UTSA Roadrunners (8-11, 2-4) vs. Sam Houston State Bearkats (16-4, 4-3)
Wednesday, Feb. 6 ? 7 p.m. ? Convocation Center (4,080) ? San Antonio, Texas
Series Record: UTSA leads, 18-13
Last Meeting: Sam Houston State, 73-61 (March 1, 2007)
SAN ANTONIO ? UTSA (8-11, 2-4 SLC) looks to get back on the winningtrack when it hosts Sam Houston State (16-4, 4-3 SLC) on Wednesday,Feb. 6. Tip is set for 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center.
Tuning In: Live audio and video will be available to Rowdy Zonesubscribers at goUTSA.com. Andy Everett has the call. Live stats willbe provided at goUTSA.com.
Fast Break Points:
? This will be the 32nd meeting between UTSA and Sam Houston State
? The Roadrunners lead the all-time series, 18-13, and are 9-6 against the Bearkats in San Antonio
? Sam Houston State has won five straight and seven of the past eight meetings
? UTSA is 7-2 at the Convocation Center this season
? Freshman Devin Gibson leads the NCAA with 3.59 steals per game
UTSA/Sam Houston State Series History: This will be the 32nd meetingbetween UTSA and Sam Houston State. The Roadrunners lead the all-timeseries, 18-13, and are 9-6 against the Bearkats in San Antonio. SamHouston State has won five straight and seven of the past eightmeetings, including a 73-61 decision on March 1, 2007, at theConvocation Center in the last meeting.
Last Meeting: Keith Spencer and Andrew Francis scored 15 apiece andDwain Hall added a career-high 12, but Jejuan Plair led three SamHouston State players in double figures with 17 as the Bearkatsdefeated UTSA, 73-61, in Southland Conference action on March 1, 2007,at the Convocation Center. Spencer recorded his sixth double-double ofthe season as he pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for theRoadrunners. Hall scored all 12 of his points in the first half to tophis previous career-high of eight set in the win against San Diego inNovember. Kurt Attaway, who played his final home game along with Hall,posted eight points, five assists and five steals. Plair made 5-of-7from the field, including three 3-pointers, to lead the Bearkats. RyanBright added 14 points and 10 boards, while C.J. Hadley scored 11. UTSAgrabbed an early 8-2 lead, but a 14-2 run by the Bearkats gave them a22-10 advantage midway through the first half. A Melvin Smith jumpercut the deficit to seven points with just under two minutes remainingin the half, but Hadley and Plair connected from downtown to help SamHouston State take a 36-25 lead at the break. The Bearkats built thelead to 20 points at the 15-minute mark and held a comfortableadvantage until a late Roadrunner run made it a 69-57 game with justunder two minutes left. A pair of Francis free throws and a Spencerrebound and follow pulled the Roadrunners to within 71-61 with 54seconds remaining, but Sam Houston State held on, getting two freethrows and a turnover in the final seconds to hold on for the 73-61win.
Scouting Sam Houston State: The Bearkats dropped a 96-93 overtimedecision at Texas State on Saturday to fall to 16-4 overall and 4-3 inSouthland Conference play. It marked the fourth overtime contest of theyear for Sam Houston State, which also lost in extra time to Lamar,93-90 on Jan. 19. The Bearkats lead the conference in field goalpercentage defense (.369), 3-point field goal percentage defense(.291), rebounding margin (+7.7), assists (19.0) and assist/turnoverratio (1.13). Senior forward Ryan Bright is posting 11.2 points and aleague-leading 11.8 rebounds per game, while senior guard ShamirMcDaniel leads the team in scoring at 12.9 points per contest.
