SAN ANTONIO — UTSA will open a four-game road trip at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 15 when it will face Rice at Tudor Fieldhouse.
The Roadrunners (11-14, 6-6 C-USA) are coming off four consecutive games at home that included victories against UAB and Southern Miss. UTSA will look to bounce back from a 72-66 setback against Louisiana Tech last Saturday that saw Lucas O'Brien pour in a career-high 23 points on the strength of five 3-pointers.
Since moving to the starting lineup, the senior is averaging 10 points and 4.2 rebounds per game since entering the starting lineup five games ago. That stretch includes his 23-point outing against the Bulldogs and 16 points in the Roadrunners' win over the Blazers.
Meanwhile, the Owls (17-8, 7-5 C-USA) enter Thursday's contest on a four-game winning streak with three of those four coming on the road. Rice is the No. 2 rebounding team in the league at 38.6 rpg, just behind UTSA's 39.9 rpg. The squad is led by 2016 C-USA Freshman of the Year and reigning C-USA Player of the Week Marcus Evans' 19.3 ppg, while Egor Koulechov (18.7 ppg) and Marcus Jackson (12.5 ppg) also average double figures to help the offense pile up 82.2 ppg, which ranks second in the league. The Owls also rank second in the circuit with a .475 field goal percentage, while they are tops in the conference by shooting 40 percent behind the arc.
UTSA leads the all-time series, 6-4, including an 85-80 win last season in San Antonio. Rice holds a slim 3-2 lead in Houston, where the Roadrunners have not won since 2008.
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 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.
