UTSA Roadrunners (17-12, 8-8 SLC) vs. Sam Houston State Bearkats (18-11, 12-4 SLC)
Thursday, March 12 ? 2:30 p.m.
Merrell Center (5,600) ? Katy, Texas
Series History: UTSA leads, 18-17
Last Meeting: Sam Houston State, 89-67 (Feb. 21, 2008)
SAN ANTONIO ? UTSA (17-12, 8-8 SLC) will make its second consecutiveappearance at the State Farm Southland Conference Basketball Tournamentthis week at the Merrell Center Center in Katy, Texas. The Roadrunnersare the No. 6 seed and will face 3-seed Sam Houston State (18-11, 12-4)at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 12. The winner will advance to thesemifinal round against either No. 2 Nicholls or 7-seed Texas State at6 p.m. on Friday.
Tuning In: The game will air live in the San Antonio area on 92.5 FM The Outlaw beginning with the pregame show at 2:10 p.m. Andy Everett has the call. Free live audio will be available online at goUTSA.com, which is provided courtesy of Yahoo! Sports. Live stats also will be available at goUTSA.com. Video will be provided by the Southland Conference as part of its SLC NOW subscription package at southland.org. The semifinal round will be televised by the Southland TV Network and the championship game will be aired by ESPN at noon Sunday.
Fast Break Points:
? This will be the third meeting this season and the 36th overall between UTSA and Sam Houston State
? The Roadrunners lead the all-time series, 18-17, including a 60-58 victory in the 1996 SLC Tournament in the only neutral site meeting (Shreveport, La.)
? The Bearkats have won nine consecutive meetings, including an 89-86 double-overtime win at the Convocation Center on Feb. 4 and an 89-67 victory in Huntsville on Feb. 21
? The Roadrunners have yet to play a neutral site game this season, but are 6-9 on the road
? UTSA owns a 12-11 all-time SLC Tournament record and won the 1999 and 2004 titles
? UTSA’s eight conference wins are the most league victories since 2004-05 (10-6)
? The Roadrunners’ 17 overall victories are the most since the 2003-04 squad won 19 games
? UTSA established a school record with nine non-conference wins this season
? UTSA is 10-1 when holding opponents to under 70 points
? The Roadrunners have drained six or more 3-pointers in 22 games and they lead the SLC and rank 19th in the NCAA in threes per game (8.3)
? UTSA has made at least one 3-pointer in all 88 games under third-year head coach Brooks Thompson, including five or more treys 62 times
? The Roadrunners are posting an SLC-best 9.7 steals per game (6th/NCAA)
? UTSA leads the league and ranks eighth nationally in turnover margin (+4.6)
? Sophomore guard Devin Gibson stands second in the NCAA in steals per game (3.3)
UTSA/Sam Houston State Series History: The Roadrunners lead the all-time series with Sam Houston State, 18-17, including a 60-58 first-round victory in the only previous SLC Tournament and neutral-site meeting on March 6, 1996, in Shreveport, La. The Bearkats have won nine consecutive games against UTSA, including both matchups this season. The Roadrunners’ last win was 68-65 on Feb. 14, 2004.
Last Meeting: Sophomore Devin Gibson scored 17 points to lead three Roadrunners in double figures, but Corey Allmond drained four 3-pointers en route to a game-high 20 points to lead Sam Houston State to an 89-67 victory against UTSA on Feb. 21 at Johnson Coliseum. Gibson made 11-of-12 at the free throw line and added five rebounds, a pair of assists and a steal, while senior Joey Shank scored 14 on the strength of four treys. Junior Chris Allen added 12 points and junior Leslie Jackson pulled down a team-high six boards. Barkley Falkner posted 12 points and 16 rebounds, while Preston Brown (11), Drae Murray (11) and DeLuis Ramirez (10) joined Allmond and Falkner in double figures.
Scouting Sam Houston State: The Bearkats finished second in the West Division with a 12-4 league ledger and enter the SLC Tournament at 18-11 overall Corey Allmond leads the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game and he has drained 96 3-pointers. Ashton Mitchell is adding 12.5 per game and has dished out a league-best 197 assists. Barkley Falkner is the top rebounder (8.1 rpg). Head coach Bob Marlin is 200-122 in his 11th season at the helm.
