SAN ANTONIO – UTSA will hit the road for the first leg of a two-game road stretch on Thursday night, facing off with Louisiana Tech in its first C-USA road contest at the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, La. Thursday's game is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+ and broadcast on KRPT "The Bull" 93.3.
The Roadrunners (6-6, 0-1 C-USA) are looking for their first road victory of the season on Thursday after falling to last year's regular season champion North Texas in its first taste of league play. Louisiana Tech (7-5, 0-1 C-USA) enters Thursday's contest coming off a 56-point drubbing of Jarvis Christian.
Both teams are looking to claim their first Conference USA victory of the season. Louisiana Tech is 4-1 at the Thomas Assembly Center this season, dropping a lone contest to SFA 79-80 in OT while UTSA is 0-3 away from the Convocation Center this season.
Leading the Roadrunners
UTSA has been led on offense by newcomer guards Japhet Medor and John Buggs III through 12 games of action. Medor is averaging a team-high 12.3 points per game and leads the team in assists, having tallied 47 to date. Buggs rounds out the dynamic backcourt posting an average of 9.8 points per game. Buggs has knocked down a triple in every contest this season and is stroking the long ball at a 39.7% clip, the best on the team.
Senior stalwart Jacob Germany averages 11.7 points per game as the fourth-year Roadrunner out of Kingston, Okla. is churning out 7.8 rebounds per contest too, tied for the most by any player in C-USA. Germany, a 2021-22 Conference USA All-Conference Honorable Mention, adds 11 total blocks to the team, ranking seventh among all conference players.
Sharpshooters DJ Richards and Isaiah Addo-Ankrah are the remaining 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 12 contests this season. Richards is third on the team in rebounding and owns the team's second best three-point shooting percentage, shooting 39.4% from deep and has won two C-USA Freshman of the week awards this season.
Overall, the Roadrunners are shooting 40.6 percent as a team from the field and holding foes to 42.4 percent. UTSA averages 69 points, 36.3 rebounds, 11.9 assists, 4.1 steals and 3.1 blocks per game as a team.
Scouting the Bulldogs
Louisiana Tech is led offensively by the dynamic backcourt of Cobe Williams and UIW transfer Keaston Willis. Williams leads the team in scoring, chipping in a healthy 17.9 points per contest while Willis contributes 11.8 per game. Forward Isaiah Crawford is the third double-digit scorer on the team, scoring 12.5 points per game. Crawford not only is the second-leading scorer on the squad, but also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 5.5 boards. Crawford completes his well-rounded game by leading the team in assists as well.
Terran Williams and Dravon Mangum both shoot the long ball at a 40%+ clip for the Bulldogs, stretching the floor for its attack first starting guards.
Overall, Louisiana Tech is shooting 45.7 percent as a team from the field and holding foes to 42.6 percent. The Bulldogs average 77.6 points, 36.5 rebounds, 15.1 assists, 9.2 steals and 2.5 blocks per game as a team.
Series History
Thursday's meeting will be the 24th ever meeting between La Tech and UTSA as the Bulldogs lead the series 16-7 and have won four straight meetings. In the teams' last matchup, UTSA fell at La Tech, 95-71. Coach Henson is 4-6 all-time against La Tech while Talvin Hester will be facing the Roadrunners for the first time in his career.
Up Next
After its first road C-USA game at Louisiana Tech, UTSA completes the two-game road stint at UAB. The game against the Blazers is set for New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, and is set to tip off at 3 p.m. Saturday's game will be streamed on ESPN+ and broadcast on Ticket 760 AM.
- UTSA -
