SAN ANTONIO — Riding the longest winning streak in 10 years at seven games and off to the best start to a conference season in 30 years at 4-0, UTSA faces its first two-game road swing of Conference USA play with a test at Middle Tennessee on Thursday in Murfreesboro and UAB on Saturday in Birmingham. Tipoff on Thursday is slated for 6:30 p.m. at the Murphy Center.
The game will air on ESPN+ (subscription required). The game also can be heard live on Ticket 760 AM with the pregame show beginning at 6 p.m. with the Voice of the Roadrunners, Andy Everett, calling the action. The radio broadcast also can be heard live via the free iHeartRadio app and online at goUTSA.com/mbb_audio.
UTSA Roadrunners (10-7, 4-0 C-USA) at Middle Tennessee State (3-14, 0-4 C-USA)
6:30 p.m. • Jan. 17, 2019
Murphy Center • Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Live video: ESPN+
Radio: Ticket 760 AM
Series vs. Middle Tennessee: MT leads, 5-1
Headlines and Storylines
• The Roadrunners are coming off a thrilling 76-74 win over North Texas on Saturday, using a game-winning jumper with 1.6 seconds remaining to earn the top spot in the league standings.
• UTSA's 4-0 start to C-USA play equals a school record set in the 1988-89 season.
• The Roadrunners have won seven straight games, their longest winning streak since 2008-09.
• UTSA has won 10 of its last 12 games, its best 12-game stretch since the Roadrunners had a school-record 13-game winning streak in 1983-84.
• A pair of dynamic sophomore scoring guards pace the UTSA offensive attack, in Keaton Wallace and Jhivvan Jackson. Jackson leads the team with 20.5 points per game – in just 27.1 minutes per contest – while Wallace leads the team with 33.8 minutes per game and owns 17.8 points per outing.
• After Jackson, the reigning C-USA Freshman of the Year, suffered a season-ending injury late in 2017-18 and missed the first three games of the season, all UTSA losses, he returned on a minutes restriction for the next five outings before being inserted in the starting lineup over the last nine games. During his last nine outings, UTSA is 8-1 and Jackson is averaging 22.6 points in 32 minutes per game.
• Jackson provided the game-winning jumper in the win over UNT, leading the Roadrunners with 17 points. Wallace, who leads UTSA in rebounds per game in league play (6.8) notched a double-double, the first of his career with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
• Steve Henson, the reigning C-USA Coach of the Year, is in his third year at the helm of the Roadrunner and is 44-41 at UTSA.
Scouting the Blue Raiders
• Middle Tennessee enters the game with UTSA on Thursday having lost 13 straight games after opening the year 3-1 with a win over Charleston Southern.
• Middle Tennessee is under the direction of first-year head coach Nick McDevitt, who took over a team that went 25-8 and 16-2 in league play in 2017-18, advancing to the second round of the NIT after a first-round loss in the C-USA Championship.
• The Blue Raiders' top returner from the sterling 2017-18 season averaged 14.5 minutes per game, with MT replacing its top six scorers and 89 percent of its total offense.
• The Blue Raiders are 0-4 in league play after losses vs. FIU and Florida Atlantic and road setbacks vs. Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech last week.
• Eight players play at least 17 minutes per game for MT, which is averaging 64.9 points per game, shooting 41.6 from the field and 30.5 from 3-point land, and owning a 2.4 advantage per game in rebounding.
• Middle Tennessee, which has six transfers among its 13 players, is led in scoring by redshirt junior guard Antonio Green, a 6-foot-2 native of Tupelo, Miss. Green averages 18.2 points per game in 33.9 minutes, adding four rebounds per outing.
• Six-foot-6 junior forward Reggie Scurry averages 9.8 points and 5.7 rebounds with 6-foot sophomore guard Donovan Sims owning 8.9 points and four rebounds per game. Senior forward Karl Gamble, a 6-9 senior out of Columbia, S.C., is the team leader with 6.7 rebounds per game, adding eight points each outing.
Series History
• Middle Tennessee leads the all-time series, 5-1, including a 3-0 mark in games played in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
• The Blue Raiders have won four consecutive meetings in the series, including a 75-51 win in the lone meeting in 2017-18 in Murfreesboro.
• The series began when the teams became league foes in C-USA in 2013-14.
• MT won the lone meeting in the series in 2017-18, 75-51, in the eighth game of the league season for each team. UTSA was led in scoring by 17 points from Jhivvan Jackson, with Nick Allen owning five rebounds. Nick King, who led MT with 21 points and 8.4 rebounds per game last year, had 22 points and seven boards in 31 minutes. Brandon Walters had 14 rebounds and six points in 26 minutes. UTSA was held to 34.4 percent from the field and was 7 of 28 from 3-point land, with the Blue Raiders shooting 48.2 percent from the field and 10 of 23 from behind the arc.
