SAN ANTONIO – UTSA men's basketball has earned the West Division No. 6 seed and will face No. 7 seed Southern Miss on Tuesday on Court B at 7 p.m. at The Star in Frisco, live on ESPN+ and Ticket 760 AM. Chris Mycoskie (play-by-play) and Kyle Youmans (analyst) will call the game on ESPN+, with Andy Everett (play-by-play) and Tim Carter (analyst) voicing the action on Ticket 760 AM.
UTSA (10-21, 3-15 Conference USA) will face Southern Miss (6-25, 1-17 C-USA) in the second game of the two Tuesday games at The Star. FIU will face Marshall on Court A to open the event. The winner will advance to face East Division No. 3 seed Florida Atlantic on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN+ and Ticket 760 AM.
UTSA owns a 3-8 all-time record in the Conference USA Championships and will be appearing in the tournament for the ninth consecutive year. UTSA went 1-1 last year, earning a 10-point win over Charlotte in the opener as the No. 4 seed before falling to East Division top seeded Western Kentucky.
The Roadrunners will be in search of their fourth all-time conference tournament championship and their first since claiming the 2010-11 Southland Conference crown. UTSA won the Southland in 2004 and 1999, and the TransAmerica Athletic Conference in 1988. UTSA owns a 2-7 all-time record in the C-USA Championships, appearing in the tournament in each season since joining the circuit in 2013-14.
UTSA's best run in the C-USA Championships came with a pair of wins in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 tournaments. UTSA has never faced Charlotte in the C-USA Championships. UTSA is 26-26 all-time in conference tournaments.
The Roadrunners are coming off an 82-71 win over Rice in the regular-season finale on Saturday at The Convo. The Roadrunners got a career-best 22 points from Erik Czumbel and shot 51.7 percent in the win, with Dhieu Deing chipping in 19, Isaiah Addo-Ankrah adding 14 on four triples, and Jacob Germany going for 13 and four rebounds.
UTSA has been led in scoring by Jacob Germany, an honorable mention selection by Conference USA. Germany averages team-highs in points (14.7) and rebounds (7.2), sporting nine double-doubles and shooting 48.2 percent from the field. Dhieu Deing chips in 14.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, Darius McNeill averages 6.6 points and 2.5 rebounds per outing, while Isaiah Addo-Ankrah shots 42.1 percent from deep and averages 5.2 points per game.
The Roadrunners are averaging 67.4 points, 38.3 rebounds, 11.4 assists, 5.8 steals and 2.6 blocks per game as a team, shooting 39.4 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from deep. Opponents are shooting 45.7 percent and 36.1 percent from 3-point range.
Southern Miss (6-25, 1-17 C-USA) comes into the matchup having lost 14 straight games, including an overtime loss vs. UTSA in Hattiesburg on Feb. 17. The Golden Eagles average 64.5 points, 34 rebounds, 12.4 assists, 4.9 steals and 2.8 blocks per game as a team, shooting 43.1 percent from the field and 31.4 percent from range.
Tyler Stevenson leads the team with 14.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Isaih Moore adds 13.1 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, while Jaron Pierre Jr. averages 10.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per outing. DeAndre Pinckney sports 8.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
The all-time series between the two schools is even at 8-8 and this will be the first meeting between the teams in a neutral-site setting. This will mark the third matchup between the two teams in 2021-22, as UTSA and Southern Miss split the series with each road team earning a win. UTSA fell 74-73 in the San Antonio meeting on Jan. 6 before earning an overtime win on Feb. 17 in Hattiesburg, Miss., outscoring the Golden Eagles 22-3 in overtime, to post a 98-79 win. UTSA was led in the overtime winner by 26 points and 10 rebounds from Dhieu Deing, a career-high 21 point effort from Isaiah Addo-Ankrah, 16 from Erik Czumbel and Jacob Germany and 14 points and five assists from Darius McNeill. UTSA shot 46.7 percent in the win and held USM to 43.9 percent. This will be the last meeting between the two schools as league foes as Southern Miss will play in the Sun Belt Conference in 2022-23 and UTSA will move to The American in the future.
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