SAN ANTONIO -- Winners of six of the last eight games, UTSA men's basketball will open Conference USA play with a two-game swing through the Sunshine State, facing FAU on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT at FAU Arena.
The game will be televised live on ESPN+ and will be broadcast live on the Roadrunners Sports Network, with the Voice of UTSA, Andy Everett, calling the action live on Ticket 760 AM and goUTSA.com.
UTSA (6-7) will be facing FAU (8-5) in its conference lidlifter on Thursday, before traveling to Miami to face FIU on Saturday at 6 p.m. UTSA will then open its league home slate on Jan. 9, hosting. Louisiana Tech at the Convocation Center.
The Roadrunners have won six of their last eight games to conclude the regular-season portion of non-conference play. UTSA opened the year with an 0-5 mark, including losses at Oklahoma and No. 17/19 Utah State, before posting a 6-2 mark in its final eight games to wrap up the non-league schedule.
UTSA has won two straight games entering the contest in Boca Raton, Fla., including an 89-70 win over Illinois State on Dec. 21 and a 99-64 win last time out on Dec. 28 vs. Our Lady of the Lake. In the win over ISU, Jhivvan Jackson poured in a season-high 41 points, a game after putting up 28, to earn USBWA National Player of the Week honors. In the win over OLLU, Keaton Wallace went for 30 – his second 30+ point game in the last six outings – in 21 minutes, with Jackson going for 20 in 23 minutes of action.
Jackson enters the game a tenth of a point shy of a third straight week as the NCAA's leading scorer. The native of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, averages 26.2 points per game, adding 5.5 rebounds. Marquette guard Markus Howard averages 26.3 points per game to lead the nation.
Leading the Roadrunners
UTSA has totaled 77.7 points per game as a team in 2019-20, shooting 42.2 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from 3-point range. The Roadrunners are averaging 40.3 rebounds per game – tops in the league – 13.8 assists, 13.5 turnovers, 6.8 steals and 3.4 blocks per game. Opponents are shooting 44.1 percent from the field and 32.3 percent from distance.
Jackson leads the Roadrunners with his 26.2 points per game, while Wallace owns 16.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and a team-leading 3.9 assists per game. A product of Dallas-Fort Worth's Euless Trinity High School, Jackson is on the watch list for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, given the nation's best player, and was the midseason pick as C-USA Player of the Year in 2019-20 by HoopsHD.com. He was named C-USA Freshman of the Year in 2017-18 after averaging 18.4 points per game, then won the league scoring title as a sophomore with 22.9 points per game last year. As a junior, Jackson has 11 games with at least 20 points and a career-high five games with at least 30 points.
Wallace, who averaged 20.2 points per game as an all-conference player in 2018-19, has shined over the last eight games after moving off the lead point-guard role. He has averaged 18.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per outing, Wallace is shooting 86 percent from the free-throw line and owns a pair of 30-point outings as a junior. Last year, Wallace went for 45 points in a win at Marshall, two nights after Jackson went for a league-record 46 points at Western Kentucky. The duo led the nation's backcourts in scoring last year and earned all-district accolades by the NABC.
Junior forward Luka Barisic averages 6.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game, while junior guard Knox Hellums sports 5.9 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. Freshman center Jacob Germany owns 5.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, while freshman point guard Erik Czumbel averages 5.1 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.
Senior forward Byron Frohnen – who has made all 113 starts in his career – averages 3.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game and ranks fourth in program history in career rebounds. Senior forward Atem Bior adds 4.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.
Scouting the Owls
FAU enters the league opener with an 8-5 record in league play. The Owls had a four-game winning streak snapped in a 60-58 loss to South Florida on Sunday in Tampa. FAU owns wins over Mercer, Tampa, UIC, High Point, Canisius, Holy Cross, Palm Beach Atlantic and Flagler. The Owls have losses against Miami, Alabama, FGCU, St. Bonaventure and USF.
FAU is averaging 72.1 points per game, holding opponents to 66.3 points per outing. FAU is shooting 43.5 percent from the field and 34.9 percent from range, with its foes shooting 43.6 percent and 34.2 percent from distance. FAU is averaging 37.2 rebounds, 11.9 assists, 14.5 turnovers, 7.8 steals and 2.3 blocks per game.
Cornelius Taylor, a six-foot graduate student, leads the team with 11.2 points per game, adding 2.5 rebounds. A 6-0 sophomore guard, Michael Forrest – who had 32 points vs. Marshall last year – is shooting 41.9 percent from 3-point land and averages 10.3 points and 2.1 rebounds. Karlis Silins, a 6-11, 240-pound sophomore forward/center, averages 9.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, while 6-7 junior forward Jailyn Ingram averages 8.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Junior 6-3 guard Richardson Maitre has made all 13 starts with 7.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Ingram is coming off an injury that thwarted a promising season where he was averaging 18.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game last year.
Lineup change pays dividends
After UTSA lost three-year starting point guard Giovanni De Nicolao to graduation and professional basketball in his native Italy, the Roadrunners played Keaton Wallace at point guard primarily through the first five games of the year, all UTSA setbacks. After inserting freshman Erik Czumbel – himself a native of Verona, Italy, into the starting lineup for the home opener vs. Wiley – UTSA is 6-2. UTSA has improved its points per game by 22.9, its field-goal percentage by 13.3 percent and its rebounding per game (+6.0) and assists per game (+5.5) over the last eight games.
All-time series with FAU
FAU owns a 5-4 lead in the all-time series with UTSA, including a 2-1 mark in games played in Boca Raton. The Roadrunners won the last meeting in the series, 86-74 in San Antonio in 2018-19, snapping a two-game losing streak in the series. UTSA head coach Steve Henson is 2-2 in his four-year career against FAU, posting a win in the first meeting, in 2016-17 at home, before falling later in the year at FAU. UTSA last won at FAU in 2014-15, a 74-59 result at FAU Arena.
Last Meeting
In the meeting last year, UTSA used 24-point outings from Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace to post the 96-74 win in San Antonio in the 12th game of the conference season. UTSA took a 46-39 lead into halftime and took advantage of 17 points off FAU turnovers to post the 12-point win. UTSA shot 46.8 percent from the field, nailing 14 of 32 3-pointers, while FAU shot 41 percent from the field and was 10 of 34 from distance. UTSA got 24 points and nine rebounds from Jackson, and 24 points and eight rebounds from Wallace. Giovanni De Nicolao had 10 points, 10 assists and five rebounds in 36 minutes.
UTSA in C-USA Openers
The Roadrunners are 4-2 all-time in Conference USA openers, including a perfect 3-0 mark under fourth-year head coach Steve Henson. UTSA has opened up at home in league play in four consecutive seasons. Last year, UTSA posted a 75-60 win over UTEP, earning a 79-66 win over Rice in 2017-18 and a 67-55 win over UTEP in 2016-17.
Non-Conference Play over the Last 5 Years
UTSA wrapped up its non-conference portion of the schedule with a 6-7 record, its second straight year with a 6-7 mark entering league play. In 2017-18, UTSA went 7-6 in league, the best over the last five years. UTSA's averages through non-league play improved in scoring, field-goal percentage, opponent field-goal percentage, rebounds, assists, fewer turnovers, and blocks over the last year.
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