SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men's basketball team will wrap up its two-game road trip on Saturday evening at Middle Tennessee. Saturday night's matchup is set to tip at 5 p.m., will be streamed on ESPN+ and will be broadcast on Ticket 760 AM.
The Roadrunners (7-17, 1-12) have dropped their last nine contests and will face off with the team they last defeated back on January 5. Middle Tennessee (14-9, 7-5 C-USA) has won five of its last seven contests with both of its losses coming on the Florida trip at top-25 Florida Atlantic and at FIU.
Leading the Roadrunners
UTSA is led on offense by a quartet of double-digit scorers through 24 games of action. Leading the way is JUCO transfer Japhet Medor who churns out a team-high 12.8 points per game. Medor not only leads the team in scoring but also in assists (76) 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 attempted.
Flanking Medor in the backcourt is fellow JUCO newcomer guard John Buggs III. Buggs chips in 10.5 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 36.5% clip which is the second-best best on the team to Buggs who shoots 38.6%. Richards is second on the team in rebounding, pulling in 4.9 boards a game.
Senior stalwart Jacob Germany is the final double-digit scorer and averages 12.4 points per game. The fourth-year Roadrunner out of Kingston, Okla. is pulling in 8.1 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 15 total blocks to the mix. Germany has seven double-doubles this season.
Overall, the Roadrunners are shooting 39.6 percent as a team from the field and holding foes to 44.4 percent. UTSA averages 67.5 points, 35.4 rebounds, 10.8 assists, 3.5 steals and 2.3 blocks per game as a team.
Scouting Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee boasts a balanced scoring which is led by Eli Lawrence. Lawrence averages 12.3 points per contest and has buried 110 three-pointers on the year. Most of anyone on the team.
Deandre Dishman, MTSU's second-leading scorer, averages 11.5 points per game and leads the team in rebounds, pulling down 5.5 boards per game. Dishman has 56 assists, the second most on the team behind Camryn Weston who has 57. Weston averages 9.9 points per contest. Teafale Lenard Jr. has a team-high 40 steals and 43 blocks as he is the lynchpin of the Blue Raider defense.
Overall, the Blue Raiders are shooting 46.5 percent as a team from the field and holding foes to 44.6 percent. MTSU averages 70.4 points, 33.0 rebounds, 11.3 assists, 7.9 steals and 4.9 blocks per game as a team.
Series History
Saturday night's matchup between the Roadrunners and the Blue Raiders will be the 11th meeting between the two schools all-time. UTSA snapped a seven-game losing streak to MTSU, winning its last game on a Buggs buzzer-beater and claiming its first win in the series since January 29 of 2015. UTSA is 0-5 against Middle Tennessee in games played in Murfreesboro.
Up Next
Following a two-game road trip, UTSA will return to the Convocation Center next Saturday, Feb. 11, for a meeting with the UTEP Miners. The midweek break will be UTSA's first off-day of the C-USA season as it will be the only C-USA team not competing during the week. Saturday's game against UTEP is scheduled to tip at 3 p.m., will be streamed on CUSA.tv and broadcast on Ticket 760 AM.
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