SAN ANTONIO – UTSA men's basketball will face off with Sam Houston on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Houston's Toyota Center as part of a neutral-site event hosted by the U-Sports Group and dubbed Battleground 2K21. The game will not be televised or streamed but will be broadcast live on Ticket 760 AM.
UTSA (5-4) is in the final stretch of its non-conference schedule, with just four non-league games remaining. The Roadrunners are coming off a narrow 74-71 loss at Grand Canyon on Dec. 2, a club that advanced to the NCAA Tournament last year as the Western Athletic Conference Champions.
UTSA got double-doubles from Cedrick Alley Jr. and Jacob Germany in the loss at GCU, with Alley going for a career-high 24 points and adding 11 rebounds. Germany had 18 points and 10 rebounds in his first double-double of the year.
The Roadrunners have won four of their last six games, averaging 69.3 points per game, shooting 38.3 percent as a team and holding foes to 44.9 percent. UTSA averages 40.2 rebounds, 11.7 assists, 6.2 steals and 2.8 blocks per game as a team.
UTSA has been led by junior guard Dhieu Deing, who sports 16.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Jordan Ivy-Curry sports 13.9 points and 2.7 rebounds per game, while Jacob Germany adds 13.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Cedrick Alley Jr. chips in 8.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.
The game will mark a homecoming of a bevy of Houston area student-athletes on the UTSA roster. Cedrick Alley Jr. (Klein Forest HS), Darius McNeill (Westfield HS), Josh Farmer (Sharpstown HS), Isaiah Addo-Ankrah (Second Baptist HS) and Jordan Ivy-Curry (La Marque HS) each prepped in the greater Houston area before beginning their collegiate careers.
Sam Houston (3-5) is coming off a 106-46 win over Schreiner on Dec. 2, snapping a three-game losing streak in games vs. Boston University, at SMU and at Texas. SHSU also owns wins over LeTourneau and Little Rock. SHSU has averaged 72.8 points per game and has shot 40.7 percent from the field and held foes to 42.8 percent. SHSU averages 40.8 rebounds, 15.5 assists, 8.8 steals and 2.9 blocks per game.
Savion Flagg leads the Bearkats with 18.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Demarkus Lampley adds 12.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. Tristan Ikpe averages a team-leading 7.3 rebounds per game.
Sam Houston leads the all-time series with UTSA 23-21 and UTSA owns a 3-0 mark in neutral-site meetings in the series. The Beatkats won the last meeting in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament during the 2017-18 season, 76-69. The Bearkats erased a nine-point UTSA lead at halftime by outscoring UTSA 48-32 in the final period. UTSA shot 44.1 percent and SHSU shot 37.5 percent in the win. The Roadrunners were led by 17 points from Giovanni De Nicolao and 18 points from Keaton Wallace, with Nick Allen chipping in 11 points. John Dewey III led four Bearkats in double figures with 18 points, with Chris Galbreath Jr. going for 11 points and 12 rebounds.
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