The moment UTSA coach Steve Henson warned about had finally arrived.
Charlotte had established its methodical tempo, turning the game into a grind. The Roadrunners’ shots weren’t falling, and the offense became disjointed.
UTSA’s 15-point halftime lead shrank, and as the clock ticked under 9 minutes to play, Charlotte pulled within four.
Henson didn’t see any panic in the Roadrunners, but he considered burning a timeout to try to break the 49ers’ run.
“You could feel it,” Henson said. “It was concerning.”
The next time the Roadrunners came to the bench, Henson pointed out a weak spot in the 49ers’ defense and implored guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace to attack.
Both were held scoreless through the first 12 minutes of the second half — a sharp contrast after Jackson dropped 18 points and Wallace added nine in the opening period.
Wallace stepped forward to quell Charlotte’s push, netting 11 points in a stretch of about six minutes to help UTSA put away a 72-62 win in the opening round of the Conference USA tournament on Wednesday in Frisco.
“We always knew eventually they were going to get going,” sophomore Jacob Germany said, “but we did a good job of responding and controlling the game all the way through.”
