SAN ANTONIO – UTSA men's basketball will return to action on Saturday, traveling to face league front-runner UAB at 2 p.m. at Bartow Arena. The game will be broadcast live on CUSA TV and Ticket 760 AM.
UTSA (6-6) will now open its conference schedule at UAB (10-3) after the first of the two-game road swing, at Middle Tennessee on Thursday, was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns in the Blue Raiders program. The Roadrunners will face off with the Blazers, a team picked to win the conference in the preseason and ranked No. 5 in the Mid-Major Top-25 poll this week.
The Roadrunners have had two of their last three games postponed, also missing a Dec. 22 outing vs. Our Lady of the Lake, meant to conclude the non-conference schedule. UTSA last competed at Illinois State on Dec. 21, falling 81-64 in Normal, Ill.
UTSA has averaged 68 points, 39.7 rebounds, 11.2 assists, 6.5 steals and 2.8 blocks per game as a team in 2021-22. The Roadrunners are shooting 37.7 percent from the field and 26.8 percent from range, holding foes to 45.2 percent from the field and 33.6 percent from distance.
Junior guard Dhieu Deing leads the team with 16.4 points per game, ranking in the top five in the circuit. He adds 5.9 rebounds per game, with double figures in 11 of 12 games in his UTSA debut season. Sophomore guard Jordan Ivy-Curry adds 14.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per game, while junior center Jacob Germany chips in 14 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Senior Cedrick Alley Jr. averages 10 points and a team-leading 7.6 rebounds per game.
UAB (10-3) is coming off a 100-58 win over Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 22, improving to 8-0 at Bartow Arena in 2021-22. The Blazers are averaging 82.2 points, 39.5 rebounds, 14.4 assists, 12.4 steals and 4.7 blocks per game as a team. UAB is shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 36 percent from range as a team with foes shooting 38.2 percent and 33.33 percent from 3-point range.
The Blazers are lead in scoring by Jordan Walker, who averages 15.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. Quan Jackson averages 10.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Michael Ertel averages 9.8 points with KJ Buffen sporting 9.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Trey Jemison leads the team with 8.2 rebounds per game, sporting 7.7 points per outing.
UAB leads the all-time series, 7-5, including a 3-1 margin in games played in Birmingham. UTSA will be looking for its first win in Birmingham since 2018. The teams split the two-game series in San Antonio last year, with UAB posting a 64-57 win in the opener before UTSA bounced back with a 97-79 win in the finale, which served as senior day for the top two scorers in program history, Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace. In the last meeting, UTSA got 32 points from Jackson and 22 points from Wallace, with Jordan Ivy-Curry chipping in 13 points and Eric Parrish adding 10 points. UTSA shot 57.6 percent from the field and were 13 of 22 from deep. UAB was held to 43.1 percent and was 8 of 20 from distance. Jalen Benjamin had a team-leading 21 points for UAB, which saw UTSA outscore the Blazers 42-33 in the first half and 54-46 in the final stanza.
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