SAN ANTONIO -- The UTSA men's basketball team will continued a season-long, three-game homestand with a matchup against defending South Western Athletics Conference Champion Prairie View A&M, with tipoff on Saturday slated for 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center.
The game will be broadcast live on CUSA TV and on the Roadrunners Sports Network, with Jay Howard voicing the action. Fans can hear the game live in San Antonio on The Bull 93.3/92.5, and online at goUTSA.com.
The Roadrunners are coming off a 90-68 win over Wiley College on Nov. 22 at the Convocation Center. It snapped a stretch of five straight away from home for the Roadrunners, who traveled to face No 17/19 Utah State and Oklahoma, and faced a trio of neutral-site games during the first week of the season in Florida.
UTSA has averaged 68 points per game through the first six outings, shooting 36.5 percent from the field and 29.1 percent from 3-point land. UTSA averages 37.7 rebounds, 12.3 assists and 2.5 blocks per game, owning 7.5 steals per outing. Opponents are averaging78.8 points per game, shooting 46.2 percent and 33.33 percent from 3-point range.
The Roadrunners have been led in scoring by junior guard Jhivvan Jackson, who leads Conference USA with 24.8 points per game and ranks seventh in college basketball. Junior guard Keaton Wallace averages 13.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists per game, while ranking 22nd in the NCAA with 15 steals. Senior forward Byron Frohnen has made 106 consecutive starts to open his career and averages 3.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in 2019-20.
Junior forward Luka Barisic averages 5.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, while freshman center Jacob Germany sports 5.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Freshman guard Erik Czumbel averages 5.3 points and 1.7 rebounds per game, while senior forward Atem Bior averages 4.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Czumbel was inserted into the starting lineup in the win over Wiley College and had 12 points, six rebounds and five assists in 25 minutes.
In the win over Wiley College, UTSA shot 47.8 percent from the field and had a 31-point outing from Jackson, who connected on 10 of 19 shots and 5 of 13 from 3-point land. Wallace had 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds, while Bior added 11 points and six boards. Barisic had nine points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes.
Prairie View A&M, a team that won 22 games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2018-19, enters the game sporting a 2-5 record to open the season. The Panthers, who went 17-1 in conference last year, has a season-opening win over Jarvis Christian, before hitting the road with losses at UCF, Texas State, Texas and Cal, also falling vs. Sun Belt power Georgia State in Riverside, Calif. The Panthers earned a 78-72 win over Central Arkansas on Nov. 23 in their last game, as Gerard Andrus splashed in 28 points with eight rebounds on 12 of 20 shooting.
The Panthers are averaging 67.9 points per game, while allowing 69.9 points per outing. PVAMU is shooting 40.5 percent from the field and 30.9 percent from behind the arc, owning 34.1 rebounds and 12.4 assists per game, with 9.6 steals per outing. Opponents are shooting 43.6 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from behind the arc.
Andrus has led the Panthers in scoring with 13.4 points per game, while adding 5.0 rebounds in 23.4 minutes per game. Chancellor Ellis has averaged 12.7 points and 1.9 rebounds per game, while Darius Williams averages 7.1 points, while Jonathan Jackson averages 5.7 points per game. Dajuan Madden has made all seven starts, averaging 3.9 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
UTSA holds a 5-1 series advantage with Prairie View A&M, winning a meeting in 2016-17. UTSA faced the Panthers five times from 1984-86 with the lone loss for UTSA coming in 1986 on the road. UTSA is 4-0 vs. the Panthers at home.
In the last meeting between the two teams, UTSA posted a 69-59 win over the Panthers on Nov. 19, 2016 in the first win of UTSA head coach Steve Henson's career. The Roadrunners overcame a 2 of 16 shooting outing from 3-point land to shooting 41.3 percent, getting a 21-point, seven-rebound effort from Jeff Beverly in the win. Nick Allen had four points and four rebounds, with Byron Frohnen chipping in 18 points and seven rebounds in 32 minutes, connecting on 8 of 11 from the field. Giovanni De Nicolao had five points and six rebounds in 26 minutes.
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