PHILADELPHIA – Coming off a New Year’s Eve conference opener in Boca Raton, Florida, the UTSA men’s basketball team (4-9, 0-1 AMER) opens up 2026 with a nationally televised matchup at Temple (9-5, 1-0 AMER) on Jan. 3. The Roadrunners and Owls will square off in an American Conference matchup for the fifth time in the series at 11 a.m. CT at the Liacouras Center on Saturday, set for a national broadcast on ESPNU – the first of the year for either team.
On the Air and on the Web
Saturday’s 11 a.m. CT tipoff with the Owls at the Liacouras Center will appear nationally on ESPNU (with streaming on ESPN+). Mike Corey (play-by-play) and Perry Clark (analyst) will cover the broadcast call.
The radio broadcast will appear on Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket with Andy Everett (play-by-play) covering the action live from Philadelphia. The broadcast will feature a 30-minute pregame and 15-minute postgame show – available online at Ticket760.com or via the free iHeartRadio app.
Temple Athletics will also provide Live Stats.
About the UTSA Roadrunners
The Roadrunners are looking to start the New Year on a high note, snapping an ongoing six-game losing skid with their second non-conference game. It’s been a challenging month against some tough contenders, with 14th-ranked Alabama topping the six opponents holding a combined 64-19 record coming into the weekend. In that string, UTSA has played four of the six on the road, with another one set for Saturday in Philadelphia.
Staying in the fight despite a notable halftime deficit at Florida Atlantic, redshirt junior point guard Austin Nunez reeled off a 22-point career outing against the Owls, scoring 17 in the second half to help UTSA stay neck-and-neck after the half. Nunez averages 8.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg and a team-best 2.4 apg. Though grad guard Jamir Simpson was held to nine for the first time, he averages a team-high 18.0 ppg to rank third in the American and 80th nationally, logging seven games over 20 points this season. Pacing UTSA on the glass, freshman Kaidon Rayfield grabs 6.1 rpg to go with 8.1 ppg.
As a team, the Roadrunners are averaging 71.2 ppg on 39 percent shooting and rank 73rd in the NCAA at 39.5 rpg. They’re holding the opposition to 42 percent from the field and 31.7 percent from beyond the arc – while running up against some heavy three-point competition in the last month.
About the Temple Owls
The Owls are riding a five-game winning streak heading into Saturday, sitting at 9-5 in the third season under Adam Fisher. Temple edged out a conference opener win at Charlotte on Wednesday, fending off a late 49ers run for the 76-73 victory.
Boasting an efficient offense with its shooters going 47.6 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from long range, Temple protects the ball as the national leader in turnovers with only 8.7 per game. The Owls use transition and are capable from the perimeter, but the focus is on playing out the offense, holding the nation’s 256th pace of play and focusing efforts inside the arc with success at the free throw line. Temple averages 77.6 ppg while only making 7.4 threes per contest, collecting 33.2 rpg. Opponents have shot 44.3 percent against the Owls and Temple averages 5.1 steals per game.
Pacing four double-figure scorers, Arkansas State transfer Derrian Ford is putting up 17.7 ppg on 44 percent shooting, along with a team-best 4.7 rpg. Sophomore Aiden Tobiason adds 15.1 ppg with 3.2 rpg and 2.4 apg. Dishing out while creating room for himself, San Antonio native Jordan Mason not only scores 11.6 but boasts an American-fourth 4.4 apg. Nebraska transfer Gavin Griffiths (30) combines with Tobiason (26) and Ford (22) to account for 75 percent of Temple’s threes.
Series History
After seeing way too much of Temple in the 2023-24 season, the Roadrunners and Owls met just one time last season, an 88-79 UTSA win in San Antonio at the Convocation Center. UTSA jumped out to a fast lead to open the game and held off the Owls at the line last year. In 2023-24 the teams met three times in a 23-day span, going from Philadelphia to San Antonio and then Fort Worth for the conference championships – with Temple claiming all three by an average of only 3.6 ppg. UTSA fell to the Owls on the road on Feb. 18, 2024, for the first game in the series and UTSA’s only game in Pennsylvania prior to Saturday, 83-77, at the Liacouras Center. UTSA is 1-3 against the Owls in the series.
Up Next
Hosting back-to-back home games for the first time since the opening week of the season, kicking off a three-game home stand hosting Charlotte in a Lights Out game on Jan. 7 at the Convocation Center, then bringing in Tulane on Jan. 10 for the Salute to First Responders.
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