Last Time Out: Freshman Devin Gibson went 14-for-16 from the free throwline, but Kevin Perkins poured in a game-high 22 points to lead TexasA&M-Corpus Christi past UTSA, 73-61, Saturday afternoon inSouthland Conference action at the American Bank Center. Gibson led theRoadrunners with 20 points ? his third 20-point outing of the season ?and posted six steals, five rebounds and two assists. Meanwhile,freshman JohnMark Ludwick added 17 on the strength of three 3-pointers.UTSA forced 22 turnovers ? the 11th opponent with 20 or more ? and were20-of-26 (76.9 percent) from the free throw line as a team, but shotjust 30.4 percent from the floor. Perkins was 8-of-12 from the field,while Demon Watt added 10 points and Chris Daniels posted nine pointsand 11 rebounds for the Islanders. A&M-CC shot 53.1 percent fromthe field as a team and out-rebounded UTSA, 47-25. UTSA overcame earlyfoul trouble with Gibson, taking an 18-15 lead on the second 3-pointerof the half from senior Isaiah Allen at the 8:19 mark. TexasA&M-Corpus Christi responded with a big run over the next fiveminutes as treys from Perkins and Tim Green capped a 17-0 stretch thatput the Islanders up, 32-18, with 3:21 left in the half. UTSA shot just36.4 percent from the floor in the first, while the Islanders blisteredthe nets for 56 percent and outrebounded the Roadrunners, 19-8. TheRoadrunners cut what was a 16-point lead down to 43-33 after a pair ofGibson free throws at the 12:15 mark, but the Islanders answered with9-2 run to push the advantage to 17. UTSA fought back to within 65-53on a Ludwick trey with 1:31 to play, but A&M-CC retaliated with sixstraight points and held on for the 12-point win.
Three-Ball: In six Southland Conference games, junior Joey Shank andfreshman JohnMark Ludwick are a combined 39-of-92 (42.4 percent) frombehind the 3-point line. Ludwick drained 6-of-6 in the Central Arkansaswin and added five treys in the loss at UT Arlington, while Shankdrilled a UTSA-record eight triples in the Northwestern State victory.In league play, Ludwick leads the SLC with 3.33 3-pointers made percontest, while Shank is third with 3.17. As a team, UTSA ranks secondin the SLC with 8.67 3-pointers made per game.
Record-Setting Day From Downtown: UTSA enjoyed a record-setting dayfrom downtown in the 81-78 overtime win over Northwestern State on Jan.19. Junior Joey Shank tied a school record with eight treys, while theRoadrunners sank 15 of their school-record 37 3-point field goalattempts. Shank matched the single-game record also held by Keith Horne(1991), Marlon Anderson (1995) and Roderic Hall (1997), while the 37team attempts bettered the previous mark of 35 posted against Drake(1994) and Sam Houston State (1999). The 15 makes were just two shy ofthe UTSA mark of 17 set against Stephen F. Austin in 1997.
Injury Bug: UTSA has been bitten by the injury bug this season. Sevenplayers have missed game time this season, including junior guard OmarJohnson, who is out for the year due to a stress reaction in his lowerleg. Senior forward Andrew Francis injured his knee in the second halfof the season opener on Nov. 9 and missed 13 games until his return onJan. 17, while freshman center Russ Permenter broke his right(shooting) hand in the first half of the opener and missed the nextfive games. Junior forward Antoine Dade missed the first game due to anankle sprain, senior forward Keith Spencer missed the first two gamesdue to a concussion sustained in practice on Nov. 8 and freshman guardDevin Gibson missed two games due to a concussion suffered in practiceon Jan. 6. Junior guard Orrin Greer is out indefinitely after hurtinghis knee in the second minute of the Texas-Pan American on Jan. 8.Junior forward Travis Gabbidon now is out for the remainder of theseason after injuring his foot in the second half of the Lamar game onJan. 12.
Tough Slate: UTSA is facing one of its toughest schedules in recenthistory this season. Texas is ranked No. 12 and Arkansas is receivingvotes in both The Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Polls thisweek. Southland Conference rivals Sam Houston State and Stephen F.Austin have received votes in both polls earlier this season. Also onthe slate are Oklahoma State, Navy and SMU.
Closing In On 400: UTSA is closing in on victory No. 400 for theprogram. The Roadrunners own an all-time record of 393-364 (.519).
Turnover Feast: UTSA has shown the ability to force turnovers thisseason thanks to a commitment to on-the-ball pressure defense.Opponents have turned the ball over 378 times through 19 games, anaverage of 19.9 per game, and 11 teams have committed at least 20turnovers, including a season-high 30 by McMurry on Dec. 28. UTSA rankssecond in the Southland Conference and 19th in the NCAA in steals pergame (9.32) and is third in the league in turnover margin (+3.11).Individually, freshman Devin Gibson leads the nation with 3.59 stealsper game.
Double-Double Tracker: UTSA has posted eight double-doubles this season, including four by senior forward Keith Spencer and three by freshman guard Devin Gibson.
