Men’s basketball holds first practice of 2019-20 seasonMen’s basketball holds first practice of 2019-20 season
Bobbie Modica
Men's Basketball

Men’s basketball holds first practice of 2019-20 season

SAN ANTONIO – Riding 37 wins over the last two seasons, UTSA men's basketball kicked off official preparation for the 2019-20 campaign with its first team practice, on Tuesday afternoon at the Convocation Center. 
 
The Roadrunners opened the first official day of practice with a team lifting session, under the direction of first-year strength and conditioning coach Christian Wood. A full, two-hour team practice session at the Convocation Center followed. 

"It was really good.," fourth-year UTSA head coach Steve Henson said about the first day. "The way the rules are now, we've been in the gym some. We were around a lot this summer and had the guys in there. We had some great short workouts leading up to this point. Wasn't surprised but it did have a different feel to it. We are trying to work on a lot more things on the defensive end right now. We spent a lot of time in the summer and early on in these fall workouts on offensive concepts, spacing and moving the basketball. Big emphasis today was defensive."

UTSA returns three starters from a 17-win season in 2018-19, including the nation's highest scoring backcourt in juniors Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace. Jackson, tabbed the preseason Conference USA player of the year by Blue Ribbon Yearbook, and Wallace combined to score 43.1 points per game a year ago, with Jackson claiming the C-USA scoring crown with 22.9 points per outing. In addition to the scoring punch of the guard duo, UTSA returns senior forward Byron Frohnen, who has made 100 consecutive starts to open his career. 

"We're putting in the base right now so we haven't got into it that much, but our commitment, our athleticism, our depth is pretty noticeable right now," Henson said. "You look out there, we have some bigger guys in the paint, some longer perimeter guys. Really like what we did. We'll put in a base and start building from there." 

UTSA opens the 2019-20 season with an exhibition game on Oct. 30 vs. Texas A&M International at the Convocation Center, before tipping off the season officially at Oklahoma on Nov. 5 in Norman, Okla. 

Season Tickets
Season tickets are now available for UTSA's home games by visiting GoUTSA.com/MBBtix or by calling or texting (210) 458-8872 to speak directly to a ticket sales representative. Season tickets start as low as $99. Combined tickets for reserved seats at men's and women's basketball in 2019-20 at the Convocation Center start at $140. Single-game tickets start at $10 for adults and $8 for youth. UTSA students receive free admission to all home games by showing a UTSA ID.

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