· Game notes (.pdf)
SAN ANTONIO - UTSA (4-12, 0-3 SLC) makes the short trip up Interstate 35 on Saturday, Jan. 20, to face rival Texas State (7-11, 2-3 SLC) at 6 p.m. at Strahan Coliseum. The Roadrunners are looking to snap a six-game losing streak, but have won four of the last five meetings with the Bobcats dating back to 2004.
UTSA Roadrunners (4-12, 0-3) at Texas State Bobcats (7-11, 2-3)
Saturday, Jan. 20 • 6 p.m.
Strahan Coliseum (7,200) • San Marcos, Texas
Audio: KKYX-680 AM/goUTSA.com
GameTracker: txstatebobcats.com
Series Record: UTSA leads, 27-14
Last Meeting: Texas State 85, UTSA 68 (Feb. 18, 2006)
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. Kyle Stephens (play-by-play) and Kevin Brock (color commentary) will call the action beginning with the pregame show at 5:45 p.m. Texas State will provide live statistics through CSTV’s GameTracker at txstbobcats.cstv.com.
Last Time Out: Junior Andrew Francis posted his first double-double in a Roadrunner uniform, but Gerrell Thomas and Kennan Jones combined for 32 points to lead Northwestern State past UTSA, 82-62, last Saturday in Natchitoches, La. Francis scored a season-high 16 points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds, while junior Melvin Smith scored 18 on 7-of-11 shooting and junior Isaiah Allen added 12. UTSA outrebounded the Demons, 40-29, and shot 38.3 percent (18-47) from the field. Jones and Thomas scored 16 apiece for the Demons, who shot 50 percent (27-54) for the game. Fouls played a large role, as the two teams combined for 64 whistles. UTSA was called for 35 fouls and five different players fouled out, including Allen, Smith and senior Dwain Hall for the Roadrunners. The two teams shot 38 free throws apiece, with UTSA making 23 for 60.5 percent and Northwestern State converting 26 for 68.4 percent. UTSA led 20-19 on a Smith layup at the 8:53 mark of the first half, but a 7-0 run broke open a tight game, as Northwestern State took a 30-22 lead on a Trey Gilder layup with 3:52 remaining in the half. The Demons increased the advantage to as many as 16 points, closing the half with a 21-6 stretch for a 44-28 lead. UTSA got to within 13 points after a pair of Francis freebies at the 8:33 mark of the second half, but the Demons pulled away with a 12-4 run the next 4:31 and ran away for the 20-point victory.
UTSA/Texas State Series History: UTSA leads the all-time series with Texas State, 27-14, and has won four of the past five meetings. Texas State won the last meeting, 85-68, on Feb. 18, 2006, in San Marcos, but the Roadrunners had won four straight and six of the last eight prior to last year’s game. UTSA is 12-6 against the Bobcats in games played at Strahan Coliseum. The last three meetings have been decided by an average of 13.7 points.
Series Notes:
• This will be the 42nd meeting between UTSA and Texas State
• UTSA leads the series 27-14 overall and 12-6 in San Marcos
• The Roadrunners have won four of the last five and six of the past nine meetings
• Texas State head coach Doug Davalos is the son of Rudy Davalos, UTSA’s first athletics director
Scouting the Bobcats: Texas State is 7-11 overall and 2-3 in the SLC after dropping a 90-42 decision at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Thursday night. Sophomore guard Brandon Bush leads the Bobcats in scoring (14.8 ppg), rebounding (5.1), steals (29) and minutes played (30.5 mpg). Junior guard Brent Holder adds 9.1 points per contest, while senior guard Antwoine Blanchard has dished out a team-high 54 assists. The Bobcats lead the league in scoring at 77.8 points per game, but rank last in scoring defense (85.6 ppg). Head coach Doug Davalos is in his first season and is the son of UTSA’s first athletics director, Rudy Davalos.
