Shaine Casas, a Texas A&M junior from McAllen, wins national swimmer of the year

One of the most under-reported sports stories in the state unfolded last week when McAllen-native Shaine Casas won gold medals in three individual events for the Texas A&M Aggies at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

Former Olympic champion and current television analyst Rowdy Gaines, who witnessed the performance, marveled at the way Casas has emerged from prospect status to U.S. Olympic-team contender in two years.

“He’s obviously really good,” Gaines said in a telephone interview. “That he’s been able to explode on the scene in the last couple of years, it’s incredible. And, yeah, he’s just going to get better.

“He’s still young. He’s just going to continue to improve. That’s what’s so scary about it. He’s just a junior. He’s still got his senior year. He’s still got the summer.”

Gaines made his comments Tuesday morning. Later in the afternoon, Casas was named as the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Division-I Men’s Swimmer of the Year.

The award came on the heels of his performance last week at the NCAA meet in Greensboro, N.C., where he won the 100- and 200-yard backstroke and 200 individual medley.

As a freshman, in 2019, Casas scored points at the NCAA meet in the 200 IM and the 200 butterfly but didn’t reach the finals in either one.

Later that year, he opened eyes when he won the 100-meter backstroke and finished second in the 200 back and 200 IM at U.S. nationals. He seemed poised to have a big season in 2020 until the pandemic forced cancellation of the NCAA meet and the Olympic Trials.

Now, with his recent gold-medal binge, many eyes in the sport will be on him, with the Trials scheduled for June at Omaha and the Olympic Games, postponed for a year, set for July and August in Tokyo.

Swimmers make a name for themselves in Olympic years, so this is a big one for Casas.

“He has the long-course capability just as much, or even more so, than the short-course capabilities,” Gaines said. “So, he’s going to have a fantastic summer and certainly has a bright future. Probably won’t start peaking until 2024.”

With the 200- and 100-backstroke dominated by 2016 Olympian Ryan Murphy and several others who are among the fastest in the world, Casas faces a challenge at the Trials. Only two athletes will make the U.S. Olympic team in what are considered his strongest events.

But Gaines seems to think he has a good chance.

“If I was a betting man, I definitely would not bet against Shaine Casas,” Gaines said. “There’s just no way I’d bet against that. I think he’s going to make it in one or two events.”

In Greensboro, Casas highlighted his week by winning the 200 backstroke on the final night in 1 minute, 35.75 seconds — two one hundredths off the NCAA, meet and American records held by Murphy, swimming for Cal, in 2014.

Karen Aston named UTSA women’s basketball coach

Karen Aston, the 2017 Big 12 Coach of the Year and a finalist for Naismith National Coach of the Year honors, on Monday was named the 10th women’s basketball head coach in UTSA history.

Aston has a career record of 285-146 (.661) with stops at Charlotte, North Texas and Texas. In her 13 seasons as a head coach, Aston’s teams have averaged 22 wins per year and have made a combined 10 postseason appearances.

‘Celebration of life’ service set for coach Ken Burmeister

A ‘celebration of life’ service for Ken Burmeister is scheduled for May 17 at the Community Bible Church. The service will start at 10 a.m. at CBC, located at 2477 Loop 1604 East.

Ken Burmeister. The Incarnate Word men's basketball team opened the season with an 87-71 victory over Southwestern on Friday night. (Joe Alexander / theJBreplay.com)

Ken Burmeister helped raise the profile of college basketball in San Antonio with coaching stints at UTSA, Trinity and Incarnate Word. — Photo, The JB Replay

“It should be a morning of love and laughter,” Brenda Burmeister, the coach’s widow, said in a text.

Burmeister, a fixture in the San Antonio basketball community, died at age 72 last May after a bout with cancer. The family didn’t have a funeral for him last year because of the pandemic.

In San Antonio, Burmeister coached at UTSA, Trinity University and at the University of the Incarnate Word.

At UTSA, the Roadrunners won the Trans America Athletic Conference postseason title en route to their first NCAA tournament in 1988. It was transformative moment for the program, which was in only its seventh season.

He also helped elevate college basketball in the city by participating in the “Mayor’s Challenge Cup” games against St. Mary’s University.