Last Time Out: Seniors Travis Gabbidon and Joey Shank combined for 24 points in their final game at the Convocation Center, but Josh Alexander poured in 21 to help Stephen F. Austin hold off UTSA, 66-62, on Saturday night. Gabbidon posted his fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Shank sank a pair of 3-pointers en route to eight points. Alexander scored 21, including 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the final minute, while Matt Kingsley added 19 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for the Lumberjacks. Trailing by four with less than 30 seconds to play, Gabbidon drained a 3-pointer from the wing to make it a one-point game. Forced to foul, UTSA put Alexander on the line where he converted both after an 0-2 start at the charity stripe. Now armed with a three-point lead, SFA then chose to foul Johnson, who made both free throws to make it 62-61 with under 10 seconds to play. The next two possessions saw the same result, as Alexander was fouled and made two freebies and Gibson was hacked to go to the line. He made the first but missed the second, but Gabbidon grabbed the offensive board and missed an off-balance jumper from the baseline with the clock winding down. Alexander got the rebound and made two free throws with under three seconds to play to secure the win.
SLC Tournament History: Now in its 18th year in the Southland Conference, UTSA is making its 14th 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 12-11. UTSA lost to top-seed Stephen F. Austin, 71-60, in the first round of the 2008 SLC Tournament in Katy 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. UTSA is 3-2 in neutral site tournament contests, including winning the 1999 event and also defeating Sam Houston, 60-58, in the first round in 1996, both in Shreveport, La. Additionally, 23 No. 1 or 2 seeds have won the SLC Tournament in its 28 years of existence, but three teams seeded six or lower have captured crowns since 2000.
Trio Named to All-SLC Squad: Senior Travis Gabbidon and sophomore Devin Gibson were named third-team All-Southland Conference and junior Omar Johnson collected honorable mention accolades, as the league office announced the 2008-09 All-Southland Conference Team on Tuesday.
Road Warriors: The Roadrunners played seven of their first 10 games away from the Convocation Center and finished that stretch with a 3-4 record. UTSA is 6-9 in road games this season, with the six victories two more than the past two seasons combined. Dating back to last February, UTSA is 9-11 in its past 20 games away from home.
On The Tube: UTSA has played eight televised contests this season and has posted a 5-3 record in those games. The Roadrunners have defeated UMKC (Metro Sports), SMU (Time Warner Cable), Texas State (Time Warner Cable), Southeastern Louisiana (Southland TV) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Time Warner Cable) and have dropped TV games to Oklahoma State (Cowboy Sports Network), Iowa (Mediacom Connections) and UT Arlington (Southland TV).
Let’s Go Streaking: UTSA’s seven-game winning streak that began with a 76-72 win at UMKC on Dec. 22 and continued through a 62-55 victory at Nicholls on Jan. 14 is tied with Sam Houston State’s streak from Jan. 17-Feb. 7 for the longest in the Southland Conference this season. It also is the best at UTSA since the 2003-04 squad also won seven straight from Feb. 25-March 12. The Roadrunners now have won 14 of their last 22 contests, with five of those eight losses by a combined 15 points.
A Good Start: At 10-5, UTSA registered its best 15-game start since the 2001-02 team also began with a 10-5 mark. Five teams have started 10-5, which ranks second only to 11-4 starts in 1989-90 and 1990-91. Now with 17 victories, UTSA surpassed last season’s win total of 13 at Southeastern Louisiana on Feb. 7. Additionally, the 17 wins are the most since the 2003-04 won 19, while the eight conference wins are an improvement of last season’s tally of seven and are the most since the 2004-05 squad won 10.
Non-Conference Success: UTSA picked up its ninth non-conference victory of the regular season on Jan. 21 against Texas-Pan American, breaking the school record of eight set in 1990-91. The Roadrunners have recorded six wins against Division I teams ? Rice, UMKC, Georgia State, SMU, Colgate, Texas-Pan American ? which is the most out of league play since the 1989-90 team also won six. The 1990-91 squad won a school-record eight. Three of this year’s non-conference DI victories came on the road, the most since UTSA joined a conference (Trans America Athletic) in 1986-87.
Senior Snags SLC Honors: Senior Travis Gabbidon was named Southland Conference Player of the Week on Jan. 26, his second honor in four weeks. The Phoenix, Ariz., native averaged 24.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and four steals and shot 65.4 percent (17-of-26) from the field and 81.3 percent (13-of-16) from the free throw line in games against Texas-Pan American and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Gabbidon also collected the weekly award on Jan. 5 after posting 19.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in victories against SMU and Colgate.
Keys To Success: UTSA has discovered several keys to success this season. The Roadrunners 10-1 when holding opponents to under 70 points and 15-5 when holding them to under 50-percent shooting from the floor (4-0 under 40 percent), as opposed to a 2-7 record when foes shoot above 50 percent. UTSA also is 10-1 when it outrebounds opponents, with the only loss a 74-72 decision at Texas-Pan American in a game that the Roadrunners held a slim 29-28 advantage on the glass. UTSA also is 14-4 when leading at the half.
