SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men’s basketball team (10-15, 4-9 AAC) is back at home in the Convocation Center this Wednesday in a game presented by H-E-B, following up a two-game road swing with South Florida (12-14, 5-8 AAC) coming to San Antonio. The Roadrunners are aiming to snap a four-game losing skid on the heels of a razor-close two-week stretch that saw five games decided by a total of 14 points. Wednesday’s game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be the men’s Rowdy Rodeo Game, presented by Pedrotti’s Ranch. The game will air on UTSA radio and be streamed live on ESPN+.
Rowdy Rodeo presented by Pedrotti’s Ranch
Getting into the spirit of the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, UTSA men’s basketball will bring the rodeo to Roadrunner fans at the Convocation Center on Wednesday. For pregame activities, from 6 p.m. to tipoff, “Let’s Go Ropin’ Rodeo” with an authentic cowboy trick roper, courtesy of Pedrotti’s Ranch. Fans are invited to come enjoy some fun music and get ready to rodeo. There will also be a Birds Up photo opportunity with a rodeo-themed photo booth. Fans can pose with letters spelling “HOWDY” and other décor with a professional photographer on-site to provide immediate prints.
Whataburger Giveaway
The first 800 fans to this Wednesday’s game will receive a coupon for a free Whataburger Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit!
Other Giveaways
Navy UTSA foam cowboy hats, H-E-B bandanas, and various other prizes will be available for fans at the Convo, plus a chance to win San Antonio Rodeo tickets. UTSA students will get another chance for free pizza by presenting their student ID at Wednesday’s game.
Honoring Damari Monsanto’s Milestone
During the pregame, graduate student Damari Monsanto will be honored for surpassing 1,000 career points earlier this season at UTSA.
On the Air and on the Web
Wednesday’s 7 p.m. matchup at the Convocation Center will be streamed on ESPN+, with Karl Schoening (play-by-play), UTSA and San Antonio Sports 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 former UTSA coach 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
The American Athletic Conference has 22 games this season decided by less than four points or going to overtime – accounting for 26.8 percent of those games across NCAA Division I. UTSA has put quite a few in that jar with an extremely close set of games since the start of the month, as the past five games have averaged a 2.8-point margin since Feb. 1. The Roadrunners are coming directly off consecutive four-point losses at Wichita State and Tulsa. Despite a 17-point halftime deficit, the Roadrunners rallied behind a second half from Raekwon Horton, Marcus Millender and Primo Spears to slice the deficit down to three in the final 30 seconds of the 80-76 setback. The Roadrunners racked up 53 points in the second half at Tulsa.
Steady as can be lately, Horton knocked out his fifth-straight double-figure game and is averaging 15.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.8 steals since the start of conference play. Millender is on the same trajectory with 11 consecutive double-figure games, going from 1.7 threes per game in non-conference to 2.7 against the AAC, while averaging 16.2 points with 35 threes on 47.9% perimeter shooting in conference games – on top of 2.9 assists and 1.9 steals on average. Spears remains a steady offensive and defensive force for the Roadrunners at 21st among national scorers at 19.8 ppg, while leading the team with 3.7 apg and 1.6 spg. In addition, Monsanto continues to pace UTSA’s league-leading 9.6 threes per game, chipping in an NCAA 17th-best 3.17 per outing on 41.1-percent perimeter shooting.
About the Series
The Roadrunners and the Bulls met for the first two times last season during the Roadrunners’ first campaign in The American. UTSA saw an 89-72 setback in Tampa on Jan. 27 but turned the rematch into a barnburner at the Convocation Center with UTSA nearly upending the Bulls’ 11-game win streak. The Roadrunners pulled ahead with 1:40 to go, but after the Bulls climbed back ahead, UTSA’s game-winning opportunity with 21 seconds left was off the mark, as UTSA fell short in the 66-61 finish. UTSA is 0-2 in the series and 0-1 at the Convocation Center.
About the South Florida Bulls
The Bulls come into San Antonio at 12-14 and 5-8 in conference under the guidance of interim head coach Ben Fletcher, who took over in the fall after the untimely passing of coach Amir Abdur-Rahim. South Florida has seen great success at home but enter the week with a 1-8 road record and riding a three-game skid of their own. Ranking third in the AAC in fast break points behind UAB (17.24) and UTSA (15.64), the Bulls rack up 15.08 of their team’s 76.0 ppg in transition. Much like the Roadrunners, they use defensive efforts to fuel the break, ranking third in the AAC in steals (7.8) and turnovers forced (11.3) per game. South Florida is fourth with a 45.4 field goal percentage and ranks third in the conference with 14.9 assists per contest – but is on the bottom end of the league with 34.2 rebounds per game.
Cincinnati-transfer forward Jamille Reynolds leads South Florida in scoring (13.2 ppg) and blocks (1.5 bpg) – ranking fourth in the league with a team-high 7.9 rpg. Preseason All-AAC second-teamer Jayden Reid is putting up 12.2 ppg and leading the Bulls with 48 threes on the year, along with a team-best 3.7 apg. Rounding out three scorers in double-figures, Kobe Knox averages 11.0 ppg on 49 percent shooting, but USF squeezes great numbers out of their bench, sitting at 37th nationally on 27.96 bench points per game.
Up Next
Back to the road briefly for UTSA, as the Roadrunners travel to Greenville, North Carolina, for a Sunday afternoon rematch at East Carolina on Feb. 23. With a week between games, UTSA will return home for Senior Day and Autism Awareness on March 2 against Rice.
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