SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men's basketball team will wrap up its two-game road trip on Tuesday night as it meets the Utah Utes of the Pac-12. Tuesday's game is scheduled to tip off at 8 p.m. CT, will be streamed on Pac-12 Mountain and will be broadcast on Ticket 760 AM.
The Roadrunners (5-4) enter Tuesday night's contest after falling to undefeated New Mexico on the road this past Saturday. Utah (8-2) comes into the game riding a four-game winning streak which is highlighted by an 81-66 thrashing of then-number-four Arizona at the Huntsman Center.
Tuesday's game will be just the third road game of the season for the Roadrunners as UTSA will look to claim its first road win of the season.
Leading the Roadrunners
UTSA has been led by a trio of double-digit scorers through nine games of action. Fourth-year big man Jacob Germany leads the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 12.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Germany, a 2021-22 Conference USA All-Conference Honorable Mention, leads the league in rebounds per game. Germany also leads the team in blocks with 11 which places him fourth amongst his C-USA peers.
JUCO newcomer guards Japhet Medor and John Buggs III complete the trio of double-digit scorers. Medor is averaging 10.6 points per game and leads the team in assists, having tallied 35 to date. Medor is fourth in C-USA in free throws made, having 36, and making 16 in the PVAMU game earlier this season. Buggs rounds out the dynamic backcourt posting an average of 10.1 points per game. Buggs is shooting a team-high 40.7% from deep and has knocked down a triple in all nine games on the year. Buggs totes the fourth-best three-point shooting percentage in the league.
Sharpshooters DJ Richards and Isaiah Addo-Ankrah round out the top minute-getters on the team and have made the second and third most threes on the team respectively. Richards, like Buggs, has made a three-pointer in all nine contests this season. Richards is third on the team in rebounding while Addo-Ankrah is second on the team in assists. Richards owns the fifth-best three-point percentage in the league and just won C-USA Freshman of the Week.
Overall, the Roadrunners are shooting 41 percent as a team from the field and holding foes to 40.3 percent. UTSA averages 68.2 points, 38.2 rebounds, 12.2 assists, 3.9 steals and 3.9 blocks per game as a team.
Scouting Utah
The Utes average a shade under 75 points per game thanks to four student-athletes who average double-digit scoring. Leading the way is senior big man Branden Carlson. The Utah native leads the team in both points (14) and rebounds (7.2) per game.
Flanking Carlson is a trio of guards who round out the double-digit scorers for the Utes. Cincinnati transfer Gabe Madsen averages 12.9 points per contest and shoots the three-ball at a 43.1 percent clip while Anthony Marco, a San Antonio native, averages 10.4 points and 6.3 rebounds a game. Marco originally began his collegiate career at Virginia before transferring to Utah State and then followed coach Craig Smith to Utah. The remaining guard, Rollie Worster, like Marco followed Smith to Salt Lake City. Worster is averaging 10.1 points per game and leads the Utes in minutes played.
Overall, the Utes are shooting 46.1 percent as a team from the field and holding foes to 34.0 percent. Utah averages 74.5 points, 43.3 rebounds, 15.4 assists, 4.4 steals and 5.7 blocks per game as a team.
Series History
UTSA and Utah will be squaring off for just the second time ever on Tuesday night. The Utes won the previous meeting in Salt Lake City in 2009 by a score of 69-47. That Utah team featured future Ole Miss star Marshall Henderson who had nine points on 3/10 shooting. The coach of the 2009 Utah team was Jim Boylen who just recently had a brief stint coaching the Chicago Bulls in the NBA.
Up Next
Following its two-game mountain trip, UTSA will return home for a pair of games at the Convocation Center before the holidays. The Roadrunners' next opponent will be Bethune-Cookman who they'll meet in a Sunday matinee that is scheduled to tipoff at 3 p.m. The game will be streamed on CUSA.tv and broadcast on Ticket 760 AM.
- UTSA -
