SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men's basketball team will start a three-game road swing – including five of the next six games on the road – traveling to face Houston on Thursday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on CUSA TV and Ticket 760 AM, with the Voice of the Roadrunners, Andy Everett, calling the action.
UTSA (8-14, 1-8 Conference USA) is coming off a split last weekend against the Florida schools in the circuit, posting a 73-66 win over FIU on Thursday before falling in the final few minutes of a comeback bid vs. Florida Atlantic, 73-64. UTSA was buoyed by the return of several players who had missed significant time, including its top two scorers, Dheiu Deing and Jordan Ivy-Curry, in addition to Christian Tucker and Josh Farmer. Ivy-Curry averaged 18 and Deing 13.5 over the two games in their return to the court.
The Roadrunners are averaging 66.9 points, 40.9 rebounds, 10.8 assists, 5.6 steals and 2.9 blocks per game as a team, shooting 38 percent from the field and 27.6 percent from deep. Opponents are scoring 70.9 points per game, shooting 44.1 percent and 35.5 percent from 3-point range.
Sophomore guard Jordan Ivy-Curry leads the team with 15.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game, shooting 37.5 percent from 3-point range. Dhieu Deing averages 15.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while junior center Jacob Germany – riding a streak of two straight double-doubles – chips in 14 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Senior guard Darius McNeill averages 6.5 points and 2.4 rebounds per game, and 9.0 points per game in league play.
Rice (12-8, 5-4 C-USA) posted a split in its two games last weekend on the road, falling at Louisiana Tech on Thursday before bouncing back with a 14-point win at Southern Miss on Saturday. The Owns opened the league schedule with a 4-2 record to rank among the West Division leaders and after a two-game losing streak to the Bulldogs and Charlotte, pushed the Owls to 5-4 in league play.
The Owls – under the direction of fifth-year coach Scott Pera – average 75.8 points, 36.9 rebounds, 15.8 assists, 4.9 steals and 2.0 blocks per game as a team in 2021-22, shooting 45.8 percent from the field and 37.6 percent from 3-point range. Opponents are scoring 73.4 points per game, shooting 43.6 percent from the field and 31.4 percent from distance.
UMass transfer guard Carl Pierre leads the Owls with 15.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, while dynamic guards Travis Evee (14.5 points, 3.3 rebounds per game) – a 6-foot-1 VMI transfer – and sophomore guard Quincy Olivari (9.8 points, 5.4 rebounds per game) have lead the team in scoring. Six-foot-3 guard Chris Mullins owns 9.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per game while Max Fielder chips in 8.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.
The Roadrunners lead the series with the Owls, 10-7 but trail in games played in Houston, 6-4. UTSA fell in both meetings in Houston last year, 95-86 in the opener and 84-69 in the finale. It snapped a streak of four straight UTSA wins in the series. In the final meeting in 2020-21, Rice bombed in 14 3-pointers, making their first four triples and their first five shots to build an early lead, shooting 62.1 percent in the first half. UTSA got a team-leading 15 points from Keaton Wallace and 11 points and six rebounds from Jacob Germany. Jordan Ivy-Curry had 15 points – a then career high – while Lachlan Bofinger had eight points and six rebounds. Travis Eveee had 36 points the day before in a career night for the Owls and had 10 in the finale, while Chris Mullins had 20 points. Max Field;er had 18 points and four rebounds.
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