A win would ...
• Improve UTSA to 11-7 and give the Roadrunners wins in 11 of their last 13 games
• Extend UTSA's winning streak to eight games, its longest since an eight gamer in 1991-92
• Put UTSA to a school-record 5-0 in conference play
• Snap Middle Tennessee's four-game win streak in the series
School-record start in league play
• The Roadrunners are off to a program-record tying 4-0 opening to conference play, its best start since 1988-89.
• UTSA's school record for a start to conference play came in 1988-90, including wins over Centenary, HBU, Little Rock and Samford, before a loss vs. Georgia State in Trans America Athletic Conference action.
• The Roadrunners are averaging 78.2 points per game in C-USA play, outscoring foes by an average of 9.3 points. UTSA is shooting 43.4 percent in league action, with Jhivvan Jackson (19.5), Keaton Wallace (16.5), Nick Allen (15.3) and Giovanni De Nicolao (6.0) leading the Runners in scoring per game. Wallace averages a team-leading 6.8 rebounds per game.
Best 12-game stretch in 30 years
• UTSA is 10-2 over its last 12 games, which marks its best 12-game stretch since winning 13 straight in 1983-84.
• During this 12-game stretch, UTSA is averaging 79.1 points per game, outscoring opponents by 9.2 points each outing.
• UTSA's only losses came at Arkansas and vs. Sun Belt front-runner Texas State, with the Bobcats converting a game-winning free throw with less than a second left after UTSA fouled TXST in the backcourt.
• Jhivvan Jackson is average 23.3 points per game during the stretch, with Keaton Wallace (18.3), Nick Allen (10.3), Byron Frohnen (7.3) and Giovanni De Nicolao (7.3) giving UTSA a well-rounded offensive scoring attack, paced by its explosive guard play.
Seven-game winning streak
• The Roadrunners are riding the fourth-longest winning streak in program history entering the matchup at Middle Tennessee.
• UTSA's seven-game win streak is its longest since winning seven straight in 2008-09.
• UTSA has 10 all-time winning streaks of at least seven.
• Over the course of the seven-game streak, UTSA is averaging: 78.3 points, 44.6 percent from the field, 33.1 from 3-point land, with 38.4 rebounds, 13.1 assists and 8.6 steals per outing.
Jackson a scoring machine
• 2017-18 Conference USA Freshman of the Year Jhivvan Jackson made his return from a season-ending injury a year ago at the Gulf Coast Showcase on Nov. 19-21. The sophomore guard averaged 13.7 points in limited minutes (15.0 mpg) in the three neutral-site contests. Jackson drained nine 3-pointers and dished out five assists to help the Roadrunners to a 1-2 record, including scoring 21 on the strength of five treys to help UTSA to a 76-65 victory over Florida Gulf Coast on the final day of the tournament.
• In UTSA's win at Houston Baptist, Jackson went up to 21 minutes, collecting 21 points on a career-high 11 free throws. Days later in a rivalry matchup with Texas State, Jackson got off to a sluggish start but finished with a flourish, owning a team-high 22 points and connecting on five 3-pointers. In a non-conference win over Mid-America Christian, Jackson poured in 28 points.
• With UTSA off to a sluggish, post-Christmas-break start vs. SE Oklahoma State, Jackson put together career highs in points (32) and rebounds (10) in his first career double-double, earning C-USA Player of the Week accolades.
• Jackson's 40-minute averages are staggering: 30.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists. He is averaging 0.76 points per minute.
• Jackson is averaging 32 minutes, 22.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game since returning to the starting lineup. He had a streak of eight straight games with at least 20 points, the second-longest streak in program history, just shy of Derrick Gervin's nine straight in 1984-85. His current streak stands at 20-or-more points in 10 of the last 12 games.
• The second-team all-conference selection set the UTSA freshman scoring record with 534 points and led the team with 18.4 per game. He shot 43.1 percent from the field for the season and tallied three 30-point, 14 20-point and 25 double-figure scoring performances.
Wallace emerging as do-everything threat
• Sophomore guard Keaton Wallace has emerged as a steady scoring option for UTSA through the first 17 games this season. The Dallas native ranks second on the team with 17.8 points per game and he has paced the team in points in seven of the 17 contests. Wallace has reached double figures 14 times, including back-to-back 20-point showings against UC Irvine (23) and South Dakota State (21) and has had a career high six 20+ point games in 2018-19.
• Wallace was blistering hot in a win over Mid-America Christian on Dec. 8, setting career highs in points (35), 3-pointers (nine), rebounds (nine) and blocks (three). His nine treys marked the second-most in UTSA single-game history.
• In a matchup with rival Texas State on Dec. 1, Wallace logged a career-high 39 minutes, collecting 19 points.
