Monthly Archives: December 2019

UTSA set to host the streaking UT Permian Basin Falcons

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Jhivvan Jackson. UTSA beat A&M-Corpus Christi 89-67 on Tuesday night at the UTSA Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA guard Jhivvan Jackson, the third-leading scorer in NCAA Division I, has produced 30 or more points in three of his last four games.- Photo by Joe Alexander.

The UT Permian Basin Falcons will carry a 10-game winning streak into Sunday’s 3 p.m. game at the Convocation Center against the UTSA Roadrunners.

Bolstered by several transfers from NCAA Division I programs, the Division II Falcons of the Lone Star Conference continued their hot streak Saturday afternoon, downing Cameron 89-77 in Odessa.

Forward Miles Washington, a 6-foot-8 transfer Mississippi State, hit 9 of 9 shots from the field and scored 19 points to lead the Falcons past the Aggies in an LSC game.

Records

UTSA 3-6
UTPB 10-2

Back from the break

In meeting the Falcons, the Roadrunners are returning to the court for their first game action in eight days.

They’ve won three of their last four, including back-to-back victories over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Texas State. In their last outing, the Roadrunners won in San Marcos against the Bobcats, 77-71, on Dec. 7.

Getting hot

Junior guard Jhivvan Jackson ranks third in the nation in scoring at 24.9 points per game. He has scored 30 or more points in three of his last four, including a season-high of 33 against Texas State. Jackson’s career average of 21.2 ppg is No. 1 in school history.

Junior guard Keaton Wallace has started to click offensively, averaging 24 ppg in his last two games. Combined, in victories over the Islanders and Bobcats, Wallace has hit 14 of 24 from the field, 1 of 4 from three and 19 of 19 from the free-throw line.

The Roadrunners have won three of four since freshman Erik Czumbel has been the starter at point guard. Czumbel, from Verona, Italy, is averaging 5.8 points on 52.9 percent shooting from the field and 50 percent from three. Czumbel hit three, 3-pointers at Texas State.

Coming up

It’s a busy week for the Roadrunners.

After tangling with the Falcons, the Roadrunners will play the Pac-12’s Oregon State Beavers on Wednesday in Houston. The game is set for 4:30 p.m. at the Toyota Center, the home of the Houston Rockets. On Saturday, they’ll return home to the Convo to face Illinois State. The Illinois State game is a 3 p.m. start.

Texas Tech defeats the No. 1 Louisville Cardinals, 70-57

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Texas Tech coach Chris Beard walked off the court at Madison Square Garden Tuesday night, waving his arms and hailing fans who made the trip from Lubbock to New York City.

It was a good night to be a Red Raider.

Texas Tech broke a three-game losing streak by knocking off the No. 1-ranked Louisville Cardinals, 70-57, at the Jimmy V Classic.

A relentless Red Raiders’ defensive effort helped to hold the prolific Cardinals to 34 percent shooting and only 17.6 percent from the 3-point arc.

Louisville forward Jordan Nwora, who entered averaging 21.6 points, scored 14 points on 16 shots.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the floor, guard Davide Moretti scored a team-high 18 points to lead three players in double figures.

Playing without high-scoring freshman Jahmi’us Ramsey, the Red Raiders also got 13 points from freshman Terrence Shannon, Jr., and 10 from Avery Benson.

Ramsey, who made the trip to New York, has been out three games with a hamstring issue.

Last year, the Red Raiders made a memorable run to the NCAA title game. In the aftermath, the transition has been a bit of a struggle.

They lost several key players, including Jarrett Culver, Matt Mooney, Tariq Owens and Brandone Francis.

After a 5-0 start, they lost consecutive games to Iowa, Creighton and DePaul, the last two in overtime.

After beating Louisville, the Red Raiders will return home to play Southern Miss, UT-Rio Grande Valley and CSU Bakersfield.

Tech’s Big 12 opener is Jan. 4 at home against Oklahoma State.

Records

Texas Tech 6-3
Louisville 9-1

Jackson scores 33 points as UTSA beats Texas State, 77-71

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Guard Jhivvan Jackson produced a season-high 33 points and added seven rebounds Saturday afternoon, leading the UTSA Roadrunners past the Texas State Bobcats, 77-71, in San Marcos.

Jackson hit 13 of 26 from the field as the Roadrunners (3-6) won their first road game of the season and claimed their first two-game winning streak.

Keaton Wallace scored 17 points and Erik Czumbel had 11 to deny the Bobcats (6-4).

Breaking from a three-point halftime lead, the Roadrunners stayed patient in their offense and hit six three-pointers after intermission.

Jackson nailed a big one with 4:48 remaining to make it a 10-point game. With a defender’s hand in his face, he leaned back and hoisted it high, drawing nothing but net.

“They’re a great defensive team and I knew they were going to come at me,” Jackson told the team’s radio broadcast. “But I had a couple of easy shots in the beginning. It was kind of just, my teammates helped me on the screens, and coach trusted me to take a few more shots. I mean, they were really just going in today.”

