SAN ANTONIO — UTSA will look to extend its seven-game home winning streak at 7 p.m. on Thursday when it welcomes Florida Atlantic to the Convocation Center.
A win would give the Roadrunners (7-9, 2-1 C-USA) their longest home streak since winning 11 consecutive at the Convo at the end of the 2003-04 season and into the 2004-05 campaign. A victory also would have UTSA out to its best start in Conference USA play.
The Roadrunners are coming off Saturday's 69-68 victory at Louisiana Tech behind a season-high 27 points from Jeff Beverly. UTSA rallied from 14-down in the second half and Giovanni De Nicolao's 3-pointer with 20 seconds left helped the Roadrunners hand the Bulldogs just their fourth home loss in their last 77 games. The victory also was the first for UTSA in Ruston and just the second by a C-USA opponent at Thomas Assembly Center since Louisiana Tech joined the league prior to the 2013-14 season.
De Nicolao averaged 15 points, three rebounds, 2.5 assists and two steals per game last week to earn C-USA Freshman of the Week laurels on Monday. The Padua, Italy, native scored a season-high 19 points against Southern Miss last Thursday before addition 11 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer, at Louisiana Tech.
The weekly award is the third for a UTSA student-athlete this season, which is leads the league.
Meanwhile, the Owls (5-9, 1-2 C-USA) will look to even their Conference USA record at 2-2 on Thursday when they visit the Convocation Center. Florida Atlantic is coming off a 73-64 win over FIU last Saturday. The squad features a balanced offensive attack that has seven players averaging at least 7.0 ppg, led by 6-foot-4 guard and Clemson transfer Adonis Filer's 10.6 ppg. Filer has provided a lift off the bench in all but two games, while 7-foot center Ronald Delph has started all 14 contests and is averaging 10.3 points to go along with 7.8 rebounds per outing.
The Owls lead the all-time series, 3-2, with all three victories coming last season.
Thursday's game 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 Jim Goodman (analyst) will have the call. The broadcast also can be heard live online at goUTSA.com or on your mobile device with the free iHeartRadio app.
Click here for complete game notes.
