UTSA Roadrunners (2-2) at Navy Midshipmen (5-1)
Tuesday, Dec. 2 ? 6 p.m. (CT)
Alumni Hall (5,710) ? Annapolis, Md.
Series History: UTSA leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: UTSA, 77-67 (Nov. 17, 2007)
Opening Tip: UTSA (2-2) will play its first of four straight games on the road when it travels to Annapolis, Md., to face Navy (5-1) on Tuesday, Dec. 2. Tip is set for 6 p.m. (CT) at Alumni Hall.
Tuning In: The game will air live in the San Antonio area on 92.5 FM The Outlaw beginning with the pregame show at 5:45 p.m. Central Andy Everett has the call. Free live audio will be available online at goUTSA.com and Navy will provide live stats at navysports.com.
Fast Break Points:
? UTSA won the only previous meeting between the two schools, 77-67, on Nov. 17, 2007, at the Alamodome
? The Roadrunners are 0-2 this season and 3-3 in their last six road games
? Navy is 4-0 at home this year and off to its best start since 1998-99 at 5-1 overall
? Now in its 28th season of basketball, UTSA registered victory No. 400 for the program with an 80-55 victory against McMurry on Nov. 25
? In the 136-68 victory against East Central on Saturday, the Roadrunners set school records for points in a game (136), margin of victory (68), 3-pointers (17), rebounds (65), field goal attempts (97) and 3-point field goal attempts (43)
? Led by senior Joey Shank and junior Omar Johnson, who have combined for 23 threes, UTSA leads the Southland Conference in 3-pointers per game (11.5)
? UTSA also leads the league in steals (12.8 spg) and turnover margin (+6.3)
? Sophomore Devin Gibson ? the 2007-08 NCAA steals champion, a preseason first-team All-Southland Conference selection and one of 31 players on the Bob Cousy Award preseason watch list ? has a league-high 15 thefts in the first four games (3.8 avg)
UTSA/Navy Series History: UTSA won the only previous meeting between the two schools, 77-67, on Nov. 17, 2007, at the Alamodome. The Roadrunners won their only other meeting with a current member of the Patriot League, a 99-59 victory against Colgate ? which UTSA faces later this season ? on Dec. 1, 1990.
Last Meeting: Devin Gibson led a balanced scoring attack with 19 points to help UTSA defeat Navy, 77-67, on Nov. 17, 2007, before 3,179 fans at the Alamodome. Gibson’s 19 led all players, while Travis Gabbidon added 16, 14 of which came in the second half. Isaiah Allen and Joey Shank contributed 13 and 12, respectively, while Gabbidon, Keith Spencer and Antoine Dade pulled down a game-high six rebounds apiece. Gibson added seven assists, seven steals and three rebounds on his night, converting 14-of-18 from the free throw line. UTSA forced 27 turnovers ? 16 of those steals ? and shot 43.6 percent (24-55) from the floor for the night. The Midshipmen outrebounded the Roadrunners by two, 35-33, and shot 47.2 percent (25-53) from the field.
Scouting Navy: The Midshipmen improved to 5-1 on the season with a 73-71 overtime victory against Radford on Saturday night. Navy is 4-0 at home this year and is off to its best overall start since going 6-1 in 1998-99. Senior guard Kaleo Kino leads the team in scoring at 17.8 points per game, while junior guard Chris Harris is close behind at 17.0. Sophomore center Mark Veazey is the top rebounder with 7.2 per contest. Navy has four players from Texas on its roster: O.J. Avworo (Houston), Clif Colbert (Grand Prairie), Romeo Garcia (Cypress) and Jeremy Wilson (Helotes). Head coach Billy Lange is 55-67 in his fifth season at Navy.
Victory No. 400: UTSA claimed victory No. 400 for the program with an 80-55 decision against McMurry on Nov. 25. The Roadrunners own an all-time record of 400-372 (.518) in now their 28th season.
Last Time Out: Sophomore Devin Gibson led three Roadrunners in double figures with 14 points and UTSA picked up the 400th victory in program history with an 80-55 decision against McMurry on Nov. 25 at the Convocation Center. Gibson also posted six steals ? a season high and one shy of his career-high seven recorded last year against Navy ? four rebounds, four assists and a pair of blocks. Junior Omar Johnson and senior Travis Gabbidon both reached double digits in scoring for the fourth game this season with 13 and 11, respectively, while junior Josh Bonney added nine points and nine boards. Ten different Roadrunners scored and UTSA registered 19 offensive boards in out-rebounding McMurry, 42-38. Gibson’s six steals were part of 17 team thefts, as UTSA forced 28 miscues for the game and held a 32-6 advantage in points off turnovers. The Roadrunners shot just 39.4 percent from the floor, including 10-of-35 from behind the 3-point line, but limited McMurry to 25 percent from downtown in a game that they never trailed.
