BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Roadrunners fell on the road to Florida Atlantic on Thursday night, losing 106-66 in a game against the number one team in Conference USA.
UTSA (8-21, 2-16 C-USA) hung with the conference's top dog for the first eight minutes of action before the Owls' offense took over. Florida Atlantic (25-3, 15-2 C-USA) can now clinch a share of the C-USA regular season title on Saturday with a win over UTEP as North Texas lost at Charlotte tonight. Tonight's contest was UTSA's worst loss since falling by 52 to Oklahoma on the road in 2021.
Ten different Roadrunners scored on the evening and freshman DJ Richards led the way as the first-year sniper tallied 19 points, one off his career-best. This was the fourth time this season Richards led UTSA in scoring. John Buggs III was the lone other Roadrunner in double figures as the Homer, La. native went four-of-nine from the field with a pair of triples and pulled down five rebounds. In his homecoming, Japhet Medor had nine points and four rebounds while Christian Tucker also had nine points to go along with three rebounds. Jacob Germany finished the night with six points and a team-high eight rebounds.
The Rundown
The first eight minutes of game action was basketball at its purest. Each team was flying up and down the court and converting open looks. FAU's game-opening basket was countered by a Buggs three-pointer as UTSA took a one point lead. One defensive stop later and Richards canned a triple to give the Roadrunners their largest lead of the evening at four, 6-2. The two teams would continue to trade baskets back and forth as the two teams entered the under-12 media timeout with the Owls holding a slight 22-20 lead. However, from there, it was all FAU, as the former top-25 team showed why they belonged ranked among the country's best as it put on an offensive clinic. Following the under-12, FAU went on a 14-2 run and eventually ended the half with a 13-point lead going into halftime.
Florida Atlantic's offense picked up where it left off in the second half, making seemingly every look it had. On the night, the Owls shot 51% and were able to extend their lead to as large as 42 before going on to win by 40. Seven different Owls scored in double figures on the evening as they were the first team to hang 100 points on the Roadrunners since the Oklahoma Sooners did so last year.
Up Next
Following the contest against Florida Atlantic, UTSA will turn its attention to FIU. The Panthers, like the Owls, will be making the trip from Florida to play the Roadrunners in the Convo this weekend on Saturday, January 21. Saturday's game is scheduled to tip off at 3 p.m., will be streamed on ESPN+ and will be broadcast on Ticket 760 AM.
- UTSA -
