San Antonio – The UTSA men’s basketball team (7-11, 1-4 AAC) is seeking to halt a three-game skid with a big-time opponent coming to the floor at the Convocation Center on Sunday, Jan. 21. Voted the preseason American Athletic Conference favorite, the 23rd-ranked Florida Atlantic Owls (14-4, 4-1 AAC) are on three-game winning streak heading into their lone matchup with the Roadrunners on the front-end of a two-game swing into the Lone Star State. The 17th meeting in the series, Sunday’s game will be streamed live on ESPN+ alongside the radio broadcast Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket.
Sunday White Out
For Sunday’s game, fans are encouraged to wear white to support the Roadrunners and there will also be multiple promotional opportunities. The first 250 fans in the Convo will get a UTSA White Out t-shirt. The UTSA student section will get white rally towels and commemorative White Out posters will be available to all fans while supplies last. The first game with classes back in session, we’ve got plenty of on-court promotion opportunities for fans to win prizes.
TMI Episcopal School will be presenting the colors in the pregame, while a pair of TMI seniors will bring a duet rendition of the National Anthem to the fans at the Convo.
Plan Ahead for Traffic Considerations
Both eastbound and westbound lanes of Loop 1604 directly north of UTSA’s campus at the I-10/1604 Interchange, from La Cantera Parkway to Vance Jackson Road, will be closed to all traffic starting at 9 p.m. Friday, January 19, until 5 a.m. on Monday.
Traffic heading west on Loop 1604 from U.S. 281 hoping to cross I-10 will have to exit at Vance Jackson Road, take the frontage road up to La Cantera Parkway near The Rim, use the turnaround, and head south toward the Loop 1604 access road. For further information from TXDOT, please visit: bit.ly/3HmUjaw.
In addition, a portion of Brenan Avenue, directly to the north of the Convocation Center, is closed in the center of campus, and will create detours for drivers coming south off of Loop 1604. During the closure, drivers are encouraged to use the outer loop of roads to navigate campus and enter campus from the side closest to your destination, whether from 1604 or UTSA Blvd. For more specific information and maps, please visit: bit.ly/3HajGfs.
Men's Basketball Tickets
Single-Game Tickets
UTSA Men’s Basketball Home Schedule
Direct Link: https://bit.ly/UTSATix
Single Game Adult Reserved: $13
Single Game Military/Youth (ages 3-18)/Senior (ages 65+): $11
Students: Free Admission with UTSA ID, download tickets at goUTSA.com/studentlogin.
On the Air and on the Web
Sunday’s matchup in San Antonio will air live on the radio from the Convocation Center with Andy Everett (play-by-play) on the call, alongside Tim Carter (analyst). The radio broadcast will appear on Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket and, as always, will feature a 30-minute pregame and 15-minute postgame show – available online at Ticket760.com or via the free iHeartRadio app.
The live stream of the game will run on ESPN+ for subscribers. Karl Schoening (play-by-play) and Devin Brown (analyst) will hold down the broadcast call.
UTSA Athletics will also provide LIVE STATS from the Convo.
Last Time Out
‣ A tale of two halves in Tulsa for the Roadrunners after going blow-for-blow with the hosting Golden Hurricane in the opening period, only to go ice cold from the field after halftime. Tulsa held up just a five-point halftime advantage but pulled away to a 107-78 win at the Reynolds Center.
‣ The Roadrunners led by as many as six early in last week’s outing, but the Golden Hurricane nudged the game’s pace with a lights-out performance from beyond the arc – hitting 10-for-16 from three in just the first half.
‣ Though UTSA dropped back by 12 points late in the first half, a 12-0 run sparked by Cuthrell’s free throws with 4:16 to go brought things even at 44-all.
‣ However, PJ Haggerty’s key three near the two-minute mark brought an end to UTSA’s leads with the seventh and final lead change, heading into the break with Tulsa up 53-48.
‣ The Golden Hurricane made six of their first seven shots in the new period, while UTSA couldn’t get the ball to drop – with Tulsa outscoring UTSA 21-4 across the first six minutes of the half.
‣ Though UTSA put in a late push, Tulsa ran away with the 107-78 conference win.
‣ Jordan Ivy-Curry added his seventh double-figure scoring performance in eight tries with 19 points against Tulsa on 5-of-8 from the field and 7-of-8 at the line, also grabbing a team-high seven rebounds. Christian Tucker tallied 12 points with eight assists, while Trey Edmonds had 10 points.