The UTSA-St. Mary’s games were held annually downtown at HemisFair Arena against the Rattlers, who were coached at the time by Burmeister’s friend, the legendary Buddy Meyer.

San Antonio won national recognition again in 1989 when Meyer and the Rattlers captured the NAIA championship in Kansas City.

Years later, Burmeister got a second chance on his coaching career. After departing a job at Division I Loyola-Chicago in 1998, he was hired the next season at Division III Trinity, and he spent one season with the Tigers.

In 2006, he took a job as the head coach at the University of the Incarnate Word. Burmeister responded by leading the Cardinals through a transition from Division II into Division I, winning games at Princeton, Nebraska and St. John’s along the way.

He worked at UIW through the 2017-18 season.

UTSA coach Steve Henson: ‘The cupboard is not bare’

In discussing how the UTSA Roadrunners will move forward without seniors Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace, the top two scorers in school history, Coach Steve Henson has expressed optimism about the nucleus of his team for next season.

The Roadrunners will return big men Jacob Germany and Adrian Rodriguez, forwards Cedric Alley, Jr. and Eric Parrish and guards Jordan Ivy-Curry and Erik Czumbel, all in the playing rotation from a team that finished 15-11 and 9-7 in Conference USA.

Henson is also high on freshman Lachlan Bofinger, who played limited minutes behind Alley and Parrish.

“We do return some really good players, three guys who have started a ton of games for us, played significant minutes off the bench, and/or started games,” Henson told Andy Everett on the coach’s radio show Monday night. “So the cupboard is not going to be bare.

“We’re really excited about the kids we signed early.

“A couple of high school kids. A couple of junior college kids. Got another commitment about a month ago from a Texas kid, we’re very, very excited about. We can’t talk about him (by name) because he hasn’t signed. But he’s a high-level athlete who’ll really come in here and help us.”

UTSA announced in November the signing of four players:

Aleu Aleu, a wing player, 6-8, 185, from Austin High School and Temple Community College

Guard Dhieu Deing, a guard, 6-5, 175, from High Point, N.C. Central High School/USC Aiken and Dodge City, Kan., Community College.

Azavier Johnson, another guard, 6-5, 185, from Las Vegas, Nevada’s Faith Lutheran High School.

Also, guard Lamin Sabally, 6-7, 180, from Berlin, Germany and Bella Vista, Ariz., Prep.

“They’re going to be good players,” Henson said. “All pretty good athletes. There’s some length. Some size there. All of ’em would be guys who can play multiple positions.”

The Roadrunners were knocked out of the C-USA tournament quarterfinals by Western Kentucky, 80-67, last Thursday night.

Western Kentucky ousts UTSA from C-USA tournament, 80-67

Keaton Wallace, Jhivvan Jackson. UTSA beat UAB 96-79 in Conference USA on the Roadrunners' senior day for Jhivvan Jackson, Keaton Wallace and Phoenix Ford on Feb. 27, 2021, at the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA coach Steve Henson speculated that both Keaton Wallace (left) and Jhivvan Jackson will elect to ‘move on’ in their respective careers next season. — File photo by Joe Alexander


If Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace have played in their last game for UTSA, it was a tough way to go out.

The Charles Bassey-led Western Kentucky Hilltoppers scored an easy 80-67 victory over the Roadrunners Thursday night in Frisco, in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA championships.

Wallace emerged as the only consistent threat on a frustrating night for the Roadrunners as he scored 30 points. Jackson, the school’s all-time leading scorer, was held to five on 2 of 12 shooting.

Bassey, a 6-foot-11 center, finished with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocked shots for the Hilltoppers.

Western Kentucky coach Rick Stansbury said he doesn’t know how Bassey would be feeling on Friday morning, when the team meets the UAB Blazers in the tournament semifinals. The C-USA’s Player of the Year apparently was in some discomfort near the end of the game, leaving the court at one point to stretch.

“We’ll see,” Stansbury told a television reporter for Stadium. “I know he went out there (off to the side) hurt a little. So, we’ll see where he’s at. It’s a quick turnaround. We just got to find a way to be ready. Hope he’s ready to go.”

