SAN ANTONIO – UTSA will look to snap a mid-season skid on Thursday evening as it begins the second half of Conference USA play against North Texas. Thursday night's contest is scheduled to tip off at 8 p.m., will be televised on ESPNU and will be broadcast on Ticket 760 AM.
The Roadrunners (7-14, 1-9) have dropped their last six contests, all to Conference USA opponents. North Texas (16-5, 7-3 C-USA), who met the Roadrunners in each team's C-USA opener, fell just to just two teams in its front half of the Conference USA schedule, losing to Rice and getting swept by the top 25 Florida Atlantic Owls.
UTSA enters the back half of the Conference USA season with its roster mostly healthy after losing various starters throughout the front half. Junior wing Isaiah Addo-Ankrah has returned after missing the first nine games of C-USA action due to a hand injury while Jacob Germany continued to progress back from his concussion, appearing off the bench the last two games after missing a pair of contests.
Leading the Roadrunners
UTSA is led on offense by a quartet of double-digit scorers through 21 games of action. Leading the way is JUCO transfer Japhet Medor who churns out a team-high 13.7 points per game. Medor not only leads the team in scoring but also in assists (72) and steals (26) while pulling down 3.5 boards per contest – the third most by any Roadrunner. Medor has three 20+ point outings this season and scored a career-high 30 points against Rice on 1/16. Medor leads C-USA in free throws made and free throws attempted.
Flanking Medor in the backcourt is fellow JUCO newcomer guard John Buggs III. Buggs chips in 10.6 points per game and he has two 20+ point outings this year. Buggs hit a buzzer-beating three against Middle Tennessee on Jan. 5 to give the Roadrunners its lone C-USA victory. Freshman DJ Richards also averages double-digit points as the rookie has upped his average to 11.0 points per game. Richards, a two-time C-USA Freshman of the Week (D12, D19), is shooting the three ball at a 39.4% clip which is the best on the team. Richards is second on the team in rebounding, pulling in 4.7 boards a game.
Senior stalwart Jacob Germany is the final double-digit scorer and averages 11.9 points per game. The fourth-year Roadrunner out of Kingston, Okla. is pulling in 8.0 rebounds per contest too, the third-most by any player in C-USA. Germany, a 2021-22 Conference USA All-Conference Honorable Mention, adds a team-high 13 total blocks to the mix.
Overall, the Roadrunners are shooting 40.1 percent as a team from the field and holding foes to 44.3 percent. UTSA averages 68.1 points, 35.2 rebounds, 10.8 assists, 3.8 steals and 2.4 blocks per game as a team.
Scouting North Texas
North Texas is led offensively by a trio of double-digit scorers with former first-team all-conference selection Tylor Perry leading the way with 17.3 a game. Perry is shooting a stellar 45.9% from deep, the best in all of C-USA, and adds 3.3 boards and 2.3 assists per contest. Other double-figure scorers include Kai Huntsberry (11.6) and Abou Ousmane (11.1).
Ousmane leads the team in rebounding, pulling down an average of 6.2 boards a contest and also leads the team in blocks with 28. In the two team's last meeting, Ousmane put the Mean Green on his back, churning out a career-high 37 points to go along with 11 boards. Also standing out on the Mean Green defense is Perry who has a team-high 24 steals on the year.
Overall, the Mean Green are shooting 41.0 percent as a team from the field and holding foes to 39.8 percent. UNT averages 62.2 points, 34.3 rebounds, 11.0 assists, 6.6 steals and 2.9 blocks per game as a team.
Series History
Saturday's game between UTSA and North Texas will be the 33rd all-time meeting between the two schools. The Mean Green hold the all-time advantage, having won 20 of the previous 32 matchups. UTSA is 4-9 against UNT in contests played in Denton. Head coach Steve Henson is 2-8 against North Texas during his tenure at UTSA.
Up Next
After a one-off trip to Denton, UTSA will return home to face Louisiana Tech in the two teams' second meeting this season this Saturday, January 28. In the teams' previous matchup in Ruston, La Tech topped UTSA 91-69. Saturday's contest is set to tip off at 3 p.m., will be streamed on ESPN+ and will be broadcast on Ticket 760 AM.`
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