UTSA run toward the 46-18 lead.
With typical reserves taking leading roles, the Roadrunners closed out the final 2:44 on an 11-0 run with scores from Zach Gonsoulin, Wicks and Nazar Mahmoud propelling UTSA to a 61-24 halftime advantage. At the half, Monsanto had 16 points with Wicks at 10, while Smith had already collected 12 rebounds. The Roadrunners 26 points off the bench in the opening half with 15 points off turnovers and 13 in transition, while shooting 50 percent from the floor to SWAU’s 28.6 percent.
Though Dominique Wilkins and Orlando Gooden got the Knights on the board first in the second, a Wicks trey launched UTSA into an 18-6 push over the following five minutes. Baboucarr Njie and Wicks followed with back-to-back fast-break scores that kicked off another 15-5 run and led to a 54-point advantage. Making his first appearance as a Roadrunner, LJ Brown, the son of Hall-of-Famer Devin Brown, battled to a driving layup that secured his first DI score and pushed UTSA over the century mark with 7:34 to go. Across the closing minutes, Brown, Njie and David Hermes gashed the Knights for all 16 of UTSA’s remaining points in the 117-58 victory.
Monsanto dropped six three-pointers for the second time this season, shooting 8-for-16 to lead all scorers with a season-high 22 points, chipping in six rebounds and two steals.
Wicks scored 20 for the first time as a Roadrunner, tying his career high with 4-of-7 shooting from the perimeter, while nearly making it a double-double with a season-high eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Despite the Roadrunners’ bench taking some of the heat off his typical role, Spears still collected 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting, matching his season high at five assists, along with three steals. This marks his 11th game in as many opportunities to reach double-figures.
Smith registered his second double-double of the year, collecting 17 rebounds to go with 13 points – 10 of those coming off dunks. He also gathered three steals, two blocks and made two assists.
Setting a new career high at 12 points, Mahmoud put down a pair of run-starting threes and grabbed three boards with two steals.
Huge down the stretch with some highlight-worthy turnaround jumpers, Hermes scored in double-digits for the first time, putting away 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting, tallying three rebounds.
The lone true freshman on the roster, Njie netted 11 points for his first career double-figure outing, corralling five rebounds for the second time this season, along with a season-high four assists.
In his UTSA debut, Brown scored five with one rebound. Redshirt freshman Jackson Fazande made his first appearance and grabbed a board. Mo Njie added four points and 10 rebounds and Gonsoulin rounded out the scoring effort with three points, on top of two assists and two steals.
The Roadrunners’ bench scored 63 points in the victorious effort, with UTSA recording 35 points off turnovers and 24 fast break points. Booking a season-high of 44 field goals and 16 from three-point range, the Roadrunners shot 49.4 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from three.
Using their notable size advantage and tenacious defense, UTSA outrebounded Southwestern Adventist by a 59-25 margin, racking up 17 steals and forcing the Knights into 22 turnovers. This marks the most rebounds since Jan. 3, 2022, when UTSA collected 63 off Dallas Christian.
The Roadrunners maintained the lead end-to-end and reached the game’s highest margin of 61 points on the final UTSA field goal – via Hermes’ first career three with 1:23 remaining.
WHAT’S NEXT
The holidays are here, and the Roadrunners have just one more non-conference game on the slate. UTSA will convene in New York to face Army on Dec. 29, in West Point, on the return game from last December’s contest at the Convo. UTSA will open American Athletic Conference play in the New Year with a trip to Tulane on Jan. 4.
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