Hitting The Trifecta: The Roadrunners have been productive from beyond the 3-point line this season. Even with the arc moved one foot further from the basket, UTSA has shown it still can fill it up from downtown. Led by senior Joey Shank (63) and juniors Morris Smith IV (56) and Omar Johnson (47), the Roadrunners have drained a conference-leading 242 threes for an SLC-best 8.3 per-game average (19th/NCAA). UTSA, which surpassed last season’s total of 191 treys in the Central Arkansas win, has made at least one 3-pointer in all 88 games under third-year head coach Brooks Thompson, including five or more 62 times and six or more in 22 games this season. UTSA had made at least one three in 448 consecutive contests dating back to Jan. 5, 1994 (vs. Texas).
Success At The Line: A pair of Roadrunners have broken the school record for free throw percentage in a game this season. Senior Travis Gabbidon drained 10-of-10 from the line in the Colgate victory on Jan. 2 to eclipse the previous standard (minimum of 10 attempts required) of 92 percent (12-13) set by Leon Watson against Texas College on Nov. 22, 1998. In the Central Arkansas win on Feb. 11, junior Omar Johnson matched Gabbidon’s effort with a 10-for-10 performance from the charity stripe to help the Roadrunners fire at a season-high 87.5-percent (21-24) clip. Additionally, sophomore Devin Gibson was a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe against Northwestern State, but a minimum of 10 made is required for the record. As a team, UTSA is shooting 69.9 percent (485-694) from the line, a considerable improvement over last season’s 65.8 percent (424-644) mark, and stands at 71.1 percent (286-402) in SLC games.
Creating Havoc: The Roadrunners are forcing their opponents into an average of 18.8 turnovers per game this season. Ten opponents have committed 20 or more, led by a season-high 34 from East Central on Nov. 22. A large reason for UTSA’s success in creating opponent miscues is the fact that the team is coming up with a league-best 9.7 steals per contest (6th/NCAA). Led by 2007-08 NCAA steals champion Devin Gibson, a sophomore who second nationally with 3.3 thefts per game, all 13 Roadrunners have teamed up to record 280 steals this year.
Taking Care Of The Rock: UTSA has been effective in taking care of the basketball this season. The Roadrunners are averaging just 14.2 turnovers per game and boast the top turnover margin (+4.6) in the Southland Conference (8th/NCAA). UTSA, which boasts a 16-8 record when forcing more turnovers than it commits, has topped 20 turnovers in a game just three times this season but still forced more by two of those opponents in victories against Texas Wesleyan and Texas-Pan American. The season-low of seven miscues came in the 76-72 win at UMKC on Dec. 22 and was matched in the 79-72 win over Lamar on Feb. 28.
Double-Double Tracker: UTSA has registered 12 double-doubles this year, including a team-high five by senior Travis Gabbidon.
Demarco Stepter, East Central (Nov. 22): 12 points, 11 rebounds
Devin Gibson, Texas-Pan American (Dec. 18): 16 points, 10 assists
Demarco Stepter, UMKC (Dec. 22) : 15 points, 11 rebounds
Demarco Stepter, SMU (Dec. 29): 10 points, 10 rebounds
Josh Bonney, Nicholls (Jan. 14): 15 points, 13 rebounds
Richie Frohlich, UT Arlington (Jan. 17): 14 points, 10 rebounds
Travis Gabbidon, UT Arlington (Jan. 17): 23 points, 10 rebounds
Travis Gabbidon, UT Arlington (Jan. 24): 23 points, 12 rebounds
Travis Gabbidon, Texas State (Jan. 28): 18 points, 10 rebounds
Travis Gabbidon, Southeastern Louisiana (Feb. 7): 11 points, 12 rebounds
Demarco Stepter, Northwestern State (Feb. 25): 11 points, 11 rebounds
Travis Gabbidon, Stephen F. Austin (March 7): 16 points, 12 rebounds
Balanced Attack: Led by senior Travis Gabbidon (12.9), junior Omar Johnson (12.6) and sophomore Devin Gibson (11.7), UTSA has displayed a balanced scoring attack this season. Six additional Roadrunners are averaging at least four points per contest: senior Joey Shank (8.8) and juniors Morris Smith IV (9.5), Josh Bonney (6.2), Demarco Stepter (6.2), Chris Allen (5.5) and Terry Fields (4.1).