Freshman Phenom: Freshman Devin Gibson has stepped into the starter’srole at point guard and excelled on both ends of the floor in his firstseason with UTSA. The Cy-Falls High product leads the NCAA in stealsper game (3.59), and he ranks second in the league and 33rd nationallyin assists per game (5.65) and seventh in the SLC in assist/turnoverratio (1.30). Gibson is UTSA’s leading active scorer and is 16thoverall and tops among SLC freshmen at 12.3 points per game. He has ledUTSA in scoring in seven games ? including a season-high 23 in the PaulQuinn win ? and rebounding four times. He posted a double-double of 13points and 10 rebounds in a head-to-head battle with Texas’ D.J.Augustin. In another meeting with a high-profile point guard ? OklahomaState’s Byron Eaton ? Gibson posted 19 points, five assists, fourrebounds and four steals. He missed two games in early January due to aconcussion, but returned to post 10 points and a season-high 13assists, one shy of the school record, in the Central Arkansas win, andfollowed that with 17 points and 10 dimes in the overtime win overNorthwestern State one game later. Gibson is averaging 13.6 points, 7.6assists, 4.2 rebounds and 4.4 steals in SLC play. He already ranksfifth on UTSA’s single-season steals list with 61 ? the best freshmanseason in school annals ? and with at least 10 games left on theschedule, is within striking distance of Ronnie Ellison’s school-recordof 97 set in 1990-91.
Smith Stepping Up: Senior Melvin Smith, UTSA’s leading scorer lastseason with 12.9 points per game, has played in all 19 contests thisyear. The Covington, Tenn., native averaged 5.4 points through thefirst 14 games, but with the help of a pair of 20-point outings overthe past two weeks has increased his average to 7.1 ppg, including 11.3in league play. Smith was 9-of-12 from the floor in the 81-77 victoryover Central Arkansas and 9-of-16 in the 79-73 loss to Texas State.
No Shank Shot Here: Junior Joey Shank has emerged as one of theleague’s top 3-point shooters this season. The Folsom, Calif., nativehas drained 56-of-137 from behind the arc for 40.9 percent and is 10-11(90.9 percent) from the free throw line in averaging 10.8 points pergame. The American River College product is second in the SouthlandConference in 3-point field goals made per game with 2.95 and ranksseventh in the league in 3-point field goal percentage. Shank hasdrained three or more 3-pointers in a game nine times this season,including a school record-tying eight against Northwestern State, sixagainst UMKC and McMurry and five versus Lamar.
Wiping the Glass: Senior Keith Spencer missed the first two regularseason games but has been a fixture on the glass since. The San Diego,Calif., native is averaging a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game,including 7.8 in league play, and has led the squad in rebounding ninetimes. In his second game back, he posted his first double-double ofthe season with 19 points and 10 boards in the 93-79 win over PaulQuinn on Nov. 26. He recorded 12 points and 10 boards in the overtimeloss at Georgia State, 10 points and 13 rebounds in the loss at Lamarand 10 points and a career-best 15 boards in the overtime win overNorthwestern State. He ranks 11th in the SLC in rebounding and isfourth with 2.94 offensive rebounds per game. Spencer has 318 careerboards and ranks 25th all-time and seventh among players who played twoyears or less.
Put Your Dukes Up: Senior Isaiah “Duke” Allen is one of three playerswho has played in all 19 games and one of two with a team-best 18starts. The Portland, Ore., native is averaging 7.4 points per game andis shooting 72.1 percent from the free throw line. Generally regardedas one of the team’s man-to-man defenders, Allen often draws theunenviable task of guarding the opponent’s best perimeter player andstill has recorded 36 defensive rebounds and 19 steals.
New Addition: UTSA announced on Jan. 14 that Seigongar Paye hastransferred to the program from Louisiana-Monroe. Originally fromHouston Strake Jesuit High School, Paye will be eligible to play as asophomore following the 2008 fall semester.
Fall Signing Class: UTSA signed Richie Frolich (Oldendorf,Germany/Citrus College) and Leslie Jackson (Bryan, Texas/Blinn College)to National Letters of Intent for the 2008-09 season.
Next Up: UTSA heads to Nacogdoches to face Stephen F. Austin on Saturday, Feb. 9. Tip is set for 6 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum.
