UTSA Roadrunners (13-16) vs. Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (25-4)
SLC Tournament ? First Round
Thursday, March 13 ? 6 p.m. ? Merrell Center (5,600) ? Katy, Texas
Series Record: UTSA leads, 21-11
Last Meeting: Stephen F. Austin, 58-52 (March 8, 2008)
Opening Tip: UTSA (13-16) opens action at the Southland Conference Tournament as the No. 8 seed and will face top seed Stephen F. Austin (25-4) for the second consecutive game on Thursday, March 13. Tip is set for 6 p.m. in the third game of the first round. The winner advances to play the winner of the Southeastern Louisiana/Northwestern State game in the semifinal round at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, March 14. The championship game is set for noon Sunday.
Tuning In: Live stats will be provided by the Southland Conference at southland.org and goUTSA.com. Live audio will be available to Rowdy Zone subscribers at goUTSA.com. Andy Everett has the call. Live video will be available through Southland TV at southland.org at a cost of $5.95 per game or $12.95 for all six men’s quarterfinal and semifinal round contests. The championship game will be televised live on ESPN2 at noon on Sunday.
Fast Break Points:
? UTSA heads to the SLC Tournament for the 13th time in 17 seasons in the league, its first appearance since the 2006 event
? The Roadrunners have won two SLC Tournament titles (1999, 2004), finished second twice (1992, 1993) and own a 12-10 all-time record
? This will be the third meeting this season (33rd overall) between UTSA and SFA
? The Roadrunners lead the all-time series, 21-11, but have dropped two straight after winning the previous six meetings
? UTSA has forced 15 opponents into 20 or more turnovers this season
? Freshman Devin Gibson, who was named SLC Freshman of the Year and second-team all-conference, leads the NCAA with 3.41 steals per game
SLC Tournament History: Now in its 17th year in the Southland Conference, UTSA is making its 13th appearance in the SLC Tournament this week. The Roadrunners have won two titles (1999, 2004), have finished second twice (1992, 1993) and own an all-time record of 12-10. UTSA lost to top-seed Northwestern State, 75-61, in the first round of the 2006 SLC Tournament in Natchitoches, La., in its last appearance. The Roadrunners last victory came in the 2004 SLC Championship Game, a 74-70 decision against Stephen F. Austin at the Convocation Center in their only meeting with the Lumberjacks in SLC Tournament play. UTSA is 3-2 in neutral site tournament contests, including winning the 1999 event in Shreveport, La.
UTSA/Stephen F. Austin Series History: This will be the third meeting this season and 33rd overall between UTSA and Stephen F. Austin. The Roadrunners lead the all-time series, 21-11, but the Lumberjacks have won two straight to break a six-game UTSA winning streak. UTSA has never faced SFA on a neutral court, but did defeat the Jacks, 74-70, in the 2004 SLC Championship Game at the Convocation Center in the only previous meeting during SLC Tournament play.
Last Meeting: Senior Isaiah Allen and freshman Devin Gibson combined for 30 points, but Stephen F. Austin held off a furious second-half rally for a 58-52 win against UTSA on Saturday at the Convocation Center. Gibson, playing on a sprained ankle, scored 17 points and nearly had his third double-double of the year with a game-high nine rebounds, five assists and five steals. He was 11-for-16 from the free throw line and played all 40 minutes. Allen posted 13 points on the strength of a 6-for-6 effort at the charity stripe, while senior Keith Spencer registered nine points and six boards. An Eric Bell 3-pointer and a Kingsley layup gave SFA a 49-34 lead midway through the second half. UTSA responded with eight unanswered points to get within 49-42 with just over seven minutes left. Both teams went scoreless over the next four minutes until a pair of Gibson free throws at the 3:18 mark cut the SFA lead to five. Spencer blocked a shot by Bell to start a fast break that ended in a layup by senior Melvin Smith, capping a 12-0 run and pulling UTSA to within 49-46 with just under three minutes remaining. The Lumberjacks answered with four straight points from Matt Kingsley to make it a six-point game with 54 seconds left. Gibson converted a layup 12 ticks later, but Gerald Fonzie, Eddie Williams and Kingsley combined to go 5-of-6 from the line in the waning seconds to hold on for the 58-52 win.
