SAN ANTONIO – The Roadrunners are surfing a three-game winning streak after closing out SMU in Dallas and return to the Convocation Center one last time in the 2023-24 season for Senior Day on Sunday, March 10. The UTSA men’s basketball team (11-19, 5-12 AAC) host Temple (11-19, 4-13 AAC) in a rematch from last month after honoring the efforts of Dre Fuller Jr., Carlton Linguard Jr. and Isaiah Wyatt. Sunday’s tipoff is set for 2 p.m. and will be carried live on ESPN+ alongside the radio broadcast on Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket.
Men's Basketball Tickets
Single-Game Tickets
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 at the Convocation Center will air live on the radio with Andy Everett (play-by-play) and 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. Lincoln Rose (play-by-play) and Devin Brown (analyst) will be on the call.
UTSA Athletics will also provide LIVE STATS from The Convo.
Senior Day
The Roadrunners will recognize three seniors in the celebration, approximately 15 minutes prior to the starting lineups. Join us in celebrating and sending off our outgoing group with an outstanding crowd experience for their final regular season game.
Dre Fuller Jr.
Hailing originally from Fayetteville, North Carolina, Fuller has made a big impact in the UTSA lineup in a short time, joining the Roadrunners this season after previously playing three years at UCF. Fuller has played in all 30 games this season with 21 starts, averaging 9.5 points while putting up a team-high 47 threes. Along with 4.6 rebounds per game, Dre has also tallied 35 assists, 18 steals and 13 blocks this season with the Roadrunners. Across Fuller’s career, he’s totaled 664 points, 363 rebounds and 135 assists. He is completing Graduate Certificates in Teaching English as a Second Language and Project Management.
Carlton Linguard Jr.
One of San Antonio’s very own, Linguard is an All-District Stevens High product who returned home to the Alamo City after two seasons at Kansas State, making a big statement at forward this season for the Roadrunners. Linguard has played all 30 games with 21 starts, putting up 9.2 points on 42-percent shooting and a team-high 5.6 rebounds per game, while racking up five double-doubles this year and ranking fifth in the American Athletic Conference in offensive rebounds. His team-high 45 blocks also ranks fifth in the AAC and 79th in the NCAA. Linguard received NABC Honors Court recognition last year and will graduate this spring with his degree in Multidisciplinary Studies, focused on Business, Kinesiology and Sociology.
Isaiah Wyatt
Born in Toledo, Ohio and playing his high school ball as an All-Region player at Fort Worth's North Crowley, Wyatt joined the Roadrunners as a guard this season from Chadron State in Nebraska and had an immediate impact on UTSA’s perimeter game. Playing in all 30 games with 19 starts this season Wyatt has collected a team second-most 46 threes and averages 7.0 points and 3.4 rebounds. He’s also totaled 35 assists, 16 steals and four blocks this season. Between the two schools, he’s registered 653 career points, including 128 three-pointers, along with 256 total rebounds.
Last Time Out
‣ Capturing their third straight win, the Roadrunners pulled the upset at Moody Coliseum, knocking down the American Athletic Conference’s fourth-rated team with former President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush looking on as UTSA rallied in the second half to defeat SMU on the road, 77-73.
‣ Pushing back from a 13-point first-half deficit that was set up by seven turnovers in the first 11 minutes, UTSA settled in after falling behind 21-8, forcing seven consecutive empty Mustang possessions, while Fuller, PJ Carter and Jordan Ivy-Curry led the Roadrunners on a 14-0 run to edge UTSA in front 22-21 on a Fuller three with 6:24 on the clock.
‣ Five lead changes and four ties consumed the final six minutes of the half, as SMU edged out a 36-34 halftime advantage on a Zhuric Phelps layup at the one-minute mark.
‣ A furious offensive pace for both teams covered the opening seven minutes of the half and continued until Fuller’s go-ahead triple with 6:17 to go. Carter hit back-to-back threes, the second in the corner off a Christian Tucker pass that gave UTSA a key four-point lead.
‣ Delivering a clutch blow, Ivy-Curry iced the game with a trey from the right arc with 15 seconds left, setting up UTSA for the 77-73 road upset.
‣ Combining for 56 UTSA points, Ivy-Curry (33) and Carter (23) piloted the offense for the win, hitting 12-for-22 and 8-for-15, respectively – contributing 10 combined threes in the effort.
‣ It was the 10th 20-point performance for Ivy-Curry in 20 tries – his third in a row and fourth in the last five games. Ivy-Curry leads UTSA with a 17.7 ppg and has recorded 15 games with double-figure scoring – aiding the Roadrunners at No. 2 in assists (3.10 apg) and No. 3 in rebounds (5.3 rpg). The junior guard is fifth in conference scoring and threes with 18.76 ppg and 2.47 3FG per game against AAC opponents.
