· Game notes (.pdf)
SAN ANTONIO - UTSA (4-11, 0-2 SLC) looks to snap a five-game skid on Saturday, Jan. 13, at defending Southland Conference champion Northwestern State (6-9, 1-2 SLC). Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Prather Coliseum.
UTSA Roadrunners (4-11, 0-2) at Northwestern State Demons (6-9, 1-2)
Saturday, Jan. 13 • 2 p.m.
Prather Coliseum (3,400) • Natchitoches, La.
Audio: KKYX-680 AM and goUTSA.com
Series Record: UTSA leads, 19-14
Last Meeting: Northwestern State 75, UTSA 61 (March 7, 2006)
Tuning In: The game will be aired live in the San Antonio listening area on KKYX-AM 680 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 1:45 p.m.
Last Time Out: Juniors Andrew Francis and Melvin Smith scored 12 points apiece, but Nate Bowie poured in a game-high 14 as Central Arkansas fended off a furious second-half rally and outlasted UTSA, 59-49, in Southland Conference action on Thursday night at the Farris Center in Conway, Ark. Francis and Smith combined for 16 points in the second half and helped UTSA fight back from a 17-point deficit to within six with less than three minutes to play. UCA led by nine, 32-23, at the break and quickly extended the lead to 15 with a 7-1 run to start the second half. A Marcus Pillow trey made it 46-29 in favor of the Bears with 9:35 remaining. UTSA cut the deficit to single digits as senior Kurt Attaway capped a 10-0 run with a 3-pointer from the top of the key at the 5:15 mark. Junior Keith Spencer made it a six-point game on a layup with just over two minutes to play and a pair of Francis free throws had UTSA within 53-47 with 58 ticks left. However, UCA made 6-of-7 free throws from there and held on for their first-ever Southland Conference win.
UTSA/Northwestern State Series History: UTSA leads the all-time series with Northwestern State, 19-14, but the Demons have won the last three and four of the past five meetings. Northwestern State, the defending conference champions, won all three meetings last season, including a 75-61 decision in the opening round of the O’Reilly Auto Parts/SLC Tournament in Natchitoches. The Roadrunners are 6-10 all-time in game played at Prather Coliseum with the last victory (80-72) coming on Feb. 28, 2004.
Series Notes:
• This will be the 34th meeting between UTSA and Northwestern State
• UTSA leads the all-time series, 19-14
• Northwestern State has won the last three and four of the past five meetings
• UTSA is 6-10 all-time against Northwestern State in Prather Coliseum
• The Demons won all three meetings last season
• The Roadrunners last defeated the Demons, 86-78, on Jan. 22, 2005, in San Antonio
• UTSA’s last victory in Natchitoches was an 80-72 decision on Feb. 28, 2004
Scouting the Demons: Northwestern State is off to a 1-2 start in league play after having its 18-game home-court winning streak snapped by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 69-57, on Thursday night. The Demons are 6-9 overall and have dropped five of their last six contests. UTSA and Northwestern State have two common opponents so far this season — Oklahoma State (L, 79-76) and Henderson State (84-64). Junior forward Trey Gilder leads the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game, while six other players are averaging more than 6.0 points per contest. Junior guard Colby Bargeman is the leading rebounder with 4.7 boards per game, while sophomore guard Keithan Hancock leads the squad with 21 3-pointers on 42 attempts (50.0 pct). Senior point guard Kennan Jones ranks near the top of the league with 92 assists (6.1 apg). Northwestern State, which defeated No. 3-seed Iowa on a buzzer-beater in the NCAA First Round last spring, leads the conference in steals per game (9.4) Head coach Mike McConathy is 119-111 in his ninth season.
Last Meeting: Andre Owens turned in his fifth double-double of the season, but Clifton Lee recorded one of his own to lead the top seed Northwestern State Demons to a 75-61 victory over UTSA in the first round of the O’Reilly Auto Parts/Southland Conference Tournament on March 7, 2006, at Prather Coliseum. Owens scored 13 points and added 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the year in his final game as a Roadrunner, while Aldric Reynolds poured in 14 points and seven boards. Lee posted 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Demons (23-7) into the semifinal round of the conference tournament. Tyronn Mitchell led all players with 14 points, while Byron Allen (13), Jermaine Wallace (11) and Kerwin Forges (10) also reached double figures. Northwestern State controlled a sub-par first half by both teams, building a 22-14 lead and answering an 8-0 UTSA run with one of its own en route to a 30-24 halftime advantage. Trailing 38-29, with 17:37 to play, UTSA used a 12-5 run to pull within 43-41 on a Kurt Attaway free throw with 12:58 left. The Roadrunner hung around and eventually pulled to within 52-51 on a Chris Thompson free throw at the 8:55 mark. The Demons answered by scoring the next five points and pushed the lead back to double digits at 64-54 on a pair of Allen freebies. Attaway drained a trey from the left wing to cut it to seven with 4:08 left, but Northwestern State used a 7-0 run to pull away and hold on for the 75-61 victory.
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 64.3 points per game, and fifth in field goal percentage defense (.440).
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 10 of the last 11 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 more than 14 points per game and is shooting 48.2 percent (66-137) from the floor. The Dodge City (Kan.) Community College transfer leads the team in scoring (12.6 ppg), field goals made (80) and minutes played (32.7 mpg) and has been the leading scorer for the Roadrunners seven 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 15 games (all starts), Attaway is averaging a career-best 7.1 points per game and has dished out a team-high 51 assists compared to only 32 turnovers. He also has a team-best 28 steals and is shooting 72.4 percent (21-29) from the free throw line. Attaway ranks third in the SLC in steals per game (1.87 spg) and seventh in assists (3.40 apg).
Career Record Watch: With 93 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 302 career dimes, he is on pace to catch David President (339) this season. He also is seventh with 130 steals, 14 behind Preston Ivory for sixth (144), and is 39th with 242 rebounds, 12 behind Mike Ferguson (254). Attaway has scored 559 points in his career, which ranks 39th all time. The 2003-04 Southland Conference (SLC) Freshman of the Year needs seven 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 15 games, the San Diego, Calif., native has pulled down 106 rebounds, more than twice as many as his closest teammate, Dwain Hall (46), and is averaging 7.1 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 59.8 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 nine 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 (10.3 ppg) and is shooting 70.6 percent (24-34) 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 382-342 (.527), 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 returns home to host Texas-Arlington next Thursday, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center. The Roadrunners then make the short trip up I-35 to San Marcos to face Texas State at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