With the loss, UTSA has been eliminated from contention for the NCAA tournament. In a zoom conference with reporters, Coach Steve Henson talked as if his team had played its last game of the season.

Asked if thought he would have an opportunity to play again, in another postseason tournament, the coach said he didn’t know.

“I mean, there’s not as many tournaments available this year,” he said. “The fields are smaller. I would think it would be a long shot. We have not had any conversations about that at this point.”

But would Henson be interested in playing if the opportunity presented itself?

“Absolutely,” he said. “I think our team could beat a lot of teams in the country. I’d love to play again.”

Besides the National Invitation Tournament, which has been pared from 32 to 16 teams, with all games held in Dallas, Henson said he doesn’t know if any of the others are being played.

“We came here to try to fly to Indianapolis (for the NCAA tournament) at the end of the week and we didn’t get that done,” he said. “So, I don’t know. The NIT is the only one I’ve heard much about. They’ve reduced the field dramatically. I’m not with holding. I just don’t know.”

The College Basketball Invitational has reportedly been discussing either an eight- or 16-team field at a neutral site and that Texas State might be under consideration.

Officials announced last month that the CollegeInsider.com tournament, known as the CIT, has been cancelled. UTSA played in the CIT in 2018 and reached the second round.

Records

UTSA 15-11
Western Kentucky 19-6

Keys to the game

Western Kentucky’s defense on Jackson, primarily by freshman guard Dayvion McKnight. That, and physical play. Western Kentucky hammered the ball inside and went to the free-throw line, where they knocked down 24 of 25. UTSA finished 4 of 7 at the line.

First half

Western Kentucky showcased a physical style at the outset, and UTSA could not match it.

As a result, the Hilltoppers rolled to a 38-25 lead.

Offense was a struggle for the usually potent Roadrunners. Jackson (1 for 5 from the field) couldn’t get going. Neither could center Jacob Germany (1 for 4). Keaton Wallace (5 for 12) scored 12, but it wasn’t nearly enough to keep pace with the Hilltoppers.

Blocking seven shots, the Hilltoppers didn’t allow the Roadrunners any easy chances. As a result, UTSA shot only 27.8 percent. Western Kentucky wasn’t great either at 42.4 percent. But the C-USA East heavyweights had just enough to make life miserable for UTSA, from the C-USA West.

Carson Williams, averaging 7.4 points, scored nine in the first half Luke Frampton had seven and Taveion Hollingsworth seven. UTSA played a good half defensively on Western Kentucky star Charles Bassey, who was held to four.

Second half

Bassey poured it on in the second half with 17 of his team-high 21 points. The former San Antonio schoolboy, a native of Nigeria, also had nine rebounds and five blocked shots.

Pounding the ball inside to their big center, the Hilltoppers shot 52 percent in the final 20 minutes. At one point, they kicked the lead up to 23 points. At one juncture, with his team pulling away, Western Kentucky coach Rick Stansbury pulled his starters.

Just then, UTSA put on a spurt, scoring nine straight points. An 11-2 UTSA run capped by a Wallace jumper pulled the Roadrunners to within 56-46. As a result, Stansbury put Bassey and his starters back in the game.

Bassey kick-started another Western Kentucky surge, first with an inside move and a three-point play. Later, he hit a three from the top of the circle with 7:27 remaining to give the Hilltoppers a 62-48 cushion. Immediately after hitting the shot, Bassey back-pedaled and shrugged, turning both of his palms up, as the Roadrunners called time.

UTSA never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.

Crediting the Roadrunners

For the record, the Hilltoppers squelched the Roadrunners’ hopes with a suffocating defense. UTSA shot 38 percent, in large part because Jackson was so far off his game. Jackson scored 46 points to set the arena record in an overtime loss at Western Kentucky in 2019. So, the Hilltoppers set their game plan, hoping to avoid another such explosion.

Stansbury told a television reporter for Stadium that his team’s defense on UTSA’s all-time scoring leader played a major role in the outcome.