• In a pair of wins over UTEP to open league play, Wallace posted a game-high 23 points on Jan. 3, with eight rebounds and a career-high four blocks, before going for 16 points and four boards in the win on Jan. 5.
• Wallace earned his first career double-double in a win over North Texas, collecting 11 points and 10 rebounds. He leads UTSA in rebounds (6.8 per game) in league play.
• The 6-foot-3 Wallace leads UTSA in blocks (18), a career best, and is the only player under 6-foot-4 in C-USA in the top 10 in blocked shots.
• A 2017-18 Conference USA All-Freshman Team selection, Wallace averaged 11.4 points in 35 games last season.
Elite guard play
• UTSA's two dynamic sophomore guards, Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace have shouldered the scoring load in 2018-19. While Wallace has been a fixture in the lineup, with team highs in minutes (33.8) and ranking second in points per game (17.8). Jackson returned from injury to come off the bench in five straight games before making the last nine consecutive starts as his minutes restriction has been lifted. The duo is averaging 39.1 points per game, accounting for 51 percent of UTSA's offensive production
• Since Jackson's return to the playing rotation on Nov. 19 vs. UC Irvine – the fourth game of the season – Wallace is averaging 18.9 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per outing, with the pair combining for 51 percent of UTSA's scoring punch over the last 14 games.
Trio among most-used in UTSA history
• Senior Nick Allen is leaving a large mark on the program over the course of his career. He has played in 116 games and started 86 in his career, ranking eighth in starts and fourth in games played.
• Juniors Byron Frohnen and Giovanni De Nicolao also rank among the tops in program history in starts, checking in ninth.
Allen more than muscle
• Nick Allen has emerged as a threat from virtually anywhere on the floor, as the Surprise, Ariz., native is averaging 10.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game to go along with 17 assists through the first 17 contests. The 6-foot-8 forward is third on the team with 19 3-pointers and he is shooting at a 68-percent clip at the free-throw line.
• He turned in the best outing of his career in a win over Rice, totaling a career-best 20 points, including a career-high four threes, with five rebounds.
• Allen opened the campaign with 15 points and eight rebounds against St. Edward's and he also has scored in double figures against Oklahoma (15), South Dakota State (12), Florida Gulf Coast (13), Bethany (12), SE Oklahoma State (12), UTEP (11) and on the road at UTEP (14).
• Allen is just four rebounds shy of becoming the 10th member of the UTSA 500+ rebound club.
The Maestro runs the point
• 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.
• De Nicolao posted a season-high 19 points, seven assists and five rebounds in a win over Rice, adding a career-best two blocks and a steal.
• In a win at UTEP, De Nicolao was a well-rounded force with eight rebounds, seven points and three assists.
• De Nicolao is averaging 7.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and a team-high 3.4 assists per game this season.
• In C-USA action, he is posting 9.5 points, 4.5 boards and 3.8 dimes per contest.
Clutch-time free throws
• At the charity stripe when the game is on the line, over the last five minutes and in overtime, Jhivvan Jackson is 13-for-14 and Keaton Wallace is 12-of-13. Jackson has 42 points (3 points per final five minutes) and Wallace 47 (2.8 points per final five) over the final five minutes in 2018-19. In their two-year careers, Jackson is 46 of 58 (89 percent) and Wallace is 37 of 44 (84 percent) from the charity stripe in the final five minutes and overtime.
• Junior Atem Bior has gone 8-of-9 at the charity stripe over the last five minutes during the year.
Topping the century mark
• Twice in 2018-19 UTSA has reached 100+ points in a game, with the Roadrunners owning a 41-7 all-time record when reaching the century mark.
• UTSA owns a 104-74 win over Mid-America Christian and a 101-77 win over Bethany College.
• It marks the first time UTSA has topped 100 points twice in a single season since a pair of overtime losses in the 1996-97 season. The last time the Roadrunners topped 100 points twice in a season without the benefit of overtime came during the 1992-93 season.
First off the bench
• UTSA freshman guard Adokiye Iyaye has been the first player off the bench in a team-high nine games in 2018-19.
• A 6-foot-3 guard out of Oklahoma City, Okla., Iyaye has emerged as UTSA's go-to sixth man, averaging 19 minutes and 5.5 points per game.
Third season of the Steve Henson era
• The 2018-19 season marks the third of the Steven Henson era at UTSA. Henson, who came to the Alamo City from Lon Kruger's staff at Oklahoma, has guided the Roadrunners to a 44-41 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.
• UTSA enters its tilt at Middle Tennessee winners of 10 of its last 12 games, including seven straight. It marks the second consecutive year that the Roadrunners have posted a sterling winning stretch, claiming seven of nine games in 2017-18.
Defending home court
• Under head coach Steve Henson, UTSA has posted a 28-10 record at the Convocation Center. The Roadrunners went 11-3 at home in 2016-17 and 12-4 in 2017-18.
