DENTON, Texas – Opening the month of February, the UTSA men’s basketball team (9-11, 3-5 AAC) is looking to get back on the winning track and flip the tables on North Texas (16-4, 7-1 AAC) in Saturday’s rematch at the Super Pit. UTSA is coming off a loss at Florida Atlantic to open the double-road week, while the Mean Green barely edged Wichita State to put themselves in a tie atop the American Athletic Conference. Saturday’s rematch will air on UTSA radio and be streamed live on ESPN+ with a 5 p.m. tipoff. The Mean Green is 11-0 at home on the year.
On the Air and on the Web
Saturday’s matchup at the Super Pit will stream live on ESPN+ with Kyle Youmans (play-by-play) and DJ Draper (analyst) on the broadcast call.
The radio broadcast will appear on Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket with Andy Everett (play-by-play) covering the action. As always, the broadcast 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.
About the UTSA Roadrunners
The Roadrunners are looking to get back on the winning track this weekend via a second shot at the North Texas Mean Green. The last time in the Lone Star State, UTSA upset Temple on the strength of a furious-scoring first half, holding off the Owls down the stretch. Last time out, the Roadrunners couldn’t capture their third Owls victory of the year as Florida Atlantic got hot from the perimeter and controlled the rebounding element of Wednesday’s 74-94 UTSA loss.
The Roadrunners are fourth in the high-scoring American Athletic Conference with a 79.1 ppg average. That stat gets a huge boost from UTSA’s perimeter shooting, which leads the conference and ranks 22nd nationally on a 10.2 per game average, hitting a league third-best 36.4 percent from long range. Pacing the Roadrunners on that stat, Damari Monsanto is eighth in the nation with a league-leading 3.47 threes per game, while shooting 43.7 percent (20th NCAA), coming off a season-high seven triples at Florida Atlantic for his third consecutive game logging at least five treys – shooting 54.6 percent from long range in that stretch. The Roadrunners move fast when provided the chance, collecting an NCAA sixth-most 17 ppg on the fast break and the 52nd-fastest tempo. Aiding the transition game, UTSA leads the AAC with 9.6 steals and 15.3 turnovers forced per game.
Pacing five Roadrunners averaging double figures, Primo Spears is ninth in the nation at 20.8 ppg on 41.6 percent shooting, only dropping out of the top-10 for a single day this season. Flanking him are Marcus Millender (12.6 ppg), Raekwon Horton (11.7 ppg), Monsanto (11.5 ppg) and Tai’Reon Joseph (11.2). Since the start of AAC play, Horton has averaged 14.0 ppg with 5.6 rpg, while Millender has gone 14.9 ppg with 2.9 apg. On the glass, Jonnivius Smith remains third among AAC rebounders, grabbing 7.9 boards, including the team-high eight he collected in Boca Raton.
About the Series
One of the Roadrunners’ longest-running rivalry series, Saturday marks the second this season and 36th overall meeting between UTSA and North Texas in the series dating to the first UTSA season in 1982. Earlier in January at the Convocation Center, North Texas broke out to a 22-point lead but the second half saw a furious UTSA rally that brought the game as close as seven points with 3:25 remining. The last trip to Denton saw UTSA surge past the Mean Green, 64-62, claiming the possession-based victory. UTSA trails in the series 13-22, with a 5-10 record in the Super Pit. Last season’s win snapped a four-game UTSA losing skid in the series.
About the North Texas Mean Green
Aided by an 11-0 home record this season, North Texas has fought itsa way to a tie atop the AAC standings with a 7-1 conference record, riding a six-game win streak since falling to then-No. 21 Memphis. North Texas challenged UTSA’s high-scoring offense last time around and will put the pressure on with an AAC-leading, NCAA-third-ranked scoring defense that holds opponents to 59.1 ppg. They play a slowed possession game and limit opponents to 41.1 percent shooting, 32.8 percent from three. North Texas employs the 362nd-ranked pace of play and 360th average possession length. UNT remains the highest NET-rated opponent faced so far at 46th, up 11 spots since they last met.
Senior guard Atin Wright continues to pace the Mean Green at 14.7 ppg, while taking 20 percent of UNT’s shots and 34 percent of the threes. Former Florida Atlantic guard Brenen Lorient is averaging 12.6 ppg off the bench, along with 4.4 rpg. Johnathan Massie (8.5), Jasper Floyd (7.8) and and Latrell Jossell (7.8) help spread the scoring around, while Floyd paces the team with 3.9 assists on average. On the boards, where UNT only collects 33.2 per game, it’s a group effort and Moulaye Sissoko leads the way at 6.2 rpg.
Up Next
A double-home week follows the road swing, as UTSA returns to the Convocation Center to rematch with Tulane on Feb. 5 and welcome the first meeting with East Carolina on Feb. 8.
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