‣ Tucker has racked up 23 assists in the past two games, tying the UTSA and AAC single-game assists record the last time at home. His phenomenal week places him firmly back in his rightful spot atop the conference with a league-leading 164 assists (32nd NCAA) and 5.5 apg (32nd NCAA) – Tucker paced the AAC for 15th consecutive weeks in both stats.
‣ A junior guard, Tucker is firmly at No. 3 among the single-season UTSA assists efforts, surpassing Lloyd Williams (159 - 1999-2000) at SMU. He’s now 19 behind Devin Gibson (159 – 2010-11) at No. 2. Tucker’s phenomenal output last week also places him back within striking distance of UTSA’s single season record, held by Ronnie Ellison with 186 dimes in 1991-92.
‣ Tucker's AAC leadership continues at the line for his eighth week topping the league in free throw percentage, now at 87.3 percent (117-134), coming in at 48th nationally.
‣ Just one board shy of that mark at SMU, UTSA collected at least 40 rebounds in four of the last six games, slipping just behind SMU (40.27 rpg) in The American rankings with a 40.10 rpg average, ranking 17th in the NCAA.
‣ Three consecutive wins has UTSA getting hot at just the right time as the payoff for patience throughout a more-than-meets the eye season that included 11 setbacks by single digits, eight single-digit losses in league play and six outings decided by six points or less.
‣ The Roadrunners rank fourth among AAC scoring offenses at 78.0 ppg, knocking down a league-high 9.9 threes per outing, which ranks16th in the NCAA. Powered by Ivy-Curry’s efforts, UTSA ranks seventh in the nation with an AAC-high 32.5 bench points per game.
Big Weekend for the AAC Standings
With Wichita State’s defeat at Tulane on Friday night, UTSA and Rice are tied at 10th in the American Athletic Conference with 5-12 league records. Four teams have five wins and Tulsa sits at 6-11 with a Saturday matchup at home with league-leading No. 24 South Florida. The 10th-ranked team in the final standings gets a first-round bye in next week’s AAC Championships in Fort Worth. Rice hosts North Texas on Saturday night. Simply put, a Rice loss and a UTSA win secures at least the No. 10 spot for the Roadrunners. A UTSA win, a Rice loss and a Tulsa loss sends the No. 9 and No. 10 spots to tiebreaking procedures.
Series with Temple
Still fresh in the players’ memories, last month’s meeting in Philadelphia was the first series face-off between these teams. The Owls made up a seven-point halftime deficit and tied the game at 44-all in the second half. Temple then hit a string of nine consecutive shots to take an eight-point lead. Though Carter hit a three with 2:11 remaining for a three-point game, the Owls survived UTSA’s surge and claimed an 83-77 win at the Liacouras Center. Ivy-Curry scored 22 the first time against the Owls.
Scouting Temple
‣ After snapping a 10-game losing skid against the Roadrunners, Temple extended their fortunes to three consecutive wins, adding road victories at Wichita State and Rice. The Owls have since dropped back-to-back games at home to Tulsa and UAB.
‣ Picked at 12th in the preseason AAC Coaches Poll, a challenging first season under former Penn State associate head coach Adam Fisher have left the Owls last in the AAC standings at 4-13. This season, Temple has experienced five conference losses by just a single possession.
‣ Putting up 20 in the first meeting, junior guard Hysier Miller continues to lead the Owls’ scoring effort at a steady 15.4 ppg average, serving as the team’s best three-point threat (61), assist leader (116/3.87 apg) and steals leader (48). A volume shooter who leads the AAC in field goal attempts on 34.3-percent shooting, he’s reached double-figures in the last 10-of-11 games.
‣ Junior guard Jordan Riley adds 12.1 ppg while also hitting the glass at a 5.8 rpg clip.
‣ Shooting a team-best 47 percent, junior guard Jahlil White scores 11.2 ppg and hits the glass with 5.9 rpg to pace the Owls.
‣ Temple is 11th in the conference in scoring at 70.9 ppg, while allowing an AAC eighth-ranked 73.6 ppg. With multiple guards on the glass as much as the post players, Temple grabs 36.6 rpg. The Owls are the AAC’s second-best squad at protecting the ball, limiting to an NCAA 50th-ranked 10.3 per game, while forcing 12.13 turnovers per outing.
Up Next
After all the seedings shake out, the Roadrunners will head up I-35 to Fort Worth’s Dickies Arena for the American Athletic Conference Basketball Championships, slated to run from March 13-17.
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