UTSA Roadrunners (4-10, 0-1) at Central Arkansas Bears (5-10, 0-2)
Thursday, Jan. 11 • 7 p.m. • Farris Center (5,500) • Conway, Ark.
· Game notes (.pdf)
Audio: KKYX-680 AM / goUTSA.com
Series Record: first meeting
Tuning In: The game will be aired live in the San Antonio listening area on KKYX-680 AM and will be available for free through UTSA’s web site — goUTSA.com — in its entirety. Kyle Stephens will call the action beginning with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m.
Last Time Out: Junior Andrew Francis scored 14 points and pulled down eight rebounds, but James Davis led four Lamar players in double figures as the Cardinals held off UTSA, 71-59, last Saturday night at the Convocation Center. Davis poured in 15 points, while Matthew Barrow (14), Darren Hopkins (13) and Lawrence Nwevo (10) also reached double digits for the Cardinals. Francis turned in a season-high 14 on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor and a 6-for-9 night from the free throw line. Junior Isaiah Allen added 11 points for the Roadrunners. Both teams were hampered by foul trouble, combining for 52 fouls including 36 in the second half. The Cardinals led from the start and built their lead to 13 on a Todd Currye 3-pointer at the 17:32 mark of the second half. An Aldric Reynolds reverse layup at the 11:55 mark cut the deficit to six at 45-39, finishing off a 15-8 UTSA run. Again Lamar pushed the lead back to double digits only to have UTSA pull to within 53-47 on a Francis free throw with 8:12 remaining. Lamar pulled away from there for the 12-point victory.
UTSA/UCA Series History: UTSA and Central Arkansas have never met on the basketball court. The Bears left the NCAA Division II Gulf South Conference to join the Southland Conference along with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi prior to this season. UTSA owns a 2-0 record against Gulf South Conference opponents, defeating Ouachita Baptist, 79-48, on Nov. 15, 1998, and Henderson State, 55-36, on Nov. 29, 2006.
Series Notes
• This will be the first meeting between UTSA and Central Arkansas, a former member of the Gulf South Conference
• UTSA is 2-0 all-time against Gulf South opponents, including a 55-36 victory against Henderson State earlier this season
• The Roadrunners are 1-6 all-time in games played in the state of Arkansas, with the lone victory coming at Arkansas-Little Rock (83-74) in 1991
• Central Arkansas is the alma mater of former NBA great Scottie Pippen
Scouting the Bears: Central Arkansas dropped its first two SLC games last week and enters Thursday’s game at 5-10 on the season and on a three-game losing streak since defeating Bucknell, 50-48, on Dec. 29. Freshman Guard Marcus Pillow and junior forward Durrell Nevels lead the team in scoring at 11.5 and 11.4 points per game, respectively. Nevels also leads the team in rebounding with 8.2 boards per game, good for second in the league, and in blocked shots with 50, tops in the SLC. Junior guard Nate Bowie has a team-high 44 assists, while senior guard Frederick Campbell has a team-best 16 steals. Central Arkansas leads the league in blocked shots per game with 5.73, and in field goal percentage defense (.410). Head coach Rand Chappell is 66-38 in his fourth season.
Record-Setting Defense: UTSA broke a pair of school records in back-to-back games earlier this season. In a 64-49 victory against San Diego on Nov. 26, the Roadrunners limited the Toreros to 13-of-53 shooting from the floor, or 24.5 percent, which broke the school record for lowest field goal percentage by an opponent previously held by Howard Payne (26.9%) in 1988. One game later, UTSA held Henderson State to 36 points, breaking the previous fewest-points record of 42 set by Texas State in 1996. UTSA currently ranks second in the league in scoring defense, giving up just 64.7 points per game, and fourth in field goal percentage defense (.438).
Smith Stepping Up: Junior guard Melvin Smith has quietly stepped up his game over the past six weeks. The Covington, Tenn., native has scored in double digits in nine of the last 10 contests, including a season-high 25 in the 64-60 victory over Texas Wesleyan on Dec. 9. Dating back to the Cal State Fullerton win on Nov. 22, Smith is averaging 14.6 points per game and is shooting 48.4 percent (60-124) from the floor. The Dodge City (Kan.) Community College transfer leads the team in scoring (12.6 ppg), field goals made (74) and minutes played (32.7 mpg) and has been the leading scorer for the Roadrunners six times this season.
That A Way, Attaway: Senior point guard Kurt Attaway has relished in his role as the team’s floor general this season. Through 14 games (all starts), Attaway is averaging a career-best 7.4 points per game and has dished out a team-high 49 assists compared to only 30 turnovers. He also has a team-best 26 steals and is shooting 74.1 percent (20-27) from the free throw line. Attaway ranks second in the SLC in steals per game (1.86 spg) and seventh in assists (3.50 apg).