“First of all, you’ve got to give San Antonio credit,” Stansbury said. “They’ve got a terrific team. Coach does a great job with ’em. I thought the difference in the game was what you just said, especially the first half. He’s so capable of beating you himself. We’ve seen that movie before. But I thought for the most part Dayvion (McKnight), a freshman guard, guarded him about as well as you can.

“You know, Wallace probably hurt us more than anything, more than anybody, but again, overall … I thought, defensively, we were pretty good.”

Fighting the good fight

Henson said Western Kentucky started to break the game open in the first half with a defense that led to offense.

“They got out pretty easily and ran in transition,” he said. “Just popped open a lead there. We’d already used a timeout early to try and slow down a run. Then we got trapped in the corner and used a second time out … So they built the lead there. We were so stagnant offensively. We just couldn’t get easy shots. Ball just wasn’t moving. Wasn’t zipping. Credit their defense, their length bothered us certainly. Bassey blocked some shots at the rim … Just a real struggle at the offensive end.”

Henson said Jackson’s struggles came with Western Kentucky’s physical style.

“We just couldn’t get him loose,” Henson said. “They were real physical with him … grabbing and holding, just couldn’t get him in space. He had some pullup jumpers that I thought he might hit. But, couldn’t get those down. Couldn’t get anything easy. Couldn’t get him off the ball. Couldn’t get him the ball screens.

“We’d been doing a pretty good job of mixing things up lately and finding different ways to get him going. Just couldn’t. Their length affected him a lot.”

Ready for the next chapter

With the five points against Western Kentucky, Jackson has scored 2,551 in his career. He is tied for 51st in NCAA Division I history with Rodney Monroe, who played for North Carolina State through 1991. Wallace has scored 2,080.

Because of NCAA actions in the wake of the pandemic, both have the opportunity to come back and play at UTSA for another season, but Henson said “we’ve been moving along with the idea that they’ll both move on. We’ll have a conversation about it. But we’re going to wish them well. I think they’re ready for the next chapter in their lives and in their careers.”

UTSA ‘fired up’ to meet top-seeded Western Kentucky

The UTSA Roadrunners have learned gradually over the past several weeks that they can play winning basketball.

They’ll soon find out if they’re good enough to win against an NCAA tournament-quality opponent.

UTSA will take on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at 5:30 p.m. in Frisco. It’s one of four quarterfinal-round matchups in the Conference USA championships scheduled to unfold Thursday at The Star.

The C-USA continues its postseason event into the weekend with semifinals set for Friday and the finals on Saturday. The winner of the tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Coming into Frisco, most people figured that the road to the title for any team would intersect with the path of the Hilltoppers at some point.

After all, Western Kentucky has the C-USA’s Player of the Year in former San Antonio schoolboy Charles Bassey, a 6-foot-11 center.

Bassey and guard Taveion Hollingsworth lead a team that has won non-conference games against Memphis, Rhode Island and Alabama. Overall, the Hilltoppers have posted an 18-6 record, including 11-3 to top the C-USA East regular-season standings.

Thus, they are the No. 1 seed in the C-USA East coming into the tournament.

“They had a terrific year,” UTSA coach Steve Henson said. “We didn’t get to play all the teams in the East this year. But we’re excited. We’ve got great respect for them. They’re clearly one of the best teams in the East and the No. 1 seed. We know what Bassey will do, and it’s not a one-man show. You know, and they’ve got some other really, really good players.

“It’ll take a great effort. But, shoot our guys are fired up. They’re excited.”

By virtue of its conference regular-season record, Western Kentucky earned a bye into the quarterfinals. So, this will be their first game in the tournament. UTSA, meanwhile, came into Frisco as the No. 4 seed in the C-USA West. The Roadrunners were placed into a first-round matchup with the Charlotte 49ers.

On Wednesday night, they beat the 49ers 72-62.

UTSA center Jacob Germany said Wednesday night that the Roadrunners will be ready.

“I think everyone’s excited, honestly,” Germany said. “We didn’t get to play them in the regular season. But Jhivvan (Jackson) and Keaton (Wallace) love playing them. Me personally, I’ve ben looking forward to it since I signed at UTSA. We’re locked in. We’re really locked in.”

