SAN ANTONIO – After opening league play with a two-game swing through Florida last week, UTSA men's basketball will kick off its home portion of the Conference USA schedule, hosting league front-runner Louisiana Tech on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Convocation Center.
The game will be televised live on ESPNU, with Jay O'Keefe (play-by-play) and King McClure (analyst) calling the action. The game will also 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 (6-9, 0-2 C-USA) enters the matchup coming off a pair of setbacks over the weekend in Florida, falling at FAU last Thursday, 79-64 before a 90-83 overtime loss at FIU on Saturday. UTSA had won two straight entering league play and owned wins in six of its last eight games entering league play, after opening up the year with an 0-5 record with losses at Oklahoma and No. 17/19 Utah State, and vs. Oregon State in Houston.
The Roadrunners are averaging 77.1 points per game in 2019-20, shooting 41.7 percent as a team and 32.9 percent from 3-point range. UTSA leads C-USA with 40.7 rebounds per game, owning 13.7 assists, 13.7 turnovers, 6.6 steals and 3.1 blocks per game. Opponents are shooting a league-best 44.2 percent vs. UTSA from the field and 33 percent from distance.
UTSA is led by the nation's No. 2 scorer, junior guard Jhivvan Jackson, who averages 25.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Jackson has scored 20 or more points in 13 of 15 games in 2019-20 and has at least 30 points in six outings. Junior guard Keaton Wallace – who combined with Jackson to lead the nation's backcourts in scoring last year – is just behind with 16.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Combined the pair averaged 43.1 points per game as sophomores, with Jackson winning the scoring crown in C-USA with 22.9 points per game and Wallace adding 20.2 an outing.
Junior forward Luka Barisic averages 6.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, starting 14 of 15 games. Junior guard Knox Hellums adds 6.5 points and 2.3 rebounds per game in 2019-20, with senior forward Atem Bior owning 5.1 points and 5.1 rebounds as UTSA's go-to sixth man. Freshman center Jacob Germany averages 4.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, while freshman point guard Erik Czumbel averages 3.3 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.
Senior forward Byron Frohnen has made all 115 starts in his career. The native of Las Vegas, Nev., enters the matchup with LA Tech, needing one rebounds to move into a tie for second place in UTSA career history, owning 793 rebounds. Jeromie Hill owns the program record with 842 rebounds in 122 games. Frohnen also ranks second in UTSA history in games started, shy of Hill's mark of 122, and ranks tied for sixth in games played, shy of Nick Allen's mark of 129 games. Frohnen also ranks 31st in UTSA history in scoring and with a 50.6 percent clip from the field in his career, ranking eighth.
Louisiana Tech (11-3, 2-0 C-USA) has won five straight games entering the matchup with UTSA, including sweeping its opening weekend matchup with Southern Miss, taking an 80-49 win on Dec. 39 and a 78-50 win on Saturday. The Bulldogs have wins over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Wiley College, Mississippi Valley State, North Alabama, Samford, Mississippi State, Louisiana-Lafayette and North Carolina Central. The Bulldogs entered last week with a 63rd ranking in the NCAA's NET rankings, tops in C-USA.
LA Tech enters the matchup as the league's best defensive team – ranking 18th in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense. LA Tech ranks 16th in the NCAA in scoring defense and fifth in scoring margin. The Bulldogs are shooting 46.4 percent as a team and 35.5 percent from 3-point range, owning 39.2 rebounds, 8.8 steals, 15.6 assist and 12.1 turnovers per game as a team. Opponents are shooting just 37.4 percent from the field and 30.7 percent from 3-point range.
The Bulldogs are led in scoring by 6-foot-3 junior guard Kalob Ledoux, a McNeese transfer, who averages 13.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. Senior DaQuan Bracey, a 5-11 guard, is a preseason All-Conference USA selection and averages 12.6 points, 3.2 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game. Amorie Archibald averages 11.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, while 6-5 junior JaColby Pemberton averages 8.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Derric Jean, a 6-2 fifth-year senior, averages 8.4 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
Louisiana Tech owns a 12-5 lead in the all-time series with UTSA, including a 6-2 mark in games played in San Antonio. UTSA Coach Steve Henson owns a 3-3 all-time mark against the Bulldogs, winning both meetings in 2017-18 and dropping the meeting in 2018-19. LA Tech head coach Eric Konkol is 3-5 against UTSA in his fifth year.
In the meeting in Ruston, La., last season, UTSA fell to the Bulldogs, 72-67, with LA Tech taking a 35-34 lead at halftime and holding on with a four-point margin in the second half for a five-point win. UTSA shot 42 percent as a team in the meeting but were just 5 of 29 from 3-point range, a 17.2 percent clip. LA Tech shot 40.4 percent from the field and 27.6 percent from 3-point range. UTSA held a 36-26 advantage in points in the paint but LA Tech owned a 22-10 margin in points off the bench. UTSA got a 22-point outing from Jhivvan Jackson with Keaton Wallace going 8 of 16 for 20 points. Byron Frohnen had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Giovanni De Nicolao grabbing eight rebounds and four assists.
- UTSA -
