- Roadrunners take on Rice in Houston on Saturday on ESPN+.
- Jhivvan Jackson averages 26.4 points per game, ranking second in NCAA.
- Keaton Wallace averages 17.7 points & joins Jackson as the nation's highest scoring duo (44.1).
- UTSA has won three straight against Rice.
FORT WORTH, Texas – UTSA men's basketball continues a two-game road swing with a trip to face Rice in Houston on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Tudor Fieldhouse.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and live on the Roadrunners Sports Network, with the Voice of the Roadrunners, Andy Everett, calling the action.
UTSA (9-11, 3-4 Conference USA) is coming off a 98-78 setback at North Texas on Thursday night, where the Mean Green used a hot offensive start to fly past the Roadrunners, holding off a second-half charge to secure the win and improve their winning streak to seven games.
The Roadrunners are paced in 2019-20 by the nation's No. 2 scorer, Jhivvan Jackson, who averages 26.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. He sits behind only Marquette senior Markus Howard (28.4) in scoring per game and leads the nation's players, six-feet and under, in rebounds per game. Jackson had 35 points in the loss on Thursday, his seventh game with 30 or more points in 2019-20.
Joining Jackson in the backcourt is junior Keaton Wallace, who averages 17.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Jackson and Wallace are the nation's highest scoring duo with 44.1 points per game, a year after ranking fourth in the nation in scoring duo and first among NCAA backcourts with 43.1 points per game.
Junior forward Luka Barisic ranks third on the team in scoring, averaging 7.7 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. Junior guard Knox Hellums averages 5.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game, with freshman center Jacob Germany averaging 4.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
Senior forward Byron Frohnen, who has made all 120 starts in his career and ranks second in UTSA career history in rebounding, ranks fifth in C-USA with 7.1 rebounds per game. Frohnen sits just 10 rebounds shy of the program record, also ranking second in games started, just two shy of equaling the UTSA mark.
The Roadrunners are averaging 78.3 points, 39.5 rebounds, 13.6 assists, 6.2 steals and 2.9 blocks per game in 2019-20. UTSA is shooting 43 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from distance, holding opponents to 44.3 percent from the field and 32.1 percent from 3-point range.
Rice (9-12, 1-7 C-USA) comes into the game after dropping a Thursday night matchup with UTEP, 72-64, getting 20 points out of Robert Martin, who had missed several games leading into Thursday. Rice has lost four straight games and nine of its last 10.
The Owls are averaging 72.1 points per game, with 36.3 rebounds, 13.6 assists and 6.0 steals per game. Rice is shooting 42 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from distance, with opponents shooting 45.6 percent and 30.5 percent from 3-point range.
Trey Murphy III leads the Owls with 13.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Robert Martin averages 12.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per outing, while Ako Adams is the third Owl in double figures with 10.3 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. Chris Mullins averages 8.2 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.
UTSA holds a 9-5 record against Rice in its history but the Owls own a 4-3 record in games played in Houston. UTSA has won three straight meetings with Rice, all double-digit wins, and have not lost at Rice since the 2016-17 season.
In the last meeting, UTSA routed Rice in San Antonio in the early days of the conference slate. UTSA used four players in double figures, including a 24-point, five-rebound outing from Jhivvan Jackson to post the win. Nick Allen (20), Giovanni De Nicolao (19) and Keaton Wallace (16) each reached double figures. UTSA shot 49.3 percent from the field and held Rice to 44.4 percent. UTSA was 12 of 31 from the 3-point range, taking a 46-37 lead into halftime and owning a 49-42 advantage in the final stanza. Rice had four players in double figures, led by 14-point games from a pair of Owls, including Chris Mullins.
- UTSA -