King of Steals: Sophomore Devin Gibson, the 2007-08 Southland Conference Freshman of the Year and a preseason nominee for the Bob Cousy Award, has emerged as one of the nation’s top steals man over the past two seasons. The Cypress Falls High product became just the third freshman in history ? Jason Kidd is one of the other two ? to lead the NCAA in steals with 93 in 28 games last season for a 3.3 average. This year, despite missing five games with a back injury, he has tallied 78 steals for an NCAA-leading 3.3 per-game average. His 93 steals in 2007-08 rank second on the school’s single-season list behind Ronnie Ellison’s school-record 97 in 1990-91, while his 78 this season already stand third. Gibson is contributing in a number of other important statistical categories, averaging 11.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game this season.
Moving On Up: Sophomore Devin Gibson is making his way up a pair of UTSA career charts. The Houston native currently has 171 steals in 52 career games (3.3 spg), which is fourth all-time. No other Roadrunner has recorded more thefts than Gibson in less than two full seasons. He also has tallied 677 points (13.0 ppg), ranking him 28th, and he stands sixth with 260 free throws, eighth in free throw percentage (.710), 10th in assists (221) and 50th in rebounds (206).
Welcome Back: Senior Travis Gabbidon and junior Omar Johnson both were plagued with injuries last season, but have emerged as two of the team’s top scorers 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 2003-04 ? and grabbed nine boards against Texas-Pan American. This season, Gabbidon is averaging 12.9 points (14th/SLC) and 6.3 rebounds (13th/SLC) per game this season, including 7.1 boards (7th/SLC) in conference play. 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 campaign. He ranks second on the team in scoring at 12.6 points per game (T-16th/SLC) and has dished out a team-best 118 assists (4.2 avg; T-3rd/SLC).
Model of Consistency: Senior Travis Gabbidon has been one of UTSA’s most consistent players in his two-year career. In his 43 games with the Roadrunners, the Phoenix native has reached double figures in scoring 33 times, including a career-best 31 against Texas-Pan American last year and a season-high 25 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Jan. 24). He also has grabbed five or more rebounds 26 times, including a career high of 14 against Texas Wesleyan in 2007 and a season-high 12 three times, last vs. Stephen F. Austin on Saturday. His 568 career points (13.2 ppg) rank 41st and his 265 career rebounds (6.2 rpg) stand 35th on UTSA’s all-time list. Gabbidon, who has posted five double-doubles, including 16 and 12 against SFA last Saturday, has been named SLC Player of the Week twice this year (Jan. 5/Jan. 26).
Smith Finds His Stroke: Junior guard Morris Smith IV has found his shooting stroke from downtown over the past six weeks. The St. Louis native drained seven 3-pointers in the 67-66 win at Lamar on Jan. 31 and has made 26 trifectas while averaging 12.4 points per game in the last 11 contests. Earlier this season, he enjoyed a seven-game stretch from Dec. 18-Jan. 10 in which he connected 19 times from behind the arc, including four long balls in the SMU win on Dec. 29.
No Shank Shots: The most experienced player on the squad with 57 games at the Division I level, senior Joey Shank has been a consistent threat from behind the arc with the Roadrunners. Last year, the Folsom, Calif., native drained 67 threes, the sixth-best season in school history, and made three or more in a game 12 times. He put his name next to the program’s single-game record with eight treys in a win over Northwestern State last January and he nearly matched that effort with seven against Rice on Dec. 4 of this season, tallying a career-best 26 points in both contests. Shank, who has connected from downtown 63 times this year, is seventh on UTSA’s career chart with 130 threes (2nd among two-year players). Additionally, he ranks 47th all-time with 512 career points and his 37.0 career 3-point field goal percentage stands fifth. This year, Shank is eighth in the Southland Conference in 3-pointers made per game (2.2).
Off The Bench: The Roadrunners’ bench has contributed in a big way this season. Led by juniors Chris Allen (5.5 ppg) and Demarco Stepter (6.2 ppg), who have yet to start a game but are combining for 11.7 points per contest, UTSA has seen an average of 24.1 points from its bench this year. In league play, Allen and Stepter have upped their contribution to 6.4 and 7.0 points per game, respectively. Over the last eight games, UTSA’s bench has pitched in with a 29.1 scoring average, including 38 at Sam Houston State and 35 in the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi victory. The bench posted a season-high 64 points in the East Central win and 51 against Texas Wesleyan.
Record-Setting Night: UTSA set six school records in the 136-68 victory against East Central on Nov. 22, as the Roadrunners improved to 24-4 all-time and 3-0 under third-year head coach Brooks Thompson in home openers. Following is a list of the broken records:
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)]
Additionally, UTSA set Southland Conference season highs for points, margin of victory, field goals (51), field goal attempts, 3-point field goals, 3-point field goal attempts and rebounds in that contest.
