SAN ANTONIO – Coming off a close loss against Florida Atlantic at the Convocation Center, UTSA men’s basketball team (5-21, 1-13 AMER) heads to the Central Midwest to square off with American Conference No. 2 Tulsa (21-6, 9-5 AMER) on Sunday at the Reynolds Center. Sunday’s broadcast is slated to appear on ESPNews with a 3 p.m. tipoff.
On the Air and on the Web
Sunday’s 3 p.m. tipoff with the Golden Hurricane at the Reynolds Center will air live on ESPNews and also stream live on ESPN+ with Mike Daley (play-by-play) and Mark Adams (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 live from courtside at the Reynolds Center. The broadcast will feature a 30-minute pregame and 15-minute postgame show – available online at Ticket760.com or via the free iHeartRadio app.
Tulsa Athletics will also provide Live Stats.
About the UTSA Roadrunners
A pair of Florida Atlantic runs made all the difference in Wednesday’s 52-60 loss, keeping the Roadrunners from a winning streak as a follow-up to the slump-snapping win at Charlotte last Sunday. Holding a hot-shooting FAU to just 36.7 percent shooting, UTSA led at the half and carried the advantage for nearly 10 minutes on Wednesday, with a see-saw game that saw 12 lead changes and three ties. Sophomore wing Baboucarr Njie was the breakout player, putting up 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting against the Owls, while also snagging eight boards. Freshman Kaidon Rayfield paced the team with 10 rebounds along with seven points and two steals. Heading into the final four contests of the season, UTSA averages 69.9 ppg on 39.5 percent shooting, collecting 36.6 rpg with 4.3 bpg.
Grad guard Jamir Simpson has 23 games in double-figures, pacing the Roadrunners with 15.8 ppg (11th American), and averages 2.1 apg. Austin Nunez puts up 9.8 ppg and a team-best 2.8 apg but has missed the past three appearances. Junior guard/forward Brent Moss has scored double-digits in six of the last eight and is at 9.7 ppg and 4.8 rpg. Meanwhile, Njie is leading UTSA on the boards with 5.4 rpg, is fourth among scorers at 8.9 ppg and tops the squad with an American-fourth 1.8 bpg.
About the Tulsa Golden Hurricane
It’s a breakout season in Eric Konkol’s fourth year in Tulsa – holding the 32nd-best record in the NCAA at 21-6. The Golden Hurricane came out of the non-conference as the league’s hottest squad at 12-1. Since opening conference play, Tulsa is 9-5 and tied for second in the American. After dropping three straight, Tulsa bounced back on Wednesday with a 79-74 win over Charlotte at home. One of the most efficient shooting teams UTSA has faced, the Golden Hurricane are 19th nationally with a 57.1 effective field goal percentage, shooting 48.2 percent from the field and an NCAA-12th 38.7 percent from the perimeter. Averaging 85.4 ppg (21st NCAA), only South Florida puts up bigger numbers in the American. Tulsa also grabs 37.9 rpg.
The Golden Hurricane are boosted by a three-headed offensive attack. Topping the list is Rhode Island transfer forward David Green, putting up 16.0 ppg at 49.7 percent shooting along with 4.5 rpg, putting up double-digits in 23 games. A senior transfer from St. Thomas, Miles Barnstable leads the team with 76 threes and averages 15.4 ppg on 49 percent shooting – firing up an NCAA-19th 42.9 percent from the arc. A junior from Cal Baptist, Tylen Riley not only scores 14.7 ppg on 48.8 shooting but also averages 4.0 assists. Returning junior forward Tyler Behrend edges Green (4.5 rpg) and Barnstable (4.1) for the top rebounder at 4.6 rpg.
Series History
It’s the 11th meeting in the series that dates back to 1994, tilted to Tulsa with a 9-1 advantage after topping UTSA both times last year. UTSA is 0-8 in Tulsa but last year cut a tight margin at the Reynolds Center, as UTSA rallied from a 17-point deficit and made it a three-point game twice in the final 30 seconds before the final buzzer secured Tulsa’s 80-76 win. In the lone series win in January 2024 in San Antonio, UTSA rained down 14 threes and held off Tulsa in the second half for a 89-73 – while Christian Tucker set UTSA’s standard and tied the conference record with 14 assists. The Roadrunners have an extensive series with Konkol, who holds an 11-5 record including his highly successful seven-year run at Louisiana Tech. He is 3-1 against UTSA at Tulsa.
Up Next
Back-to-back dates at home close the Convocation Center schedule, hosting East Carolina for Greek Night on Feb. 25, followed up by Wichita State for Senior Night on March 1.
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