UTSA shoots its way past UND as Hawks now prepare for No. 7 Alabama

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Dec. 15—GRAND FORKS — In a whirlwind 48 hours, UND played the University of Texas at San Antonio twice — Friday in the Lone Star State and Sunday back home at The Betty.

It wasn’t an ideal home-and-home series for the teams, but USTA made the best of the series. UND didn’t, but realized after the games that success may not be that far off.

USTA made 67 percent of its three-point attempts (15-of-24) in taking a 95-85 win before 1,613 fans. That shooting hurt UND, but perhaps not as much as its 14 turnovers — leading to 23 Roadrunner points.

UTSA’s torrid perimeter shooting and the UND turnovers placed UND in a 17-point second-half hole.

But UND closed to within 85-82 on a Deng Mayer 3-pointer with 1:24 left. But the Roadrunners’ Marcus Millender responded with a basket in the lane for a five-point advantage. That was as close as the Hawks could get.

“Credit to them for making that play,” said UND coach Paul Sather. “All that being said, we had it to a one-possession game. We weren’t taking advantage of a lot of opportunities, but there we sat in a one-possession game.

“Like I told my team, I believe we can win the Summit League. Say it out loud to the world, because I believe we can. We have to do a better job of being a better team for 40 minutes. And I think we have it.”

USTA (5-5) placed five players in double figures, led by Ta’Reon Joseph’s 28 points. Primo Spears, a Florida State transfer, added 16. UND (4-8) was led by Treysen Eaglestaff’s 24 points while Dariyus Woodson added 23 off the bench.

UTSA was the beneficiary of two scoring runs — a 14-0 spurt in the first half and a 15-2 run in the second. Still, UND managed to come back despite its turnovers and sub-par free-throw shooting (14-for-26).

“We have our mental lapses,” said Mayer. “Basically, its kind of hard when we keep digging ourselves a deep hole.”

UTSA won Friday’s game in San Antonio 80-76. That game originally was scheduled in November but a flight cancellation resulted in the game being rescheduled….

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/utsa-shoots-way-past-und-013400071.html

Author : Grand Forks Herald

Publish date : 2024-12-16 01:34:00

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