- UTSA takes on defending league champion ODU on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
- Jhivvan Jackson ranks second in the nation in scoring (26.4 points per game).
- Keaton Wallace ranks third in C-USA with 18.4 points per game.
- Senior Byron Frohnen has broken the UTSA rebounding, games started records.
SAN ANTONIO -- UTSA men's basketball will hit the road for a pair of matchups on the East Coast, traveling to take on Old Dominion on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT at Chartway Arena.
The game will be televised live on ESPN+ and will be 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 (10-13, 4-6 Conference USA) will face the Monarchs, the defending league champions, on Thursday before venturing to face Charlotte (12-9, 6-4 C-USA) on Saturday.
The Roadrunners are coming off a pair of home setbacks last week that saw UTSA get outrebounded 82-58 over two games. UTSA fell to UAB on Thursday, 76-68 as the Blazers owned a dominating performance in the paint. The Roadrunners then fell to Middle Tennessee on Saturday, 83-80, as the Blue Raiders owned 15-point leads in each half and after UTSA rallied to tie the game at 80 with two seconds left, Middle drew a foul while shooting a 3-pointer, sinking each free throw to post the three-point win.
UTSA has been led in 2019-20 by the nation's highest scoring duo, junior guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace. Jackson ranks second in the NCAA with 26.3 points per game, adding 6.1 rebounds per game. He ranks second in the NCAA in rebounding per game among players six-feet and under. Wallace ranks third in C-USA with 18.5 points per game, adding 4.6 rebounds. Together the pair average 44.8 points per game, a year after leading all the nation's backcourts – and ranking fourth overall – with 43.1 points per game. Jackson won the scoring crown in 2018-19 with 22.9 points per outing, with Wallace adding 20.2 points per game.
Senior Byron Frohnen, who made his 123rd consecutive start on Saturday, broke the games started record and the career rebounding mark over the last week. Frohnen averages 7.0 rebounds per game – fifth in C-USA – and 3.9 points per game.
Junior forward Luka Barisic ranks third on the team with 7.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. Junior guard Knox Hellums has added 5.6 points and 2.0 rebounds per game, while freshman center Jacob Germany owns 4.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per outing.
As a team, UTSA has averaged 78.5 points per game – among the top-20 in college basketball – with 38.5 rebounds, 13.3 assists, 13.1 turnovers, 6.0 stelas and 2.9 blocks per game. Opponents are shooting 44.5 percent from the field and 34.1 percent from range, while UTSA is shooting 43.6 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from distance.
Old Dominion (9-14, 5-5 C-USA) has been a battle-tested club through the first 10 games of league play, with each game decided by 10 points or less. The Monarchs have won two of their last three games, including a split of a pair on the road last week, besting Southern Miss by 10 on Thursday and falling at Louisiana Tech on Saturday, 76-73.
The Monarchs are built on a rugged style of play with a stingy defensive approach, scoring only 64 points per game but holding foes to just 64.2 per outing. ODU has shot 40.3 percent from the field in 2019-20 and 27.7 percent from distance but have held their foes to 40.1 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from distance. ODU owns a +5.5 rebounding margin per game, grabbing 39 boards per game, adding 9.9 assists, 12 turnovers, 7.1 steals and 3.1 blocks per game.
ODU has replaced a pair of dynamic talents from its league-championship roster in 2018-19, including monster rebounding guards B.J. Stith and Ahmad Caver. Xavier Green, a 6-foot-6 fourth-year junior, leads the team in scoring in 2019-20, averaging 12.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. A.J. Oliver II, a 6-5 sophomore, averages 12.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in 13 outings, with 6-1 junior Malik Curry averaging 11 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. Jason Wade, a 6-5 wing, adds 10.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per outing, while 6-7 senior Aaron Caver leads the team with 9.6 rebounds per game and 4.5 points.
The series with the Monarchs is tied at 4-4, with the teams splitting the meetings last year, both played in San Antonio. ODU leads the all-time series with UTSA in games played in Norfolk, 3-1.
In the last meeting, UTSA fell to ODU, 65-64 in San Antonio, which marked the second game between the two foes in 2018-19. In the first meeting of the year, UTSA made history, rallying from down 18 with just over four minutes left to secure the furious comeback win. In the final meeting last year, UTSA owned a 34-32 halftime lead but ODU outscored the Roadrunners by three to secure the win, hodling UTSA to 41.5 percent shooting from the field and a 7 of 22 mark from 3-point range. ODU outrebounded UTSA 43-29, outscoring UTSA 34-26 in the paint. B.J. Stith starred for ODU with 16 points and 12 rebounds, with Ahmad Caver adding 13 points and seven boards. UTSA was led by a 21-point game from Jhivvan Jackson, with Keaton Wallace chipping in 19.
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