Men’s hoops host Sunshine State institutions on Thursday and Saturday

SAN ANTONIO – UTSA men's basketball continues Conference USA plays this week as FIU and Florida Atlantic make the trek to the Alamo City. The Roadrunners host FIU on Thursday, January 11 at 7 p.m. and Florida Atlantic on Saturday at 2 p.m. Both contests will be streamed live on CUSA.tv.
 
For the fans
• Thursday's game against FIU is Student Appreciation Night with numerous giveaways and FREE food available to students.
• Saturday's game against Florida Atlantic is Mascot Day featuring appearance and autograph opportunities from numerous local mascots.
 
FIU game overview
• UTSA continues Conference USA play Thursday evening with a home game against FIU. The game will tip at 7 p.m. from the Convocation Center in San Antonio. The contest will air on the Roadrunners Sports Network (Ticket 760 in San Antonio) with Andy Everett providing play-by-play and Tim Carter serving as analyst. The game will also be web streamed on CUSA.tv. 
 
Series history vs. FIU
• UTSA and FIU have met eight times on the basketball court with the series tied 4-4. The first game of the series was played in 2001 with UTSA taking a 75-65 decision in Miami. The series resumed in 2014 when FIU joined C-USA. FIU has won three of the last five meetings, but UTSA swept the season series a year ago. 
 
Florida Atlantic game overview
• UTSA continues Conference USA play Saturday afternoon with a home game against Florida Atlantic. The game will tip at 2 p.m. from the Convocation Center in San Antonio. The contest will air on the Roadrunners Sports Network (Ticket 760 in San Antonio) with Andy Everett providing play-by-play and Tim Carter serving as analyst. The game will also be web streamed on CUSA.tv. 
 
Series history vs. Florida Atlantic
• UTSA and Florida Atlantic have met seven times on the basketball court with the Owls holding a 4-3 advantage. The series has been played yearly since UTSA joined Conference USA prior to the 2013-14 season. The Roadrunners claimed victories in both 2014 and 2015, but FAU won all three meetings in 2016 before the programs split last year's meetings with each winning on its home floor. Both teams are 2-1 at home with FAU winning the lone neutral site contest at the 2016 C-USA tournament in Birmingham, Ala. 
 
Roadrunners have a stranglehold on weekly C-USA freshman honor
• UTSA freshmen Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace have combined to win seven of the Conference USA's Freshman of the Week honors through the season's nine weeks.
• Wallace has been bestowed the honor three times (Nov. 13, Dec. 4, Dec. 11), while Jackson has also earned the weekly plaudit four times (Nov. 20, Dec. 26, Jan. 2, Jan. 8).
• Head coach Steve Henson has now coached 11 C-USA Freshman of the Week award winners – the seven this season along with Byron Frohnen's three last season and Giovanni De Nicolao's one.
• UTSA had never produced a C-USA Freshman of the Week honoree prior to Henson's arrival in 2016. 
 
25.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists earned Jackson's fourth C-USA freshman nod
• For the third consecutive week and fourth time this season UTSA's Jhivvan Jackson was named the Conference USA Freshman of the Week, for the week ending Jan. 7, the league office announced Monday (Jan. 8).
• Jackson, who leads the Roadrunners at 18.2 points per game, averaged 25.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in leading UTSA to a 1-1 week in Conference USA play. He closed the week shooting 47.6 percent from the floor, including an 80.0 percent clip from two, in 25.5 minutes per outing off the bench.
• He started the week with 21 points on nine field goals and a trio of free throws in UTSA's two-point win at LA Tech. His scoring included eight key points during an 11-2 UTSA run that tied the game at 60 with 7:48 to play. He also grabbed four rebounds and had both an assist and a steal as UTSA became the first C-USA school to win multiple games at LA Tech's Thomas Assembly Center.
 • Jackson, who averages a league-leading 22.0 points against conference competition, poured in a game-high 30 points in 30 minutes off the bench at Southern Miss. He made 11 of 24 field goals, including four threes, to go along with five rebounds, three assists and a steal against the Golden Eagles. He totaled 17 second-half points against Southern Miss, which included seven of UTSA's final 11.
• The 6-foot guard has notched two 30-point, seven 20-point and 14 double-digit scoring performances in his 17 career games -- all off the bench.
 
C-USA's top scoring freshmen duo
• UTSA's Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace easily compose the top scoring freshman duo in Conference USA. Jackson leads the Roadrunners at 18.2 points per game, while Wallace averages 13.1. The pair are each among the top 30 scorers in C-USA with Jackson ranking fourth and Wallace 26th. The Roadrunners are two of four freshmen among the top-30 scorers in C-USA (WKU's Taveion Hollingsworth - 13.7ppg - is 21st; UAB's Zack Bryant - 13.7 ppg - is 21st).
 
Frohnen on the boards
• Sophomore guard/forward Byron Frohnen leads UTSA and ranks seventh in Conference USA with per game average of 7.5 rebounds. 
• Frohnen, who starts at power forward, but also spends time at small forward, has totaled 128 total rebounds with 95 coming on the defensive end. 
• The Las Vegas native has led the Roadrunners on the glass in nine games, including season-highs of 11 against both Bethany and North Texas.
 
Nick Allen: the fire starter
• Junior five man Nick Allen has notched the Roadrunners' first points in seven of UTSA's 17 games, including three of the last four. 
• Allen opened the scoring with two against Texas State, Rice and LA Tech, and connected on 3-pointers against Coastal Carolina, James Madison, Houston Baptist and North Texas.
• UTSA averages 79.11 points in games Allen registers the Roadrunners' first bucket. 
 
Jackson among top scoring freshmen in the nation
• As of Jan. 8, Jhivvan Jackson's 18.2 points per game rank seventh among freshmen scorers in the NCAA.
Top freshmen scorers in the NCAA (as of Jan. 8)

 
Freshmen bucket getters
• In just 17 games, Roadrunner freshmen Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace already rank among the top-10 freshmen scorers in UTSA history. Moreover, Jackson is already one of only five freshmen in UTSA history to score more than 300 points.
• In addition to Jackson and Wallace, the top-10 UTSA freshmen scoring list features current Roadrunner sophomores Byron Frohnen (280 points) and Giovanni De Nicolao (272 points). In less than two full seasons, head coach Steve Henson has recruited and coached four of the most prolific freshmen scorers in program history. 
Top-10 UTSA freshmen scorers

Deon Lyle's emergence
• Junior Deon Lyle is averaging 12.9 points off the bench over the Roadrunners' last 10 games.
• During the10-game stretch, Lyle is shooting 47.4 percent (46 of 97) from the field, including 46.9 percent (30 of 64) from three.
• The Cloud County Community College transfer has totaled 10 double-digit scoring games off the bench, including at least 10 points in eight of the last 10 games.
• The Hastings, Neb., native set a career-high with 21 points on a career- and UTSA season-best seven 3-pointers at Southern Miss (Jan. 6).
 
Up Next
• The Roadrunners close out their three-game home stand next Saturday (Jan. 20) as host to in-state foe UTEP. The opening tip from the Convocation Center is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised in the San Antonio market on KMYS-CW35.

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