SAN ANTONIO – UTSA men's basketball travels to Oklahoma State for a Wednesday, Nov. 14 clash with the Cowboys at 7 p.m. live on Fox-Plus.
UTSA Roadrunners (0-2)
vs.
Oklahoma State Cowboys (0-1)
7 p.m. | Nov. 14, 2018
Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611) | Stillwater, Texas
Television: Fox-Plus
Radio: Ticket 760 AM
Headlines and storylines
• UTSA is looking to bounce back from its season-opening defeats to St. Edward's and Oklahoma.
• UTSA is in its 38th season of basketball. The Roadrunners are 546-546 (.500) all-time, which includes four NCAA Tournament appearances.
• Reigning Conference USA Gene Bartow Coach of the Year Steve Henson is in third year at the helm of the Roadrunners. Henson is 34-36 overall at UTSA with 19-17 conference record.
• UTSA is 23-9 at home inside the Convocation Center during the Henson era.
• UTSA and Oklahoma State are meeting on the hardwood for the 10th time (all in Stillwater) with the Cowboys leading the series 9-0.
• UTSA is traveling to Oklahoma State for the first time since 2011, when the Roadrunners pushed the Cowboys to overtime before falling 90-85.
• UTSA returns four starters from its 2017-18 20-win campaign, including junior point guard Giovanni De Nicolao, sophomore shooting guard Jhivvan Jackson, junior small forward Byron Frohnen and senior power forward Nick Allen. Sophomore point/shooting Keaton Wallace, who started 19 games as a freshman, also returns to bring UTSA's experience to 234 combined career starts.
• The Roadrunners' 2018-19 schedule includes 15 home games, highlighted by visits from Oklahoma and Texas State. The road slate includes games against Oklahoma State, Arkansas and the Gulf Coast Showcase.
• UTSA was selected fifth in the Conference USA Preseason Poll, as voted by the league's head coaches.
Game overview
• UTSA travels to Oklahoma State on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The contest will be televised FOX Sports Oklahoma+ with Mike Wolfe (play-by-play) Bryndon Manzer (analyst) on the call. The game will air on the Roadrunners Sports Network (Ticket 760 AM in San Antonio) with Andy Everett providing play-by-play.
Series history vs. Oklahoma State
• Oklahoma State leads the all-time series against the Roadrunners, 9-0, with every meeting coming in Stillwater since the 1999-2000 season. The last matchup in 2011, which was part of the NIT Season Tip-Off, went to overtime with the Cowboys prevailing 90-85.
Sooner State Roadrunners
• A pair of Roadrunners call Oklahoma home. Redshirt freshman Adrian Rodriguez hails from Tulsa and is a product of Union High School, while true freshman Adokiye Iyaye is from Oklahoma City and prepped at Putnam City North High School.
De Nicolao double-doubles
• Junior point guard Giovanni De Nicolao recorded his first career double-double in his 70th career game as the Italian scored 12 points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds against Oklahoma on Nov. 12. De Nicolao made four shots from the field, including two threes, and connected twice from the free-throw line. His 10 rebounds consisted of two offensive boards and eight on the defensive glass.
Streaky shooting and runs cost UTSA vs. Oklahoma
• UTSA fell by an 87-67 final on Monday to Oklahoma at the Convocation Center. However, the game was played much closer than the final score reflected.
• UTSA overcame missing its first 16 shots against the Sooners to tie the game at 26 with 4:13 to go in the first half thanks to a 14-2 run in which the Roadrunners made six straight shots. However, OU would respond with a 13-3 run over the remainder of the period to take a 39-29 halftime lead. During the Sooners' stretch UTSA missed five of six attempts.
• The second half opened with UTSA going on a 17-5 run, shooting 8 of 11 shots, to take a 48-46 lead 5:21 into the stanza. UTSA would once again go cold from the field, missing 15 of their next 18 attempts, as OU reeled off a 27-4 run to put the game out of reach.
UTSA falls in season opener
• UTSA was upended in its season opener on Nov. 7 by a 77-76 final score by St. Edward's.
• UTSA was led in the contest by Nick Allen and Keaton Wallace with 15 points each, while Giovanni De Nicolao collected a 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists stat line.
Third season of the Steve Henson era
• The 2018-19 season marks the third season of the Steven Henson era at UTSA. Henson, who came to UTSA from Lon Kruger's staff at Oklahoma, has guided the Roadrunners to a 34-36 overall mark to this point. Under Henson's tutelage, UTSA won a program-best 11 Conference USA contests last season and picked up UTSA's second consecutive Conference USA tournament win. Moreover, Henson coached Jhivvan Jackson to C-USA Freshman of the Year and Deon Lyle to league Sixth Player of the Year plaudits in 2017-18.
Rodriguez's return to floor
• After suffering a season-ending knee injury in last season's opener, redshirt freshman Adrian Rodriguez is medically cleared for the 2018-19 season.
•Before suffering the injury, the 6-foot-7 forward from Tulsa, Okla., scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench against East Central.
• The 6-foot-7 big man played 12 minutes against St. Edward's in the season lid-lifter, collecting five rebounds and dishing out a pair of assists. He followed that performance with six points and four boards in 16 minutes against Oklahoma.
71 straight starts
• Juniors Byron Frohnen and Giovanni De Nicolao are projected to make their 71st consecutive starts on Wednesday against Oklahoma State. The first two signees of head coach Steve Henson in spring 2016 have started all 70 game of their careers. Frohnen has started at both the small and power forward positions, while De Nicolao has been the stalwart at point guard.
740 straight with a trey
• UTSA has made at least one 3-point field goal in each of its last 740 consecutive games, which ranks as the 21st longest streak in the nation. The last time the Roadrunners failed to connect from long range come on Jan. 5, 1994 in a 91-69 loss vs. Texas (0 of 6). 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.
Frohnen on the boards
• Junior forward Byron Frohnen led UTSA and ranked eighth in Conference USA with a per game average of 7.3 rebounds. in 2017-18.
• Frohnen's 491 rebounds in 70 career games is ninth on the UTSA career list. He needs 27 more to supplant Reggie Minnieweather (517 in 113 games from 1998-02) for eighth.
Up Next
• UTSA continues its five-game road trip with three games at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla. The Roadrunners will face UC Irvine in game one on Monday, Nov. 19, then face either South Dakota State or Tulane on Nov. 20 and a to-be-determined opponent on Nov. 21.
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