SAN ANTONIO – This week is the American Athletic Conference home opener for the Roadrunners, as the UTSA men’s basketball team (6-7, 0-1 AAC) welcomes the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (6-9, 0-2 AAC) on Tuesday, Jan. 7, for the first home game of the New Year. Tuesday kicks off four straight contests in the state of Texas and three of four at home for the Roadrunners. The game is set for broadcast on UTSA Radio and streaming on ESPN+.
Ticket Information
AAC Home Opener Ticket Special
In celebrating the first conference game of the season, UTSA is offering a $10 ticket option for the Tulsa game, get your tickets today at: https://utsa.pro/4j816GW
2024-25 Single Game Tickets for the Rest of the Season
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.
Claunch Bobblehead Night
In honor of head coach Austin Claunch’s first American Athletic Conference game at the Convo, UTSA athletics will be giving away Coach Claunch Bobbleheads to the first 500 attendees!
Salute to First Responders
UTSA Athletics is recognizing our local heroes who are first responders. The Shavano Park Honor Guard will present the colors, and first responders will be recognized throughout the game.
On the Air and on the Web
Tuesday’s matchup at the Convocation will stream live on ESPN+ with Karl Schoening (play-by-play), UTSA Hall-of-Famer Devin Brown (analyst) and Taylor Guajardo (reporter) on the broadcast call.
The radio broadcast will appear on Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket with Andy Everett (play-by-play) and Tim Carter 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
Back at the Convocation Center, where the Roadrunners are 4-1 this season under Claunch, the UTSA Roadrunners are looking to even up the record after a loss in the AAC opener at Tulane. In that contest, Raekwon Horton was a stalwart force for the Roadrunners, scoring 17 points with nine rebounds, three steals and three assists.
UTSA will look to push the ball and fire it from the arc, ranking 22nd nationally in pace of play, 23rd in possession length and eighth in the NCAA with 17.4 fast break points per game. Pushing the ball into transition, the Roadrunners force an NCAA 21st-ranked 16.2 turnovers per game while grabbing the 10th-most steals per game (10.3) – leading the AAC in both stats. UTSA also comes in at 46th and second in the AAC with 28 three-point attempts per game. When the opportunity presents itself, UTSA is deadly accurate at the free throw line, ranking second in NCAA DI with 81.9 percent team shooting.
Though he saw a string of 14 consecutive games in double-figures snapped at Tulane, senior guard Primo Spears remains in elite company at 21.0 ppg – making him the ninth-highest scorer in the country and No. 2 in the AAC. Putting down the third-most field goals in the conference (94), Spears is also second in the conference at the line with an 88.6-percent average. Horton has also been climbing the ranks, delivering double-digit scoring over the past three consecutive games, averaging 14.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 2.3 assists in that stretch – on the season, he’s at 10.5 ppg and 6.8 rpg, while leading the AAC and ranking 44th nationally on 2.09 spg. Jonnivius Smith leads the Roadrunners on the glass with 8.5 rpg and 6.5 ppg, ranking second in the AAC in rebounds and blocks per appearance (1.67).
About the Series
The Roadrunners and Golden Hurricane are meeting for the ninth time in the series after splitting games last year toward the home teams. Tulsa leads 1-7 and are 0-1 when playing in San Antonio. The first meeting was in Dec. 1994.
When the teams met in Tulsa last January, all the Golden Hurricane shooters got hot at once and dealt the Roadrunners a 29-point road loss. Back at the Convo, UTSA returned the favor by draining 14 threes with six Roadrunners in double-figures. Pacing UTSA in the 89-73 win, Jordan Ivy-Curry scored 20 points on 5-of-12 shooting, grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.
A separate element to the series is this will be the 15th matchup with UTSA for third-year Tulsa head coach Eric Konkol, who holds a 9-5 record against the Roadrunners including his highly successful seven-year run at Louisiana Tech.
About the Tulsa Golden Hurricane
At 6-9, Tulsa opened up conference play with an 0-2 mark after dropping games against Rice and UAB for the two-game slump. They closed 2024 with back-to-back decisive victories over Mississippi Valley State and Southwestern Christian. The Golden Hurricane still lean toward firing the ball up from deep, taking an AAC-high 28.1 threes per game and connecting on a league-third 8.8 opportunities. Tulsa averages 74.7 ppg as a team, while allowing 74.1 ppg. On the glass, they’re steady on both ends with a 38.9 rpg average and a +0.7 rebound margin.
Former LA Tech guard Keaston Willis sat most of last year with an injury, but is pacing the Golden Hurricane with 13.1 ppg, taking the majority of Tulsa’s looks from long range, where he has 41 threes (second AAC) and shoots an AAC third-best 38.3 percent. Previously at Georgia State, Dwon Odom is shooting 53 percent from the floor for 13.0 ppg, while also dishing out a team-leading 4.1 apg. The largest rebounding contributions come from forward Ian Smikle (5.7), as well as guards Braeden Carrington (5.0) and Odom (4.5).
Up Next
UTSA has back-to-back home dates for the first time this season, hosting Wichita State on Saturday at 3 p.m. in UTSA’s Salute to the Military, plus Meep Meep Peeps and Family Day.
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