Last Meeting: Kyile Byrd led five Roadrunners in double figures, but Lance Burroughs poured in 25 points to lead Texas State to an 85-68 victory over UTSA on Feb. 18, 2006, at Strahan Coliseum. Burroughs drained 6-of-8 3-pointers to lead four players in double figures for the Bobcats. Charles Dotson scored 15, while JuShay Rockett and Chris Langhorne added 14 apiece. Byrd scored 17, including 4-of-5 from downtown, and added eight rebounds for the Roadrunners. Abe Donlon added 12 points and five rebounds, while Andre Owens pitched in 11. Kurt Attaway and Nkem Ojougboh contributed 10 points apiece. UTSA shot 47.1 percent from the field for the game, but Texas State shot 50.8 percent, taking 14 more field goal attempts (65-51) and making nine more (33-24) than UTSA. The Roadrunners controlled the glass, 36-28, but committed 19 turnovers, including 13 in the first half. The Bobcats only had one miscue in the first half and seven for the game. Texas State broke a 15-all tie with a 9-0 run, capped by a 3-point play from Dotson at the 8:26 mark. UTSA answered with five straight points but the Bobcats went on another big run, a 17-5 stretch over the next 4:25, in building a 41-25 advantage. They extended that to 46-27 at the break on a Burroughs trey and a Dylan Moseley jumper. The Bobcats pushed the lead out to 24 at 58-34 on a Rockett dunk at the 15:34 mark of the second half. UTSA made several attempts to cut into the deficit and pulled to within 13 at 73-60 on an Ojougboh jumper with 4:36 remaining. Another Burroughs 3-pointer and two free throws from Langhorne gave the Bobcats a 79-63 lead with just 2:48 left. UTSA made one final run with a Donlon jumper and a pair of Attaway freebies to make it 79-67 with 2:20 left, but that is as close as the Roadrunners would get as the Bobcats held on for the 85-68 victory.
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 (19), Washington State (22) and Gonzaga (45). Jeff Sagarin also rates UTSA’s schedule as the 69th toughest in the country. In the two major polls, Oklahoma State also is currently ranked No. 14 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, while Washington State is No. 21 this week. In the Associated Press Top 25, Oklahoma State is 12th and Washington State is the first team receiving votes.
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 third in the league in scoring defense, giving up just 65.4 points per game.
Francis Fits Right In: Junior Andrew Francis, a transfer from Houston who sat out the fall semester per NCAA transfer rules, has had an immediate impact in his first six games in a Roadrunners uniform. The Alief Elsik High School product is averaging 10.3 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds per game, and has led UTSA in scoring twice and rebounding five times. In his last outing, Francis posted his first double-double of the year with 16 points and a game-high 14 boards in the loss at Northwestern State on Jan. 13. In conference play, Francis leads the league with 10.0 rebounds per contest and ranks 10th in scoring at 10.0 points per game.
Smith Stepping Up: Junior guard Melvin Smith has quietly stepped up his game during the last two months. The Covington, Tenn., native has scored in double digits in 11 of the last 12 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 nearly 15 points per game and is shooting 49.3 percent (73-148) from the floor. The Dodge City (Kan.) Community College transfer leads the team in scoring (12.9 ppg), field goals made (87) and minutes played (32.8 mpg) and has been the leading scorer for the Roadrunners eight 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 16 games (all starts), Attaway is averaging a career-best 7.1 points per game and has dished out a team-high 54 assists compared to only 35 turnovers. He also has a team-best 30 steals and is shooting 74.2 percent (23-31) from the free throw line. Attaway ranks fourth in the SLC in steals per game (1.88 spg) and seventh in assists (3.38 apg).
Career Record Watch: With 94 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 305 career dimes, he is on pace to catch David President (339) this season. He also is seventh with 132 steals, 12 behind Preston Ivory for sixth (144), and is 39th with 246 rebounds, eight behind Mike Ferguson (254). Attaway has scored 566 points in his career, which ranks 39th all time. The 2003-04 Southland Conference (SLC) Freshman of the Year needs one point to pass 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 16 games, the San Diego, Calif., native has pulled down 113 rebounds 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 59.4 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 25 3-pointers, including four in both meetings with Cal State Fullerton. He ranks second on the team in scoring (10.4 ppg) and is shooting 72.1 percent (31-43) from the free throw line.
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 382-343 (.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 the first week of January 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 will host Texas-Arlington in a make-up game on Monday, Jan. 22. Tip is set for 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center.
