SAN ANTONIO – UTSA plays in its home arena for the first time in 12 days on Black Friday (Nov. 24), hosting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Tipoff from the Convocation Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Game overview
• UTSA plays its sixth game of the 2017-18 season with a Friday evening game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christ. The game will tip at 7 p.m. CT at the Convocation Center in San Antonio. UTSA (3-2), which went 14-19 last season (8-10 C-USA; ninth place), is in its second season under head coach Steve Henson. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (1-3) is coming off of a 24-12 season that culminated in a CollegeInsider.com Tournament runner-up finish under Louis Rowe (seventh year). Friday's contest will air on the Roadrunners Sports Network (Ticket 760 in San Antonio) with Jay Howard providing play-by-play. The game will be also stream live on CUSA.tv.
Series history vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
• Texas A&M-Corpus Christi leads the all-time series by a 12-10 count. The series started in 1999 with a 95-80 Roadrunners in San Antonio. Last season the Islanders captured a 73-69 victory in Corpus Christi. UTSA is 6-5 against the Islanders in San Antonio, while Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is 6-4 on their island and 1-0 at neutral sites.
Jhivvan Jackson bestowed C-USA Freshman of the Week honors
• Jhivvan Jackson has garnered Conference USA Freshman of the Week honors, for the week ending Nov. 19. Classmate Keaton Wallace earned the award on Nov. 13.
• Jackson, who has scored at least 14 points in each of first five collegiate games, averaged a Roadrunner-best 17.8 points per game in leading UTSA to a 2-2 record. He made 19 shots with 11 from beyond the arc to close the week with a 40.4 shooting percentage. The Bayamón, Puerto Rico native also had 11 rebounds, 10 assists, three steals and a blocked shot in 98 total minutes of action.
• The combo guard opened the week scoring 15 points with four 3-pointers in the win at Texas State. Twelve of his points came after halftime, and five in the final 31 seconds, including the game-tying and game-winning free throws with 8.9 seconds to play, as UTSA overcame a nine-point deficit in the final 70 seconds
• Jackson led the Roadrunners with 56 total points (18.7 per game) in three games at the Island of the Bahamas Showcase. He opened the event with a game-high 19 points on six makes against Coastal Carolina. Against Bradley, Jackson scored 15 points, including eight in the second half. He closed the event with a season/career-high 22 points in win over JMU — UTSA's fourth game in a five-day span. He went 4 of 8 from the field with two 3-pointers and 12 of 14 at the line against the Dukes.
• Jackson becomes the sixth C-USA Freshman of the Week award winner under second-year head coach Steve Henson. Wallace picked up the plaudit last week (Nov. 13), Byron Frohnen claimed the honors three times last season and Giovanni De Nicolao once.
Hello from the outside
• After ranking third from the bottom in the NCAA in 3-point shooting last season, the 2017-18 edition of the Roadrunners seem to have no problem knocking down the outside shot.
• In the season's first five contests, UTSA has connected on 47 3-point attempts. Freshmen guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace lead the way with 12 and 14 triples, respectively.
• Both the Roadrunners' 47 made 3-pointers and 140 attempts lead Conference USA.
The helping hand
• UTSA leads Conference USA with 76 total assists on 137 makes -- a 55.5 percent assist rate. The Roadrunners average 15.2 helpers per game and totaled a season-high 23 on 28 makes against James Madison (11/19/17).
• Giovanni De Nicolao lead the way with 16 dimes. Jhivvan Jackson has 13, Byron Frohnen 12 and Keaton Wallace 11.
Getting to the line
• UTSA has shot a C-USA-leading 110 free throws through the games, making a league-best 78. The Roadrunners are averaging 22.0 attempts from the free-throw line per game.
• The Birds attempted a season-high 31 against James Madison (11/19/17), making a season-high 25.
• Jhivvan Jackson (25 of 32) has been to the line the most, followed by Giovanni De Nicolao (12 of 16).
Welcome to the season ... five games in eight days
• UTSA opened the 2017-18 campaign playing five games in the season's first eight days. After the season opener against East Central on Nov. 12, the Roadrunners played at Texas State on Nov. 15. The Birds left campus at 4:45 a.m. on Nov. 16 on their journey to The Bahamas for three games in the inaugural Island of the Bahamas Showcase Nov. 17-19. UTSA fell in its opener to Coastal Carolina, then were best by Bradley in the final second before closing the event with a 13-point win over James Madison.
This offense is different
• Through the first five regular season games, UTSA deployed an up-tempo offensive style that vastly contrasts last season's offense. In the five games the Roadrunners have combined to shoot 44.3 percent from the field and 33.6 percent from 3-point range en route to a 79.8 points per game average. Comparatively, the 2016-17 team shot 39.3 percent overall and a mere 28.3 percent from deep, while averaging 66.0 point per outing. Moreover, the 2016-17 team did not reach 90 points in 31 games, while this season's squad has already broken the barrier twice.
707 straight with a trey
• UTSA has made at least one 3-point field goal in each of its last 705 consecutive games. The last time the Roadrunners failed to connect from long range come on Jan. 5, 1994 in a 91-69 loss at Texas. To put the time frame in perspective: Bill Clinton had not yet completed his first full year as POTUS, Hero by Mariah Carey was on top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Mrs. Doubtfire was the No. 1 movie in the box office and the Dallas Cowboys were 15 days from winning Super Bowl XXVIII, 30-13, over the Buffalo Bills.
Up Next
• UTSA returns to the road to take on American Athletic Conference member Tulsa on Tues., Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. The game can be viewed live via WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
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