Men's Basketball

UTSA seeks second straight win at Texas State Saturday

Feb. 16, 2006
Contact: Kyle Stephens (210) 458-4551

UTSA seeks second straight win at Texas State Saturday

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SAN ANTONIO - Just two days after posting its second true road victory of the season in a 74-71 win at Texas-Arlington on Thursday night, the UTSA men's basketball team travels to San Marcos for a meeting with rival Texas State on Saturday, Feb. 18. Tip is set for 7:05 p.m. at Strahan Coliseum.

UTSA Roadrunners (10-13, 5-7 SLC)
at
Texas State Bobcats (2-20, 0-11 SLC)

Saturday, Feb. 18 • 7:05 p.m.
Strahan Coliseum • San Marcos, Texas
TV: None • Radio: KKYX 680 AM/goUTSA.com

Roadrunner Streaks:
Win/Loss Streak: Won one
Road Streak: Won on
Neutral Court Streak: Won two
Home Streak: Lost one

Opponent:
Texas State Bobcats
Series History: UTSA leads, 27-13
Last Meeting: UTSA 81, TXST 76; March 4, 2005 - San Marcos, Texas
Note: UTSA has won four straight and five of the last six meetings

Last Game:
Freshman Aldric Reynolds led three Roadrunners in double figures with 19 points to help lead UTSA to a 74-71 win at Texas-Arlington Thursday night at Texas Hall. Juniors Gabe Bernard and Kurt Attaway added 13 and 10, respectively, as UTSA captured just its second road victory of the season. Jarrett Howell led all players with 22 and Steven Thomas posted a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds as the Mavericks fought back from a 15-point, second-half deficit to get within three in the final seconds. Brandon Long's running jumper in the lane missed at the buzzer as the Roadrunners held on and leap-frogged UTA (4-7) into a tie for seventh place at 5-7 in the Southland Conference.

Radio/TV:
All UTSA games can be heard on KKYX 680 AM and on the worldwide web at goUTSA.com beginning 15 minutes prior to tipoff. The Sam Houston game on Saturday, Feb. 25, will be televised live on Fox Sports Southwest.

Coach Carter:
Tim Carter is in his 11th season at UTSA and has a career record of 159-148 (.518) with the Roadrunners and 170-164 (.509) overall … He is the winningest men's basketball coach in UTSA history and has the longest tenure … He scored his 100th career win on Dec. 1, 2001, against Illinois State and his 100th win at UTSA on Feb. 4, 2002, at Texas-Arlington … Carter was named the 1999 SLC "Coach of the Year" … He came to UTSA after one season at Nebraska-Omaha … He has served as an assistant coach at Oklahoma (1984), Midwestern State (1984-86), Houston (1986-87), Oklahoma State (1987-90) and Northwestern (1990-94) … He has led UTSA to the NCAA Tournament in 1999 and 2004 … Carter is 15-10 in games coached against Texas State.

Home Sweet Home:
Tough to beat in the UTSA Convocation Center, the Roadrunners have an all-time home record of 225-96 (.701) in the Bird Cage. UTSA is 1-1 all-time as a home team at the Alamodome. UTSA is 6-6 at home this season.

Scouting Texas State:
The Bobcats have struggled to a 2-20 overall record and are winless at 0-11 in the SLC. Junior forward Charles Dotson leads Texas State with 11.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. He is averaging 14.8 ppg in SLC play. Freshman guard Brandon Bush and freshman center Trevor Cook are scoring 8.3 and 6.6 ppg, respectively. Head coach Dennis Nutt is 71-92 in his sixth season at the helm.

Roadrunners vs. Bobcats - Last Meeting:
In San Marcos, UTSA rallied from a 42-37 halftime deficit to score an 81-76 win at Texas State. Justin Harbert scored 19 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead five Roadrunners in double figures. Anthony Fuqua added 16 points, while Andre Owens (13), David President (12) and Rapheal Posey (10) also reached double digits.

377 and Counting:
The UTSA men's basketball program now has 377 wins. The Roadrunners have averaged 15.3 wins a season as a program over the first 24 years, and are the winningest program in the SLC over the past 10 years.

Working Overtime:
UTSA entered the 2005-06 season with a reputation as a team that is tough to beat in overtime. The Roadrunners are 0-2 this season and 13-9 all-time in extra sessions under coach Tim Carter. UTSA has won 10 of the last 13 overtime games.

