SAN ANTONIO – Coming off a tough road loss in the Twin Cities, the UTSA men’s basketball team (1-1) has a quick turnaround for the drive east on I-10 to face the Lamar Cardinals (1-1), Tuesday night at Neches Arena in Beaumont. The Roadrunners and Cardinals extend one of the longer program series to its 37th edition, with a 7 p.m. tipoff slated to air on Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket with live streaming on ESPN+
On the Air and the Web
Tuesday’s game will tip at 7 p.m. at Beaumont’s Neches Arena and will air live on the Radio with Andy Everett doing play-by-play live. The broadcast will appear on Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket 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.
To watch the game live, ESPN+ subscribers can catch the Roadrunners on the streaming platform.
Lamar Athletics will also provide LIVE STATS from Neches Arena.
Last Time Out
‣ The Roadrunners fell to 1-8 all-time against Big Ten teams with a 76-102 setback on Friday at Minnesota.
‣ UTSA had to rally against an early deficit in Minneapolis, fueled by a Gophers team shooting lights-out overlapping a Roadrunners scoring drought – leading to a 54-30 halftime deficit.
‣ The Roadrunners battled back in the second half, scoring 46 points in the period, but it was too late for UTSA – though the Roadrunners remained fighting full bore until the final buzzer at Williams Arena in Friday’s 76-102 loss.
‣ The Roadrunners bounced back from 30.6-percent halftime shooting to fire off at a 51.6-percent clip in the second frame.
‣ With 16 points, guard/forward Dre Fuller Jr. reached a new career scoring high, surpassing his 2022 UCF-days total against Memphis. Fuller also finished with a team-high nine rebounds, two assists and a block.
‣ Guard PJ Carter shot 50 percent on the night (6-of-12) to finish with several new personal highs, scoring 15 points with 3-for-4 free-throw shooting and making a pair of assists.
‣ Point guard Adante' Holiman went 4-for-6 from long range for 14 points, also making three assists.
‣ Rounding out four double-digit scorers against the Gophers, Trey Edmonds finished with 12 points.
‣ UTSA opened the week with a 78-68 overtime victory against Western Illinois to collect eighth-year head coach Steve Henson’s 100th career win and the fourth consecutive season-opening win.
Series with Lamar
Tuesday’s contest will mark the 37th meeting between these programs. The series dates to UTSA’s inaugural men’s basketball season in 1981-82. Since that Jan. 20, 1982 loss, the series has been roughly even with a 19-17 advantage in Lamar’s favor. Playing twice a season as members of the Southland Conference, the series has slowed since 2012 with only four outings since UTSA left the SLC. With Henson leading the Roadrunners, UTSA has won each of the last three outings, all three in San Antonio. The last meeting was Nov. 24, 2021, ending in a 79-73 UTSA win at the Convocation Center.
Call it a throwback to the SLC days, but the Roadrunners and Cardinals will also meet at the end of the month in San Antonio, with Lamar also lined up an 8 p.m., Nov. 30 meeting at the Convocation Center.
Scouting Lamar
‣ Alvin Brooks has Lamar at 1-1 in his third season leading the Cardinals.
‣ Lamar knocked around NAIA opponent Jarvis Christian, 114-66, to start the year with a win. LU followed with a competitive 11-point loss in Dallas at SMU on Thursday.
‣ Lamar went 9-22 last season, fielding a 5-13 record in Southland play.
‣ Sophomore guard Cody Pennebaker is averaging 10.5 points and 5.0 rebounds after topping the Cardinals at SMU with a 13-point, 7-rebound performance.
‣ Senior guard Chris Pryor also went for 10 points against the Mustangs to grow his average to 8.0 ppg.
‣ Tulsa transfer B.B. Knight tops the current stats with a 13.5 ppg average, just ahead of junior guard Jakevion Buckley at 12.0 ppg.
‣ Coming back from an injury last year, sophomore forward Janko Bulajic is pacing Lamar’s efforts on the glass at 6.5 rpg, while also doling out seven assists.
Up Next
A little closer to home, but UTSA remains on the road to end the week with the Battle of I-35 against Texas State in San Marcos. The Bobcats bounced back from a season-opening loss to Little Rock with a 75-65 MAC-SBC Challenge victory over Miami (OH). TXST travels to Oklahoma on Tuesday before taking on their home opener with the Roadrunners on Nov. 17 at 7:15 p.m.
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