SAN ANTONIO – Extending a long series with the Trojans, UTSA men’s basketball (1-1) will host Little Rock (1-2) on Saturday, Nov. 16, at the Convocation Center, following through on a return from the Roadrunners’ trip to Arkansas last season. It’s Cantoberfest at the Convo for the second game of the season and tipoff is set for 3 p.m. with the game broadcast on ESPN+.
Ticket Information
Saturday’s non-conference contest will be included in all season ticket packages and fans can join the quickly growing number of season ticket holders or purchase single-game tickets through the links below:
2024-25 Season Tickets:
Direct Link: GoUTSA.com/mbbseasontix
Reserved (lower level): $165
General Admission (200 level): $115
Courtside Seating for Roadrunner Athletic Fund members: $550
**Fans can also purchase a combined men’s and women’s basketball season ticket for $210 by contacting the UTSA Ticket Office at 210-458-8872
2024-25 Single Game Tickets
Direct Link: am.ticketmaster.com/utxsanant/buy
Adults: $15
Juniors (ages 3-18): $13
Seniors (ages 65+): $13
Military (with ID): $13
Students: Free Admission with UTSA ID, download tickets at goUTSA.com/studentlogin.
Cantoberfest
This Saturday is our last hoo-rahh for UTSA’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee CantoberFest and it’s being hosted at the men’s basketball game. Fans who donate five (5) canned food or non-perishable items, or $10 minimum will get UTSA swag (including potentially Let’s Go 210 shirts or Rowdy birdhead hats) for supporting donations for the Roadrunner Food Pantry (Whataburger Resource Room).
On the Air and on the Web
Saturday’s matchup with the Trojans 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. On Monday, Everett is in his 18th season as a UTSA basketball broadcast. Carter, a former UTSA head coach, is working his eighth year on the air.
The game will also stream live on ESPN+ for subscribers. Karl Schoening (play-by-play) and UTSA Hall-of-Famer Devin Brown (analyst) will be on the broadcast call alongside reporter Taylor Guajardo.
UTSA Athletics will also provide Live Stats from The Convo.
About the UTSA Roadrunners
The Roadrunners are coming off a tough road Quad 1 battle in Illinois with an 85-72 loss at Bradley on Tuesday night in the Braves’ Carver Arena. The game remained close through much of the first half, but a scoring slump and going down 48-30 at the break dug a hole that created obstacles for the remainder of the game. For the second straight game, guard Primo Spears lit up the scoreboard with his second 20+ point outing in as many tries. The Florida State senior transfer is averaging 23.5 points per game, which ranks fourth in the American Athletic Conference and 24th nationally, while shooting 50 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent from three. Spears is also adding 3.0 steals and 3.5 assists per game – ranking second in the AAC (24th NCAA) in spg behind Raekwon Horton (4.5 spg, 3rd NCAA). Point guard Marcus Millender chipped in double-digits in both games, averaging 15 points per outing with an AAC fifth-best 5.0 assists per contest. Rounding out averages sitting in double-figures, Horton is putting up 10.5 ppg and forward Jaquan Scott is averaging 10. In the opener, Jonnivius Smith scored nine with 10 boards for the Roadrunners.
Pressure on the ball and protecting its own has benefitted the Roadrunners, who share the national lead for turnovers forced per game at 23.0, also ranking second nationally in steals per game at 10.0. Meanwhile, UTSA holds an NCAA third-ranked +12.5 turnover margin after only allowing 10.5 turnovers on average. The Roadrunners also a nailing it at the free throw line, ranking second in the nation with an 88.5 average, led by Spears with an NCAA 80th 92.3 percent (12-of-13).
About the Series
Starting out together in the Trans American Athletic Conference has made for a long-running series with the 18th installment coming up on Saturday. The series leans 12-5 toward Little Rock after UTSA dropped the last one in Arkansas last season to renew the series dormant since 1991. Last time between these teams, the lead changed seven times and UTSA led by as many as 14 in the first half, but the Trojans came storming back to force a one-point difference at the break and went on to pull away in the second half. Jamir Chaplin (22) and Bradley Douglas (20) combined for nearly half of Little Rock’s points to lead the Trojans. Since the series kicked off in 1985, UTSA is 3-3 in the Convo. The current head coaches have never met.
UTSA against the OVC
Despite 25 past or current members for the league, UTSA doesn’t have a robust history of playing teams from the Ohio Valley Conference, having only played six prior contests against OVC members in the program’s 43 years. The Roadrunners are 1-5 against OVC teams after splitting with Western Illinois and Little Rock last season – the bulk of games are against Murray State with three games, and another one-off with Eastern Kentucky.
About the Little Rock Trojans
After finishing with 21 wins last season, the Trojans are 1-2 at the start of the seventh season under Darrell Walker – opening the year with Associate Press Top-25 votes in the preseason. Going 14-4 in OVC play, Little Rock split the 2023-24 regular season championship and appeared in the Ro College Basketball Invitational after getting knocked out of the conference tournament in the second round.
The trip to San Antonio, the first for UALR since January 17, 1991, marks the third in a six-game road stretch to open the 2024-25 campaign. The centerpiece for the Trojans is LSU transfer guard Mwani Wilkinson, who logged 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting with nine rebounds and 3 steals in his Little Rock debut with a 20-point win over Arkansas Baptist. The majority of faces that UTSA saw last year are gone and the only major contributor back is Jordan Jefferson, who scored 17 against the Roadrunners last year. This season, Jefferson is averaging 10 points with 3.0 rebounds. Wilkerson is averaging 16.7 ppg with 5.3 rpg. Former Memphis and Creighton big guard Johnathan Lawson is averaging 15.0 ppg and is another big threat on the boards with a 6.3 rpg average.
The Trojans are tough shot defenders so far this season, holding opponents to 37.5 percent shooting to lead the OVC (78th NCAA), while shooting 42.4 percent themselves. Little Rock averages 71.3 points but have fallen behind in scoring margin with double-digit losses across the past two outings at Winthrop and Arkansas State. Early on, the Trojans are getting outrebounded with a -8.7 margin and only collecting 33.3 rpg as a team. It’s an even exchange on turnovers, with Little Rock both giving and taking 16.0 turnovers per game, while collecting 10 steals per outing.
Up Next
It’s a rare early season break for the Roadrunners next week, who will head back to the practice court until UTSA travels to make it back-to-back Trojan opponents in Troy, Ala., heading to the Trojan Turkey Tipoff with Troy on Nov. 25 and Merrimack on Nov. 27.
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