It was a big win for the Roadrunners, who started the season at 0-5.

“To be honest, this was a concerning game … because they’re so tough, so good defensively,” UTSA coach Steve Henson said. “We haven’t shown the ability to have strong possessions yet. We get clicking sometimes, but I was concerned that maybe we weren’t ready to have enough good offensive possessions to withstand their pressure, and we did.”

Guard Mason Harrell led the Bobcats with 19 points. Guard Caleb Asberry had 18. Nijal Pearson, Texas State’s best player, was held to 15 points on 5 of 15 shooting.

Pearson was 2 of 6 from the field in the second half and seemed frustrated at times by the UTSA defense.

First-half recap

Jackson came out hot, scoring 21 points in the first half as UTSA took a 37-34 lead on the Bobcats.

The game is being played in San Marcos at Strahan Arena, the home of the Bobcats.

Hitting nine of 16 from the field and three of seven from beyond the arc, Jackson paced the Roadrunners, who built a lead as large as nine points.

Mason Harrell hit a three with four seconds left in the half to pull the Bobcats to within three.

Records

UTSA 3-6
Texas State 6-4

Recently

Texas State played at the University of Houston on Wednesday night. The Cougars won 68-60 to snap the Bobcats’ four-game winning streak.

UTSA played at home on Tuesday, beating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 89-67. It was UTSA’s first victory over an NCAA Division I team this season.

Wallace scores 31 as UTSA routs Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 89-67

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Keaton Wallace. UTSA beat A&M-Corpus Christi 89-67 on Tuesday night at the UTSA Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Hard-driving Keaton Wallace takes it into the paint against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. – photo by Joe Alexander

Junior guard Keaton Wallace connected on a school-record 15 free throws without a miss Tuesday night en route to a season-high 31 points in UTSA’s 89-67 victory over the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders.

Bouncing back from a Saturday night loss to Prairie View A&M, the Roadrunners placed four men in double figures for the team’s first victory of the season against an NCAA Division I opponent.

UTSA shot a season-high 54.5 percent from the field, improved to 2-6 on the season and won for the second time in three games on a season-opening home stand.

The Islanders fell to 3-5 after rolling into San Antonio on a three-game winning streak. Nolan Bertain led Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with 18 points. He hit four 3-point shots.

Notable

Wallace’s 15-for-15 effort at the free-throw line highlighted a 23-of-26 team effort. Wallace broke the 26-year-old UTSA record held by guard Afis Olajuwon, who made 14 of 14 at home against Sam Houston State on Jan. 9, 1993.

Quotable

“That’s actually crazy. I didn’t even know I shot that many free throws. But that’s great. I feel great about that. You know, big time.” — Keaton Wallace, on what it means to get the school record.

Coming up

UTSA plays at Texas State on Saturday. Tip-off is at 4 p.m. in San Marcos at Strahan Arena.

Wallace’s resurgence

Keaton Wallace entered the game averaging a modest 12.9 points a game on 29.5 percent shooting from the field and 22.8 percent on 3-pointers.

He was 4 of 14 afield and 0 of 8 at the 3-point arc in a 79-72 loss to Prairie View.

The performance capped a mystifying seven-game stretch for Wallace, who emerged as one of the top players in Conference USA last year.

Henson said it was “really good” to see Wallace hit 8 of 12 from the field against the Islanders.

“We’ve been talking about our struggles, really, across the board,” Henson said. “Defensively, we haven’t been good enough. Offensively, the ball has not been going in the hole. Kind of felt like Keaton is a big key to all of this. We know that we need him to get going. We knew he was ready just at any moment to pop it, and so it was really good to see that happen.”

Hellums, Germany shine

Knox Hellums and Jacob Germany each scored 12 points off the bench for the Roadrunners. Hellums, a 6-5 junior transfer from Pepperdine, hit 4 of 4 from the 3-point arc. Germany was 5 of 7 including a couple of slam dunks. Jhivvan Jackson, one of the leading scorers in the nation, had 12 points in only 17 minutes.

First-half recap

Eleven players played and nine scored in the first half Tuesday night as the UTSA Roadrunners took a 41-25 lead against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Slumping junior Keaton Wallace led the way with 16 points. He hit 3 of 3 from the field and 10 of 10 at the free throw line.

UTSA vs. A&M-Corpus Christi photo gallery

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Freshman center Jacob Germany had 12 points and 4 rebounds off the bench for the Roadrunners. UTSA beat A&M-Corpus Christi 89-67 on Tuesday night at the UTSA Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Freshman center Jacob Germany had 12 points and 4 rebounds off the bench for the Roadrunners. UTSA beat A&M-Corpus Christi 89-67 on Tuesday night at the UTSA Convocation Center.

UTSA beat A&M-Corpus Christi 89-67 on Tuesday night at the UTSA Convocation Center.