• In 2018-19, UTSA is 6-3 at The Convo and have won six consecutive games at home.
• Prior to the last two seasons, UTSA last posted consecutive 11-win home seasons when the program went 11-3 in 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 as members of the Southland Conference.
• The 1991-92 team was the last Roadrunners squad to win more than 12 games at home, finishing 14-1.
Team-first mindset in Atem Bior
• With UTSA missing dynamic scoring threat Jhivvan Jackson early in the year due to injury, the coaching staff turned to junior college transfer Atem Bior as the starting lineup replacement for the first eight games of the year.
• A 6-foot-7, 220-pound native of Bisbane, Australia, Bior averages 6.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
• Bior has played 20.8 minutes per game since Jackson returned to the lineup, making five starts while Jackson worked on a minute-restriction. With Jackson back in the fold, Bior is averaging 6.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
• In his eight starts to open the year, Bior averaged 6.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 24.5 minutes per game.
• Bior is averaging 11.6 points, 10.1 rebounds and 0.8 blocked shots per 40 minutes played.
• While playing 2017-18 at New Mexico Military Institute, Bior average 13.1 points and 8.7 rebounds, sported 7.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game at New Mexico Highlands in 2016-17 after redshirting the 2015-16 season at NM Highlands.
Yo, Adrian!
• After suffering a season-ending knee injury in last year'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. Rodriguez recorded five points in 10 minutes versus UC Irvine and two points and two boards in the victory over FGCU.
85 straight starts
• Juniors Byron Frohnen and Giovanni De Nicolao are projected to make their 85th consecutive starts on Thursday at Middle Tennessee. The first two signees of head coach Steve Henson in Spring 2016 have started all 85 games of their careers. Frohnen has started at both the small and power forward positions, while De Nicolao has been the stalwart at point guard.
3-Point record in 2017-18
• After making just 172 3-pointers all of 2016-17, the 2017-18 Roadrunners set the UTSA single-season team record with 353. The previous record was 272 by the 2011-12 squad.
• The Roadrunners' 10.1 triples per game led Conference USA and ranked 19th in the NCAA.
• UTSA's 353 makes last season ranked fifth on the Conference USA single season list. The conference record is 375 by the 2007-08 Houston Cougars.
• Deon Lyle (who elected to depart the program to pursue a professional career in the Junior Basketball Association after his junior season), Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace led the Roadrunners from deep with 96, 77 and 74 made triples, respectively. Junior point guard Giovanni De Nicolao made 36 and senior big man Nick Allen stepped out to hit 33 threes, which was 13 more than his first two seasons combined.
• Led by Wallace's 55 3-pointers, UTSA has made 132 threes through the first 17 contests this season, an average of 7.8 per game. Jackson and Wallace rank as the top two players in C-USA in three-point attempts in 2018-19.
754 straight with a trey
• UTSA has made at least one 3-point field goal in each of its last 754 consecutive games, which ranks as the 21st-longest streak in the nation. The last time the Roadrunners failed to connect from long range came on Jan. 5, 1994, in a 91-69 loss to Texas (0-for-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 leads UTSA and ranks sixth in Conference USA with 7.4 rebounds per game through the first 17 contests.
• The Las Vegas native has reached double figures on the boards in four games with 10 in the season opener against St. Edward's and 11 at Oklahoma State. In a rivalry tilt vs. Texas State, Frohnen grabbed 12 boards, adding 12 boards vs. Arkansas. Frohnen added a season-best 13 rebounds in a win over UTEP.
• Frohnen's 599 rebounds in 85 career games is seventh on the UTSA career list. He sits behind Bruce Wheatley (1987-90) for sixth (668) in career history.
• Frohnen is the ninth member of the UTSA 500-rebound club.
C-USA Bonus play
• Conference USA rolled out an innovative scheduling format for the 2018-19 league contests. The new C-USA schedule format will see the 14 teams play each other once and their travel partner twice in the first seven weeks of the conference season. Following the first 14 league contests, teams will be placed into one of three groups based on their conference standing. The teams will be divided into two groups of five (1-5 and 6-10) and a group of four (11-14). During the final three weeks, teams will play four games (two home/two away) within their respective grouping. Home and away matchups will be determined by the preset formula.
Henson awarded contract extension
• The University of Texas System Board of Regents approved on May 1 a contract extension for UTSA head men's basketball coach Steve Henson that will run through the 2023-24 season.
• The contract extends Henson's original deal an additional three seasons and raises his base salary from $280,000 to $325,000 per year.
Up next
• The Roadrunners will continue their road swing, traveling to face UAB on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Birmingham, Ala. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and will be live on Ticket 760 AM with the Voice of the Roadrunners, Andy Everett, calling the action.
- UTSA –