Record-Setting Night: UTSA set six school records in the 136-68 victory against East Central on Nov. 22. Following is a list of the records broken:
Points (136/132, vs. Texas State, 11/24/90)
Winning Margin (68/58, vs. Georgia State, 2/10/90)
Field Goal Attempts (97/91, vs. Georgia State, 1/22/87)
Rebounds (65/64, vs. Jarvis Christian, 11/29/86)
3-Pointers (17/17, vs. Stephen F. Austin, 1/18/97)
3-Point Field Goal Attempts (43/37, vs. Northwestern State, 1/19/08)
Creating Havoc: The Roadrunners are forcing their opponents into an average of 22.0 turnovers per game this season. The last two teams ? East Central and McMurry ? turned the ball over 34 and 28 times, respectively. A large reason for UTSA’s success in creating opponent miscues is the fact that the team is coming up with 12.8 steals per contest. Led by 2007-08 NCAA steals champion Devin Gibson, a sophomore who is averaging a league-best 3.8 thefts per game, 10 different Roadrunners have teamed up to record 51 steals this year. That number includes 37 in the past two games, led by a Brooks Thompson era best of 20 against East Central on Nov. 22.
UTSA Successful In Home Debuts: The Roadrunners improved to 24-4 all-time in home openers and 3-0 under third-year head coach Brooks Thompson with the 136-68 thrashing of East Central on Nov. 22. UTSA has not lost a season debut in the Convocation Center since a 73-47 decision against Illinois-Chicago on Nov. 29, 2003.
Hitting The Trifecta: The Roadrunners have been productive from beyond the 3-point line through the first four games this season. Even with the arc moved one foot further from the basket this year, UTSA has shown it still can fill it up from downtown. Led by junior Omar Johnson (12) and senior Joey Shank (11), the Roadrunners have drained 46 threes for a conference-leading 11.5 per-game average, as nine different Roadrunners have contributed from behind the arc this season.
Balanced Attack: Led by junior Omar Johnson (15.3) and senior Travis Gabbidon (13.0), UTSA has displayed a balanced scoring attack through the first four games this season. Senior Joey Shank and sophomore Devin Gibson both are contributing 9.8 points per game, while five other Roadrunners are averaging at least five points per contest.
Gibson Up For Cousy Award: Sophomore Devin Gibson, the 2007-08 Southland Conference Freshman of the Year, has been named a preseason nominee for the Bob Cousy Award, given annually to the nation’s top point guard. The Cy-Falls High product is one of two SLC players (Kenny Dawkins, Lamar) and one of 31 nationally named to the watch list. Gibson, the 2007-08 NCAA steals leader (3.3 spg), is averaging 9.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.8 steals per game this season.
More Preseason Accolades: In addition to making the Cousy Award preseason list, Gibson also has been named preseason first-team all-conference and a CollegeHoops.net Preseason Mid-Major All-American.
Welcome Back: Senior Travis Gabbidon and junior Omar Johnson both were plagued with injuries last season, but have emerged as the team’s top two scorers through the first four games this year. Gabbidon, a Phoenix native and JUCO All-American at College of Southern Idaho, was UTSA’s leading scorer (13.9) and rebounder (5.8) until he went down with a season-ending injury at Lamar on Jan. 12. That happened one game after he scored 31 - the program’s first 30-point outing since 2003 - and grabbed nine boards against Texas-Pan American. Gabbidon is averaging 13.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game this season. Johnson, a Philadelphia native and JUCO All-American at Barton County, missed all of last season with a stress reaction, but has made an immediate impact in his first four contests. He leads the team in scoring at 15.3 points per game behind 12-of-26 (46.2 percent) shooting from beyond the 3-point line and has dished out a team-best 20 assists (5.0 avg).
SLC Preseason Polls: UTSA has been picked to finish third in the West Division of the Southland Conference by the league’s sports information directors and fourth by the head coaches in the preseason polls. The Roadrunners received two first-place votes and 43 points in the SIDs poll to rank behind UT Arlington and Lamar, while they tallied 39 points for fourth behind UT Arlington, Lamar and Sam Houston State in the coaches poll. Stephen F. Austin is the unanimous choice to win the East.
Up Next: UTSA will face Rice at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 4, in Houston.
