SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men's basketball team will look to continue a historic start to the year, hosting UTRGV on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center. The game will be streamed live on CUSA TV and Ticket 760 AM.
The Roadrunners have won five of their last seven games and are coming off a 78-73 win over Sam Houston in Houston's Toyota Center on Saturday. UTSA got double-figure scoring efforts from four players in the win and held the Bearkats to 40.3 percent from the field.
UTSA's 6-4 start to the 2021-22 season is its best in 12 seasons, dating back to a 6-4 record to open the 2008-09 campaign. UTSA has won six of its first 10 games to open a season only nine times in its 41 year history. With a win over UTRGV, UTSA would equal the 2008-09 start to the season at 7-4. The best start to a season came in 1988-89, a 9-1 start and a 10-1 opening through 11 games.
The Roadrunners have been led in scoring by junior Dhieu Deing, who averages 17.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Jordan Ivy-Curry chips in 14.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per game, with junior center Jacob Germany owning 13.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per outing. Senior forward Cedrick Alley Jr. averages 9.6 points and a team-leading 7.8 rebounds per game.
As a team, UTSA is averaging 70.2 points, 39.8 rebounds, 11.6 assists, 6.6 steals and 2.9 blocks per game. The Roadrunners are shooting 39.1 percent as a team, holding foes to 44.4 percent from the field and 32.5 percent from 3-point range.
UTRGV (4-7) has lost five straight games entering the tilt with the Roadrunners, including losses at Illinois, at Texas, on Tuesday vs. Texas Southern, and a home-and-home with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. In Tuesday's loss to TSU, UTRGV fell behind 32-21 at halftime and couldn't overcome the hole, getting a 16 point, six-rebounds performance from Ray Quan Taylor. Ricky Nelson played the full 40 minutes and dished out nine assists. Justin Johnson had seven points and eight rebounds.
Johnson leads the team with 18.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Ricky Nelson chips in 11.5 points and 4.9 assists per game, while Marek Nelson averages 10.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. LaQuan Butler sports 9.9 points and 1.4 rebounds per game, with Taylor averaging a team-high 6.9 rebounds and adding 7.5 points per game.
The Vaqueros average 72.6 points, 34 rebounds, 11.9 assists, 4.7 steals and 2.8 blocks per game as a team, shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 33.0 percent from range. Opponents are shooting 45.6 percent as a team and 30.1 percent from distance.
UTSA leads the all-time series with UTRGV, 13-11, including a 6-5 mark in games played in San Antonio. UTSA has won five of the last eight meetings in the series. Last year, UTSA fell, 81-64 at UTRGV in its second game of the year, played in Edinburg, Texas. Jordan Ivy-Curry led UTSA with 12 points, with Jhivvan Jackson adding 10 points and Keaton Wallace going for six points, six rebounds and four assists. UTSA shot 41.7 percent in the loss, going 4 of 20 from deep. Sean Rhea scored 20 points for the Vaqueros, one of four players in double figures. UTRGV shot 42.6 percent and was 10 of 23 from distance.
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