UTSA In The Sagarin & RPI:
According to the latest Sagarin College Basketball Rankings, UTSA is currently ranked No. 230 overall out of 330 NCAA Division I schools. The Roadrunners are No. 270 in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).

Dunk-O-Meter:
Dunks by UTSA players this season: Eric Young - 10 … Nkem Ojougboh - 10 … Roderick Rodgers - 7 … Andre Owens - 3 … Abe Donlon - 3 … Kurt Attaway - 3 … Chris Thompson - 1.

Double-Double-O-Meter:
UTSA players who have posted double-doubles this season: Andre Owens - 2 (23/14 vs. Murray State, 12/3/05 & 23/11 vs. Cal State Fullerton, 12/27/05); Eric Young 2 (16/11 vs. Nicholls State, 2/2/06 & 15/13 vs. McNeese State, 2/9/06); Abe Donlon 1 (18/15 vs. Lamar, 2/11/06); Roderick Rodgers - 1 (17/12 vs. Louisiana-Monroe, 1/14/06).

Roster Change:
On Feb. 15, UTSA announced the dismissal of sophomore Roderick Rodgers from the team for a violation of team rules. Senior Andre Owens missed the Feb. 16 win at Texas-Arlington as a result of a one-game suspension for a violation of team rules.

Youth Is Served:
UTSA features a young roster this season with eight players that are either freshmen or sophomores. Freshmen Eric Young, Nkem Ojougboh and Aldric Reynolds have a combined 25 starts between them. Young has led UTSA in scoring five times and Reynolds has been the leading point-producer twice this season. The freshmen and sophomores are averaging a combined 37.6 points per game, while first-year players are contributing 38.3 points per game.

Andre The Giant:
Big things are expected this season out of UTSA senior guard Andre Owens. The Irving native opened the season with 18 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in the Angelo State win. He scored a career-high 28 points in the loss at New Mexico State and was named MVP of the Florida International Holiday Classic when he averaged 22.0 points and 7.5 rebounds as the Roadrunners won the tournament title with wins over Cal State Fullerton and St. Bonaventure. Owens matched his career high with 28 points, including 21 in the second half, in the 78-74 loss at McNeese State. Owens reached 28 points for the third time this season in the loss to Sam Houston State. He has scored 20 or more points 10 times this season, most recently with 20 in the Feb. 4 loss to Southeastern Louisiana.

Off The Pine:
Led by Gabe Bernard's 13 points, UTSA's bench produced 36 points in the win over Angelo State. In the win over Texas-Pan American the bench produced 48 points, led by Chris Thompson's 18. The group played a huge role in UTSA's come-from-behind 76-67 win at Stephen F. Austin, scoring 46 points behind 21 from Nkem Ojougboh. The bench scored a season-best 53 points in UTSA's 100-75 victory over McNeese State led by a combined 35 from Kyile Byrd and Chris Thompson. The bench is contributing 28.5 points per game.

Welcome Back:
Junior transfers Kyile Byrd and Gabe Bernard had missed a combined five games in January due to injury, but both were back in action in the Feb. 2 win over Nicholls State. Bernard drained his first shot attempt since a home win over Louisiana-Monroe on Jan. 14, a 3-pointer from the left wing at the 10:30 mark in the first half and finished with five points and six rebounds in 11 minutes of action. Byrd scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting in 18 minutes. Byrd turned in a career-high 18, including 14 in the first half, in the McNeese win, while Bernard came off the bench and fired in five second-half 3-pointers in the loss to Lamar on Feb. 11. Bernard drained three more treys in scoring 13 in the win at Texas-Arlington on Feb. 16.

Kurt's Point:
Point guard Kurt Attaway also excels in the classroom where he is the reigning Southland Conference Student-Athlete of the Year for men's basketball. A member of the Dean's List at UTSA, Attaway currently maintains a perfect 4.0 grade point average while majoring in psychology. Attaway recently was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team and will be on the Academic All-America ballot released on Feb. 16.

What's Next:
UTSA returns home to host Stephen F. Austin on Thursday, Feb. 23. Tip is set for 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center. It will be "Nevil Shed Night", sponsored by AT&T and the UTSA Athletic Department. Shed, a player on Texas Western's 1966 NCAA Championships basketball team, will be honored at halftime and a free showing of the Walt Disney movie "Glory Road" will follow 30 minutes after the game.