Scouting Stephen F. Austin: The Lumberjacks are 25-4 overall and tied Lamar for the SLC regular season crown with a 13-3 league mark. Stephen F. Austin enters the SLC Tournament as the No. 1 seed by virtue of its head-to-head win against the Cardinals. Junior Josh Alexander, the SLC Player of the Year, leads the team in scoring (16.5 ppg) and rebounding (5.8 rpg), while junior Matt Kingsley, a second-team honoree, is posting 15.3 points and 5.6 boards per contest. The Lumberjacks lead the league in scoring defense (55.0 ppg) and scoring margin (+12.3), while Alexander is one of the SLC’s top 3-point threats with 2.93 per game and a 42.8-percent shooting percentage. Sophomore Eric Bell leads the conference in assists (5.62 apg). Head coach Dannny Kaspar, the SLC Coach of the Year, is 133-94 in his eighth season at the helm.
Closing In On 400: UTSA is closing in on victory No. 400 for the program. The Roadrunners own an all-time record of 398-369 (.519).
All-SLC Accolades: Freshman Devin Gibson was named Southland Conference Freshman of the Year and to the second team, as the league office announced its all-conference squads on Tuesday. He is the first Roadrunners to earn Freshman of the Year accolades since Kurt Attaway in 2004, and current NBA player Devin Brown is the only other Roadrunners to receive the award (1999). Gibson also is the first all-conference selection for UTSA since Andre Owens was named to the second team in 2006.
SLC Player of the Week: Freshman Devin Gibson was named Southland Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 25 after averaging 26.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.5 steals in victories over UT Arlington and Texas State. It marked his first career honor and he is the first Roadrunner to win the award since Andre Owens on Feb. 27, 2006.
Magic Number: UTSA is 5-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points, most recently in a 103-96 overtime victory at Texas State on Feb. 23. The Roadrunners also topped 80 against Paul Quinn (93-79), Central Arkansas (81-77), Northwestern State (81-78) and UT Arlington (80-72).
Injury Bug: UTSA has been bitten by the injury bug this season. Only two players (seniors Isaiah Allen and Melvin Smith) have played in all 29 games, while 10 players have missed game time this season, including junior guard Omar Johnson, redshirted this year due to a stress reaction in his lower leg, leading scorer Travis Gabbidon, who broke his foot in the Lamar game on Jan. 12 and is out for the remainder of the season, and junior guard Orrin Greer, who is out for the year after injuring his knee in the Texas-Pan American game on Jan. 8. Senior forward Andrew Francis (13 games, knee), freshman center Russ Permenter (five, hand), freshman guard Cody Dotson-Lara (four, head), senior forward Keith Spencer (two, concussion), freshman guard Devin Gibson (two, concussion), junior guard Joey Shank (one, back; one ankle) and junior forward Antoine Dade (one, ankle) also have missed playing time due to injuries. Gibson suffered an ankle sprain in the first half at Sam Houston State on March 5, but did play against Stephen F. Austin on Saturday. Shank sprained his ankle in practice on March 7 and missed the SFA contest. He is listed as questionable for the SLC Tournament.
Tough Slate: UTSA is facing one of its toughest schedules in recent history this season. Texas is ranked No. 6 in The Associated Press Top 25 Poll and No. 8 in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Poll. Arkansas has been ranked and Southland Conference rivals Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin have received votes in both polls earlier this season. Additionally, Texas (5), Arkansas (43), SFA (58), Oklahoma State (83), Sam Houston State (89) and San Diego (96) are all in the top 100 of the NCAA RPI.
Turnover Feast: UTSA has shown the ability to force turnovers this season thanks to a commitment to on-the-ball pressure defense. Opponents have turned the ball over 565 times through 29 games, an average of 19.5 per game, and 15 teams have committed at least 20 turnovers, including a season-high 30 by McMurry on Dec. 28. The Roadrunners have forced more turnovers than they have committed in 22 games. UTSA ranks third in the Southland Conference and 24th in the NCAA in steals per game (8.93) and is second in the league in turnover margin (+3.93). Individually, freshman Devin Gibson leads the nation with 3.41 steals per game.
Improvement At The Line: UTSA has shown a marked improvement at the free throw line from last season’s 58.9 percent effort. The Roadrunners are shooting 66 percent (416-630) as a team and are even better in conference play at 67.8 percent (250-369). Individually, junior Joey Shank (81.0) and freshman JohnMark Ludwick (80.6) are both above 80 percent for the season, while seniors Melvin Smith (74.2) and Isaiah Allen (73.5) and freshman Devin Gibson (71.0) all are above 70 percent. Gibson has attempted 221 freebies (or 153 more than the next closest active player), converted 106-of-139 (76.3 percent) in league action and made 83-of-104 (79.8 percent) over the past 11 games.
