SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men's basketball team will host defending league champion North Texas in a pair of league contests, starting on Friday at 6 p.m. on ESPNU and Saturday at 3 p.m. on CUSA TV. Both games will be broadcast live on Ticket 760 AM.
UTSA (4-5, 0-2 Conference USA) will face their second test of league play with the defending league champion Mean Green. The Roadrunners are coming off a pair of losses at Rice to open league play last weekend.
North Texas (4-4, 0-0 C-USA) known for a deliberate and methodical style of play, will meet the high-octane style of the Roadrunners, who have ranked among the NCAA's top teams in pace of play the last two seasons according to KenPom. The Mean Green had their opening weekend at UAB postponed due to pandemic concerns with the Blazers, scheduling an impromptu non-conference game with Loyola-Chicago on Saturday, a 57-49 loss.
UTSA is led by senior guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace, with Jackson leading all of the NCAA's active players in career scoring (2,183) and Wallace ranking seventh (1,763). Jackson averages 22.3 points per game in his career – including 16.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game as a senior. Wallace checks in with a 16.3 points per game average in his career, owning 13.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in 2020-21.
Sophomore center Jacob Germany averages 10.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, while senior forward Luka Barisic averages 7.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Combined UTSA's two most used post players are averaging 17.6 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, over 32.4 minutes per outing.
Junior guards Cedrick Alley Jr. and Eric Parrish have had an instant impact on the UTSA lineup, with Alley making starts in the eight games he's played in and Parrish starting in each game of 2020-21. Parrish averages 8.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, while Alley chips in 6.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
Freshmen Lachlan Bofinger and Jordan Ivy-Curry have had instant impacts as well in their debut seasons. Bofinger has averaged 4.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, while Ivy-Curry averages 6.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Erik Czumbel averages 6.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.
As a team, UTSA averages 80.4 points per game, allowing 78.6 points per game. UTSA shoots 43.3 percent as a team in 2020-21, including a 29 percent clip from 3-point range, while opponents are shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 36 percent from distance. UTSA averages 42.4 rebounds, 15.4 assists and 6.3 steals per game.
North Texas leads the all-time series with UTSA, 16-11, with the series tied at 7-7 in games played in San Antonio. Last year, the Mean Green posted a 96-78 win over the Roadrunners in Denton. In the last meeting in San Antonio, UTSA won 76-74 on a buzzer beating midrange jumper from Jhivvan Jackson in 2018-19. The Mean Green have won five of the last six meetings.
In the meeting last year, UTSA fell behind UNT in Denton, 50-36 at halftime and a second-half charge couldn't overcome the deficit, as the Mean Green shot 55 percent from the field and was 8 of 16 from distance. UNT was led by 27 points from Umoja Gibson and an 11-point, 15-rebound performance from Thomas Bell. Javion Hamlet went for 22 points, six assists and three rebounds. UTSA got 37 points from Jhivvan Jackson and 24 points from Keaton Wallace. The Roadrunners shot 47.3 percent from the field and was 9 of 20 from 3-point range.
North Texas (4-4, 0-0 C-USA) has won three of its last four games entering conference play, including wins over Arkansas Pine Bluff, Houston Baptist and LSA-Alexandria, before falling at Loyola-Chicago on Saturday. UNT has also earned a win over Mississippi Valley State, with losses at Arkansas, Mississippi State and West Virginia.
The Mean Green are led by 2019-20 C-USA Player of the Year Javion Hamlet, who averages 12.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game, with 5.9 assists per outing. Senior 6-foot-4 guard James Reese averages 10.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, with senior 6-10 forward Zachary Simmons chipping in 9.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Thomas Bell averages 9.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, while Mardez McBride, a junior 6-3 guard, averages 8.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.
As a team, UNT averages 76 points per game, holding foes to 63.5 points per outing. UNT shoots 49.5 percent as a team, including 40 percent from distance, while foes are shooting 41.6 percent and 33.8 percent from range. UNT averages 34.5 rebounds, 14.8 assists, 7.1 steals and 2.6 blocks per game.
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