SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men's basketball team begins its 2023-24 season on Tuesday night at the Convocation Center, hosting the Trinity Tigers in the first of two exhibition matchups this season. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in the fourth meeting between these local programs. Admission is free and the game will be broadcast on Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket with a telecast streaming live on ESPN+.
On the Air and the Web
Tuesday’s game will tip off at 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center and will air live on the Radio with Andy Everett doing play-by-play alongside analyst Tim Carter. The broadcast will appear on Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket as Everett opens his 17th season covering UTSA games. The broadcast will feature a 30-minute pregame and 15-minute postgame show and will be available online at Ticket760.com or via the free iHeartRadio app.
In addition, as the Roadrunners open their first season in the American Athletic Conference, UTSA basketball will see its coverage increase with all home games broadcast live on the ESPN family of networks – including the exhibition games against Trinity and McMurry. Tuesday’s contest will air live on ESPN+ (for subscribers) with Karl Shoening (play-by-play) on the call, alongside UTSA basketball legend Devin Brown (analyst).
UTSA Athletics also will provide LIVE STATS from the Convo.
Parking Considerations this Week
Fans should be aware that there will be parking closures around the Convocation Center on Tuesday due to UTSA’s BestFest. The north area of Brackenridge Avenue Lot 1, the lot directly in front of the Convocation Center, will be unavailable for parking. Fans should plan to park in the south area of Brackenridge Avenue Lot 1 or in Brackenridge Avenue Lot 2.
New Season, New Look Roadrunners
Entering the eighth year under head coach Steve Henson, UTSA’s roster will feature a completely new look this season, as the Roadrunners bring 12 new players to the floor, complementing two returners from last season – junior guard Christian Tucker and sophomore forward Massal Diouf – and another player returning to San Antonio after a season at Pacific – junior guard Jordan Ivy-Curry. Diouf heads into the season as UTSA’s lone returning starter from a year ago, taking the floor in 27 games last year with 21 starts. Tucker saw 30 games with six stats and Ivy-Curry started 19-of-21 appearances in 2021-22 with a team second-best 13.9 points per outing.
Having lost significant production from last season’s squad, the Roadrunners will look to throw the 12 newcomers right into the action. The most prominent of the group was expected to join UTSA last season, but 7-foot center Carlton Linguard Jr. required a year in residence following his transfer from Kansas State. The Roadrunners also expect early contributions from 6-6 guard Dre Fuller Jr., who averaged 5.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per outing through 67 games at UCF. In addition, UTRGV sophomore transfer point guard Adante’ Holiman averaged 7.5 points and 3.0 assists on 44.7 percent shooting for the Vaqueros down in Edinburg, and a was a four-star prospect coming out of high school as the No. 1 player in Oklahoma. Arriving from the junior college ranks at Miles (Montana), guard/forward Blessing Adesipe scored 1,132 points in two seasons and was an honorable mention JUCO All-American with 21.6 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. UTSA has also added DI transfers Justin Thomas (Milwaukee), Trey Edmonds (Utah Tech) and Juan Reyna (Campbell), DII transfer Isaiah Wyatt (Chadron State), junior college transfers Chandler Cuthrell (Odessa College), PJ Carter (Georgia Highlands), Josh Reid (Gulf Coast College) – along with freshman guard Nazar Mahmoud out of Plano’s Spring Creek Academy.
The revamped UTSA roster hails from nine different states, with one player from the Netherlands. Featuring 10 juniors, one senior and one graduate student, there’s plenty of collegiate experience to go around. The Roadrunners have also gained some height on the roster, averaging just under 6-6 on the 2023-24 squad.
Brown in the Inaugural Hall of Fame Class
In addition to joining the ESPN+ coverage, Devin Brown is the owner of one of only two rosters that hang in the rafters at the Convocation Center after his star-studded career at UTSA (1998-2002). Brown will be inducted into the inaugural UTSA Athletics Hall of Fame this weekend during Homecoming festivities, with the induction ceremony scheduled for Friday, October 27. Fresh off his induction into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame, Brown was a three-time first-team all-conference selection and four-year starter for the Roadrunners – earning 1998 Southland Conference Freshman of the Year and second-team all-league accolades before being named to the first team for his final three seasons.
A San Antonio native and West Campus High School product, Brown helped lead UTSA to the 1999 Southland Tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The first Roadrunner to register a triple-double with a 33-point, 11-rebound, 11-assist performance against Louisiana-Monroe in 2001, he finished his career as the program’s all-time scoring leader with 1,922 points, which has since been broken. He also registered a 7.2 career rebounds-per-game average and he ranks in the top five in school history in rebounds (751), free throws (478), steals (184) and scoring average (18.3). Brown began his professional career in the USBL and National Basketball Development League before making his NBA debut as the first Roadrunner to play for the San Antonio Spurs in 2002. He was a member of the franchise’s 2005 NBA Championship team and also played for the Nuggets, Jazz, Hornets, Warriors, Bulls and Cavaliers. He scored 3,352 points in 465 career NBA games from 2002-10, highlighted by his 2006-07 season with the Pelicans in which he averaged 11.6 points and 4.3 rebounds, while shooting 42 percent from the floor.
Series with Trinity
With the series dating back to 1988-89, the Roadrunners and Tigers will meet for the fourth time on Tuesday, following up matchups in each of the past two seasons. The last time around in 2022-23 (Nov. 7), the Roadrunners came away with a 74-47 victory. Josh Farmer led UTSA with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Meanwhile, Tucker and Diouf both played six minutes apiece – Tucker going 2-for-2 with five points, and a steal, assist, rebound and block, while Diouf had two points and two rebounds. In that meeting between the Tigers and Roadrunners, UTSA shot 40.8 percent from the field, held TU to 30.5 percent shooting and outrebounded the Tigers 56-37.
Scouting Trinity
Trinity returns a lot of experience from a Tigers team that went 20-7 last season, but return just one of their top three scorers and rebounders in senior 6-foot-3 guard Tanner Brown, who knocked down 45 percent to score 11.6 with 2.4 rebounds per game. The top two from last season, SCAC Man of the Year A.J. Clark (13.6 ppg) and Jacob Harvey (12.4 ppg) are not back in 2023-24; the trio put together just under 50 percent of Trinity’s points last season. However, the Tigers to return one of their best rebounders, 6-foot-8 junior forward, Braxton Barry, who grabbed 5.7 rpg last year while also adding 5.3 points per outing. Overall, TU returns 11 players from last season, while seven new names appear on the full roster.
Jimmy Smith is heading into his fourth season at Trinity with a 53-15 record, and was able to take six of his players to represent USA Basketball at the FIBA 3x3 U21 Nations League Asia-Pacific Conference in Handan, China. He previously put in two strong years at Texas Lutheran before coming to San Antonio.
Up next
UTSA will host one additional exhibition before kicking off the season on Nov. 6 against Western Illinois. The Roadrunners will also host McMurry on Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center
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