UTSA hosts streaking South Florida on Wednesday at the ConvoUTSA hosts streaking South Florida on Wednesday at the Convo
Men's Basketball

UTSA hosts streaking South Florida on Wednesday at the Convo

by Michael Stambaugh

SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men’s basketball team (8-18, 2-11 AAC) will host the AAC-leading South Florida Bulls (19-5, 12-1 AAC) on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at the Convocation Center in the program’s Black History Month Game. The Roadrunners and Bulls tip off at 7 p.m. with the game streamed live on ESPN+, alongside the radio broadcast on Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket.

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
Set for a 7 p.m. tipoff, Wednesday’s rematch between the Roadrunners and Bulls will appear on ESPN+ for subscribers, with Karl Schoening (play-by-play) and Devin Brown (analyst) handling the TV broadcast call.

Andy Everett (play-by-play) and Tim Carter (analyst) will broadcast the game live 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.  

UTSA Athletics will also provide LIVE STATS.

Last Time Out
It was a tale of two halves in Philadelphia as the Roadrunners fell behind Temple in the second half, allowing the Owls to escape with an 83-77 slump-snapping win over the visiting Roadrunners.
Junior guard Jordan Ivy-Curry was instrumental in helping the Roadrunners to an early lead, combining with PJ Carter, Carlton Linguard Jr., and Isaiah Wyatt  to outscore Temple 14-3 across the final four minutes of the opening period – pushing UTSA to a 41-34 halftime lead.
Though the Roadrunners shot 47.1 percent in the first half to the Owls to 37.5 percent, the teams switched positions in the second half, as Temple chipped away at UTSA’s advantage, overcoming it to an eight-point lead of their own in the second half. 
Carter’s triple with 2:11 to go sliced that lead to just three, but Temple fended off UTSA’s final rally and held on to win 83-77 – snapping a 10-game losing streak while extending UTSA’s slump to six games.
Ivy-Curry scored 22 to lead all scorers on 8-for-18 shooting, also snagging five rebounds with three assists. Chandler Cuthrell had nine points and a team-high nine rebounds. 
Scoring more than 20 points for the seventh time in 16 appearances, Ivy-Curry paces all UTSA scorers at 17.0 ppg, registering 12 double-figure performances. He’s No. 2 on the Roadrunners’ assist chart this season at 3.38 apg and averages 5.3 rpg. Registering the league’s top single-game score with 38 against ranked Florida Atlantic, the junior is fifth in conference scoring with 18.23 ppg against AAC opponents.
Christian Tucker ranks third in the conference (47th NCAA) with 5.1 assists per game. Now on his 15th consecutive week on top, Tucker has 133 assists to lead the AAC (41st NCAA) – he’s currently in sole possession of the No. 7 spot on the UTSA single-season assists list – surpassing Lloyd Williams (1998-99) and sitting one assist behind No. 6 Devin Gibson (2009-10). 
Leading by 2.6 percentage points, Tucker also enters his sixth week topping the AAC in free throw percentage at 89.6 percent (103-115).
When shots are dropping, they are raining – UTSA is fourth in the high-power AAC with a 78.8 ppg team average, helped along by a league-leading 9.6 threes per game (18th NCAA) on 28.9 perimeter attempts per game (11th NCAA). 
Adding in a week of back-to-back games over 40 boards, UTSA regains its firm hold as The American’s top rebounding unit with a 40.04 rpg average, ranking 22nd in the NCAA.
Despite the current record, UTSA has seen numerous tight contests – with 10 setbacks by single digits, including seven single-digit losses in league play and five outings decided by six points or less.

Series with South Florida
The Roadrunners and the Bulls met for the first time last month, a 72-89 setback in Tampa on Jan. 27. The Roadrunners struggled early from beyond the arc, while the Bulls logged a 54.5 percent shooting effort from the perimeter, shooting 18-for-33 long distance with more than half their total shooting coming from three. South Florida spread the scoring around with five players in double-figures, led by Chris Youngblood and Kobe Knox who each went 4-for-6 from deep to score 15 and 18, respectively. In that game, Ivy-Curry led all scorers with 23 points, making five triples of his own.

Scouting South Florida
Picked at ninth in The American in the preseason poll, South Florida has seen a transformative first season under Amir Abdur-Rahim, who completely turned around Kennesaw State in four years.
After last year’s 14-18 record, the Bulls come to San Antonio at 19-5 (12-1 in conference play), riding an 11-game win streak with their lone AAC loss to UAB on Jan. 7 in Birmingham.
The Bulls’ last outing was a 90-86 besting of then-24th-ranked Florida Atlantic in front of over 10,000 fans at the Yuengling Center, maintaining sole control of the top spot in the conference.
Former Kennesaw State guard Chris Youngblood has taken over in AAC play after following his coach to USF. He leads the team with a 15.0 ppg average and the first of USF’s top three-point shooters – putting up 54.
The other half of the three-point tandem, former Kansas State guard Selton Miguel has 53 triples and averages 14.8 ppg, in addition to a team-high 55 assists.
Forward Kasean Pryor has eight double-doubles this year, ranking third on the team with an 11.7 ppg average, while leading the Bulls with 7.2 rpg and tying for the team-high 18 blocks.
Averaging 77.5 ppg as a team, the Bulls hold opponents to 68.8 ppg and shoot 43.9 percent from the floor, 36.9 percent from three. USF has seen an even match on the boards with both the Bulls and their opponents grabbing 36.0 rpg. 

A little history between the guys
USF’s Miguel and UTSA’s Linguard played together for two seasons at Kansas State.
 UTSA’s Carter and USF’s Kasen Jennings played together during Jennings’ senior year at Langston Hughes High School in Fairburn, Ga. Carter was named the 2019-20 GHSA Region 5-6A Player of the Year that season, while Jennings was named All-Region Second Team.

Up Next
UTSA will close out the week in Denton for a Saturday, Feb. 24 matchup at North Texas. New week presents the rematch with Tulsa on Greek Night at The Convo, Feb. 28., followed by a road swing to meet SMU on March 2.

  

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