Career Record Watch: With 92 games under his belt, Kurt Attaway has moved onto several of UTSA’s career lists. The Flower Mound native posted a career-high 12 assists in the Cal State Fullerton loss on Nov. 22, breaking his previous mark of eight with nine in the first half. He moved past Jon Havens into fifth place on UTSA’s career chart with 10 assists at TCU on Dec. 27. With 300 career dimes, he is on pace to catch David President (339) this season. He also is seventh with 128 steals, 16 behind Preston Ivory for sixth (144), and is 39th with 241 rebounds, 13 behind Mike Ferguson (254). Attaway has scored 555 points in his career, which ranks 39th all time. The 2003-04 Southland Conference (SLC) Freshman of the Year needs 11 points to catch John Millsap for 38th (566).
Model Student-Athlete: Not only does Kurt Attaway excel on the court, he does in the classroom, as well. The senior has been named the SLC Men’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year each of the past two seasons and was twice voted UTSA’s Male Student-Athlete of the Year. He carries a perfect 4.0 grade point average in psychology and is interested in pursuing a career in sports psychology upon graduation.
Wiping The Glass: Junior Keith Spencer has quickly established himself as a force on the glass in his first season with the Roadrunners. Through the first 14 games, the San Diego, Calif., native has pulled down 98 rebounds, more than twice as many as his closest teammate, Dwain Hall (44), and is averaging 7.0 boards per contest, good for sixth in the SLC. He posted a pair of double-doubles in the first month of the season (11/12 at Washington State on Nov. 17 and 16/11 vs. Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 22) and added his third with 10 points and 11 boards in the loss at No. 13 Oklahoma State (12/30). Spencer, who also is shooting a team-high 59.5 percent from the floor this season, has reached double-digit rebounds five times this year. He grabbed a season-best 12 boards at Washington State and has led the Roadrunners in rebounding in eight games this year.
Just Call Me “Duke”: Junior Isaiah “Duke” Allen opened his debut season with the Roadrunners in style, leading the team in scoring in four of the first five games. He poured in a season-high 22 in the loss at Gonzaga on Nov. 19, and has reached double figures in scoring nine times. Allen also has emerged as one of the team’s most consistent outside shooting threats as he has drained a team-best 24 3-pointers, including four in both meetings with Cal State Fullerton. He ranks second on the team in scoring (10.5 ppg) and is shooting 70 percent (21-30) from the free throw line.
Tough Slate: UTSA faced one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the program’s recent history this season. The Roadrunners played three teams ranked in the top 50 of the latest Sagarin Ratings Index — Oklahoma State (12), Washington State (28) and Gonzaga (44). Jeff Sagarin also rates UTSA’s schedule as the 52nd-toughest in the country. In the two major polls, Oklahoma State also is currently ranked No. 10 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, while Washington State moved into the top 25 for the first time at No. 23 this week. In the Associated Press Top 25, Oklahoma State is ninth and Washington State is 22nd.
A New Era: UTSA first-year head coach Brooks Thompson earned his first NCAA Division I victory in UTSA’s 50-46 win against Texas A&M International on Nov. 10. Thompson, a former all-conference player at both Oklahoma State and Texas A&M and a 1994 NBA First Round Draft Pick of the Orlando Magic, posted an impressive 55-14 record in two seasons as head coach at Yavapai College in Prescott, Ariz.
Forecasting 400: In its 26th year, UTSA owns an all-time record of 382-341 (.528), including nine seasons of 17 or more victories, the last coming in 2003-04 (19-14).
Preseason SLC Polls: UTSA was picked to finish fourth in the Southland Conference West Division by the league’s sports information directors and fifth by the head coaches in the preseason polls released in early October. Two-time defending champion Northwestern State and 2006 runner-up Sam Houston State have been picked by the head coaches to win the East and West divisions, respectively, in 2006-07. The sports information directors also predicted the Demons in the East but placed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a tie with Sam Houston State for the top spot in the West.
Roster Changes: UTSA announced last week that junior transfer Travis Gabbidon, a 6-7 forward from College of Southern Idaho, will take a redshirt this season to recover from a foot injury. Also, junior guard James Peters (San Antonio/Clark HS) and sophomore guard Tim Maiden (Scottsdale, Ariz./Christian Academy) have left the team for personal reasons.
Fall Signing Class: UTSA signed Matt DeWaal (Compton, Calif./Dominguez HS), Devin Gibson (Houston/Cypress Falls HS), Kevin Jackson (Irving/Hill College) and Joey Shank (Folsom, Calif./American River College) to National Letters of Intent during the fall signing period in November.
Up Next: UTSA stays on the road to face defending SLC champion Northwestern State on Saturday, Jan. 13. Tip is set for 2 p.m. at Prather Coliseum in Natchitoches, La.