SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men’s basketball (1-1) will hit the road for the first time in the 2025-26 season, heading north to San Marcos to face Texas State (1-2) in the Battle for I-35 on Wednesday night at Strahan Arena at the University Events Center. The Roadrunners and Bobcats are meeting for the first time in two years and the first time under head coach Austin Claunch while renewing UTSA’s second-longest series. Wednesday’s game with the Bobcats tips off at 7 p.m. and is slated for broadcast on ESPN+.
On the Air and on the Web
Wednesday’s 7 p.m. non-conference tilt will be streamed on ESPN+, with Brant Freeman (play-by-play) and Suzanne Fox (analyst) on the call.
The UTSA radio broadcast will appear on Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket with Andy Everett (play-by-play) and former coach Tim Carter (analyst) covering the action live from the Convo. The broadcast will feature a 30-minute pregame and 15-minute postgame show – available online at Ticket760.com or via the free iHeartRadio app.
Texas State Athletics will also provide Live Stats.
About the UTSA Roadrunners
The Roadrunners split the first week of action in the second season under Austin Claunch. As expected, UTSA dominated College of Biblical Studies, setting three program records in the flow of the 97-30 victory, to the fewest opponent points (30), fewest field goals (8) and lowest shooting percentage (14.3 percent) among the 1,309 games of UTSA basketball history – also setting the American Conference record for fewest opposing points. Battling with a very experienced SIUE squad that went to the NCAA tournament last season, the Roadrunners started hot and held the lead most of the first half but cooled offensively as the Cougars were able to pull away in the second half.
Across both opening-week games, freshman forward Kaidon Rayfield delivered in his debut, ringing up a double-double average of 11.5 points and 11.0 rebounds on 38.1 percent shooting. Grad student guard Jamir Simpson also proved to be a spark for the Roadrunners in both contests, averaging 14.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals on the week. Playing in the opener, junior transfer forward Macaleab Rich put up 15 points with four boards, three assists and three steals in just 16 minutes against CBS.
Typical for a Claunch team, the Roadrunners rank atop the American standings in fast break points and 18th nationally with 24.5 ppg in transition, while also ranking 13th in the NCAA with 31.6 percent field goal defense and sitting at second in the conference at popping threes on a 29.5 per game average. The Roadrunners average 78.5 ppg, 50.0 rpg, 15.5 apg and 12.0 spg after two outings.
About the Texas State Bobcats
In the sixth season under Terrence Johnson, the Bobcats have opened at 1-2, defeating Texas A&M-San Antonio by an expected 114-55 margin, but dropping road games at Bowling Green (83-48) and giving a second-half scare to Tulane before falling 79-71. Against the Green Wave, there were three ties and two lead changes, with Texas State holding Tulane to no second-chance points.
TXST averages 77.7 points, 34.0 rebounds, 14.7 assists and 7.7 steals per game. The scoring has been a balanced effort and leading the 2025-26 Bobcats has been senior guad Mark Drone with at 11.0 ppg on 50.0 percent shooting from the floor and from three. UMBC-transfer redshirt sophomore Franck Emmou has 10.3 ppg also with 50.0 percent field goal shooting, hitting a team-best 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. Pacing the team with 16 assists in three outings, Kaden Gumbs also is averaging 9.0 ppg. The boards have been well distributed as well, topped by senior center from Louisiana Monroe Makai Willis with 4.3 rpg and 8.7 ppg.
Against Tulane on Saturday, freshman forward DJ Hall had team highs of 14 points and seven rebounds, while Willis scored 12 with five boards and both Drone and Emmou scored 10 apiece.
Series History
The second longest-running series for the Roadrunners, Wednesday will mark the 64th meeting between these teams, with UTSA holding a slight edge at 37-26. The Roadrunners are 17-12 in San Marcos for the series that dates back to 1985 and a throwback to UTSA’s 21 seasons in the Southland Conference - including UTSA’s 71-63 triumph over the Bobcats to claim the 1999 Southland Tournament Championship. The last UTSA series road victory was Dec. 19, 2019 (77-71). In 2023-24, UTSA and TXST faced off in San Marcos on November 17, 2023. The game hovered within a pair of possessions well into the second half and UTSA cut the lead to a single point with 11 minutes remaining. However, fouling out both UTSA starting bigs made a world of difference, as Texas State finished off the 72-62 setback.
Up Next
The weekend will see UTSA traveling to the Mountain Time Zone with a Nov. 15 matchup at Denver, playing the Pioneers for the first time since 2021 and the fourth time overall – the first time in Denver since 2013.
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