‣ On the night, UTSA went 19-for-23 from the free throw line for the second-best performance (82.6 percent) this year.
‣ Tucker remains firmly planted as the AAC’s leading assist dealer for the 11th week, coming in at No. 1 with 95 total assists (30th in NCAA) and 5.3 assists per game (36th in NCAA). Tucker also took over the conference’s free throw percentage lead at 87.6 percent, ranking fourth in the league with 78 free throws made.
‣ Ivy-Curry’s offensive impact since joining the active roster on Dec. 17 is undeniable, averaging a team-high 17.1 ppg to lead five UTSA scorers with at least a 9-point average, while producing the fourth-highest scoring average in the league.
‣ Ivy-Curry is also registering the second-most assists at 4.0 apg behind Tucker and the second-most rebounds (6.0 rpg) behind Edmonds, who leads the squad at 6.2 boards per outing.
‣ Despite offensive setbacks in each of the past two games, UTSA is a top-tier AAC scorer, ranking fourth in the league at 79.2 ppg as a team. Fueling that effort, the Roadrunners push the tempo with 12.72 fastbreak points per game and a league-leading three-point component. UTSA leads the AAC in threes per game (9.9) and long-range attempts per game (29.2), ranking 17th and 12th in the NCAA, respectively.
‣ The Roadrunners have also been strong on the boards, ranking third in the AAC with 40.00 rpg, scooping up an AAC second-best 27.11 defensive boards per game and third-best 12.89 offensive rpg.
Series with Florida Atlantic
The Owls and Roadrunners will meet for the 17th time on Sunday in a series that dates to 2014 when UTSA joined Conference USA. Florida Atlantic is leading the overall at 10-6, but UTSA has a 5-4 advantage at the Convo. UTSA has lost three straight in the series, including a pair at home – most recently a 106-66 setback in Boca Raton. The last home and overall win in the series for the Roadrunners came on an 86-75 victory, Feb. 13, 2021, following up an 84-80 victory the prior night. UTSA head coach Steve Henson is 4-7 against FAU while FAU’s Dusty May is 5-3 against the Roadrunners.
Scouting Florida Atlantic
‣ Unless you’ve completely been living under a basketball-devoid rock for the past year, you know the background and pedigree of this Florida Atlantic squad, which earned Cinderella status and national acclaim last year in reaching the Final Four, extended the coach who laid their groundwork and entered this season with 11-of-14 votes to be the preseason American Athletic Conference favorite.
‣ After last year’s 35-4 campaign, the Owls’ move to the AAC hasn’t slowed them, coming to the Convo at 14-4 with a 4-1 league record in the sixth season under Dusty May.
‣ In their last outing, the Owls overcame an 11-point halftime deficit at home against Wichita State, outscoring the Shockers by 20 with 55 second-half points to claim the 86-77 comeback triumph.
‣ The tandem of Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin were picked as the preseason AAC Co-Players of the Year and the pair haven’t disappointed, averaging a team-best 17.5 ppg and 12.8 ppg, respectively. Davis is among the top scorers (third), field goal shooters (50.2 percent, third) and free throw shooters (85.1 percent, second) in the AAC, while also collecting 6.7 rpg, 2.8 apg and a team-high 1.72 spg. Martin also registers 5.3 rpg and 1.67 spg.
‣ Building on a big 2022-23, 7-foot-1 Russian center Vladislav Goldin is scoring 14.7 ppg on an NCAA-leading 70.5-percent field goal shooting. He also tops the Owls with 7.1 rpg and 28 blocks on the year.
‣ Putting up 82.6 ppg as a team, Florida Atlantic is second in AAC scoring, putting down the second-most threes behind UTSA at 8.6 3FG per game and a league second-best 49.0-percent field goal shooting percentage. The Owls are also fifth in the AAC with 37.78 rpg and have the third-best assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.34.
Up Next
UTSA will have its first back-to-back home games since the opening week of the month, hosting Tulane next Wednesday, Jan. 24, with a 7 p.m. tipoff for Suits and Sneakers for Cancer. The weekend will see UTSA travel to South Florida for a Saturday, Jan. 27 matchup with the Bulls in Tampa.
- UTSA -