SAN ANTONIO — UTSA will close out its three-game road trip to start the 2016-17 season at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16, when it travels to the Windy City for a matchup at Illinois-Chicago. The game can be seen on Comcast SportsNet Chicago and ESPN3.
The Roadrunners (0-2) will look to bounce back from a pair of close losses to open the campaign. The squad followed up Friday's three-point setback at defending Mountain West Conference Champion Fresno State with a 72-64 defeat at Oregon State two days later. UTSA led the Beavers by as much as 10 points in the first half by holding the home squad to just 33 percent shooting. However, Oregon State caught fire in the final 20 minutes and held off a late 12-2 UTSA surge for the victory.
Through two games, junior Jeff Beverly has led the offense at 13 points per game, while freshman Giovanni De Nicolao ranks second on the team at 10 per outing. Sophomore Nick Allen has paced the Roadrunners' effort on the glass at 9.5 rebounds per contest and freshman Byron Frohnen has contributed eight. UTSA pulled down 55 boards in the season opener for its highest total since 2008 and its 93 rebounds (46.5 rpg) ranks 12th in the nation.
Meanwhile, the Flames (0-1) suffered a slim 82-80 loss at San Francisco to open their season last Friday night. Picked to finish fourth in the Horizon League, Illinois-Chicago returns four starters from last season's team that went 5-25. The team is led by 6-foot-7 forward Dikembe Dixson, who was the Horizon Freshman of the Year a season ago when he ranked second in the league in scoring at 19.8 points per game to go along with 7.3 rebounds per outing. In addition, 6-foot-9 forward Tai Odiase averaged 9.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and an NCAA-leading 3.23 blocks per game in 2015-16.
Illinois-Chicago has won both previous meetings against the Roadrunners, with the last coming on Nov. 29, 2003, in San Antonio
Wednesday's contest can be heard live in the San Antonio area on Ticket 760 AM beginning with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m. Andy Everett (play-by-play) and Bryce Weiler (analyst) will have the call.
Click here for complete game notes.