Record Watch: Several UTSA players are moving up the school’s single-season or career record lists. Senior Keith Spencer has pulled down 364 career rebounds, which ranks 17th all-time and fourth among players who played two years or less. Senior Melvin Smith has scored 611 career points, which ranks him 36th all-time and 12th among players who played two years or less. Senior Isaiah Allen’s 518 career points makes him 44th and 16th, respectively. Freshman Devin Gibson is second on the single-season steals list with 92 (a freshman record) and is within reach of Ronnie Ellison’s record of 97. He also ranks fourth with 138 assists and with 157 free throws. Junior Joey Shank is tied for sixth with 66 3-pointers.
Double-Double Tracker: UTSA has posted nine 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’s role at point guard and excelled on both ends of the floor in his first season with UTSA. The Cy-Falls High product leads the NCAA in steals per game (3.41), and he ranks second in the league and 48th nationally in assists per game (5.11) and seventh in the SLC in assist/turnover ratio (1.28). Gibson is UTSA’s leading scorer and is eighth overall and tops among SLC freshmen at 13.7 points per game. He has led UTSA in scoring in 15 games ? including nine of the last 11 ? and rebounding eight times. He posted a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds in a head-to-head battle with Texas’ D.J. Augustin. In another meeting with a high-profile point guard, Oklahoma State’s Byron Eaton, Gibson posted 19 points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals. He missed two games in early January due to a concussion, but returned to post 10 points and a season-high 13 assists, one shy of the school record, in the Central Arkansas win, and followed that with 17 points and 10 dimes in the overtime win over Northwestern State one game later. Gibson scored 20 in the 61-57 win at Southeastern Louisiana, 26 in the 80-72 victory against UT Arlington and 27 in the 103-96 overtime victory at Texas State. He drained the game-winning free throws with one-half second remaining in UTSA’s 54-52 victory at Nicholls State and averaging 15.2 points, 5.3 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 3.5 steals in SLC action and is scoring 16.8 points per game over the last eight contests.
Smith Stepping Up: Senior Melvin Smith, UTSA’s leading scorer last season with 12.9 points per game, has played in all 27 contests this year. The Covington, Tenn., native averaged 5.4 points through the first 14 games, but has increased his scoring average to 8.2 ppg, thanks to 10.7 clip in league play. Smith posted a pair of 20-point outings in January, going 9-of-12 from the floor in the 81-77 victory over Central Arkansas and 9-of-16 in the 79-73 loss to Texas State, poured in 16 in both the 61-57 win at Southeastern Louisiana and in the 80-72 victory against UT Arlington and tallied 19 in the 103-96 overtime victory at Texas State. He is pouring in 12.0 per game since Feb. 14.
Wiping the Glass: Senior Keith Spencer missed the first two regular season games but has been a fixture on the glass since. The San Diego, Calif., native is averaging a team-best 5.9 rebounds per game and has led the squad in rebounding 11 times. In his second game back, he posted 19 points and 10 boards in the 93-79 win over Paul Quinn on Nov. 26. He recorded his fourth double-double of the year with 10 points and a career-best 15 boards in the overtime win over Northwestern State. Spencer pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds in the loss at Sam Houston State and averaged 8.0 per game last week.
Three-Ball Twosome: In Southland Conference play, junior Joey Shank and freshman JohnMark Ludwick have combined for 63 3-pointers, an average of 3.9 per game. Ludwick drained 6-of-6 in the Central Arkansas win, added five treys in the loss at UT Arlington and poured in four in the UT Arlington and Texas State victories and McNeese State loss, while Shank drilled a UTSA-record eight triples in the Northwestern State victory and five in the loss at Lamar. In league play, Ludwick and Shank rank 10th (2.13) and 11th (2.07), respectively, in 3-pointers made per contest, while Ludwick is fifth in the league in all games with a 41.2-percent 3-point field goal percentage.
New Addition: UTSA announced on Jan. 14 that Seigongar “Sei” Paye has transferred to the program from Louisiana-Monroe. An all-region and second-team All-Greater Houston honoree as a senior at Houston Strake Jesuit High School, Paye will be eligible to play as a sophomore following the 2008 fall semester.
Fall Signing Class: UTSA signed Richie Frolich (Oldendorf, Germany/Citrus College) and Leslie Jackson (Bryan/Blinn College) to National Letters of Intent for the 2008-09 season.