Coming up

Thursday’s quarterfinals
At The Star, in Frisco

UTSA (15-10) vs. Western Kentucky (18-6), 5:30 p.m.
Rice (15-12) vs. UAB (21-6), 6 p.m.
Florida Atlantic (13-6) vs. Louisiana Tech (20-6), 8:30 p.m.
North Texas (14-9) vs. Old Dominion (15-7), 9 p.m.

Seeds remaining

East Division — No. 1 Western Kentucky, No. 2 Old Dominion, No. 4 Florida Atlantic
West Division — No. 1 Louisiana Tech, No. 2 UAB, No. 3 North Texas, No. 4 UTSA, No. 6 Rice
Note — The Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in each division earned byes into the quarterfinals

Wednesday’s results

UTSA 72, Charlotte 62
Rice 72, Marshall 68
Florida Atlantic 76, UTEP 70
North Texas 76, Middle Tennessee 56

Notable

Jhivvan Jackson, Keaton Wallace. UTSA beat Southwestern Adventist from Keene, Texas, 123-43 in a non-conference game on Thursday, March 4, 2021, at the UTSA Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

The season is on the line tonight for Jhivvan Jackson (left) and Keaton Wallace. – Photo by Joe Alexander

The Roadrunners will try to reach a milestone tonight. They have never made it past the tournament quarterfinals in eight seasons of affiliation with Conference USA. They have also never won two games in the same C-USA tournament.

UTSA senior guard Jhivvan Jackson scored 18 points Wednesday, all in the first half, in boosting his career total to 2,546. With the performance, he surged to No. 54 on the Division I all-time list, according to sports-reference.com. He needs 10 points against Western Kentucky to move into the Top 50.

Such a move would allow Jackson to pass former University of Arizona and Spurs great Sean Elliott on the all-time list. Elliott scored 2,555 points at Arizona through 1989, when the Spurs selected him with the third overall pick in the NBA Draft. Born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Jackson is the No. 1 all-time scorer in Division I among players born in Latin America. The former standout at Euless Trinity became UTSA’s all-time scoring leader late last season.

Worth watching against Western Kentucky is how well Jackson is moving. He took a hit to his left shoulder Wednesday night and had to come out of the game briefly at the end of the first half. He re-entered to play the last 3:49 before intermission, and then played the entire second half. But he did not score after taking a hit on the shoulder. The issue has bothered him periodically during his career, UTSA coach Steve Henson said.

UTSA senior Keaton Wallace scored 20 points against Charlotte for his fourth-straight 20-point game. Wallace, from Richardson High School, has scored 2,050 points in his career.

UTSA holds off Charlotte, 72-62, advances to C-USA quarterfinals

The UTSA Roadrunners celebrated in the locker room Wednesday night after opening the Conference USA championships with a 72-62 victory over the Charlotte 49ers.

At the same time, the good vibes were mixed with a sense of urgency on what comes next.

“We were excited that we were going to enjoy it for the next 20 or 30 minutes or so,” UTSA center Jacob Germany said. “But, we came here to win more than one game. So, we’re all feeling good, confident. But we’re locked into the next one, too.”

The Roadrunners advanced in the bracket into a quarterfinal matchup Thursday against the powerful Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. The tournament is being held at The Star in Frisco.

In running up a 41-26 lead at halftime, the Roadrunners held the 49ers to 28 percent shooting, and senior guard Jhivvan Jackson exploded for 18 points.

UTSA’s defense played well at the outset, as well. Players really clamped down in the closing minutes of the half, limiting the 49ers to 1 of 8 shooting from the floor.

In the half, the 49ers hit only 7 of 25 shots.

Jackson was as good as ever in the early going. He hit two threes and scored 10 in the first eight minutes. For the half, he was 7 of 13 from the field.

UTSA experienced a scare with its leading scorer with about four minutes left before intermission, as he came out of the game holding his left shoulder. Jackson, who had suffered what Coach Steve Henson described as ‘like a stinger,’ returned with 3:49 remaining and played the rest of the way.

In the second half, Jackson wasn’t the same offensively as he went scoreless on 0 for 6 shooting. But as the 49ers rallied to get back into it, Keaton Wallace and Germany stepped in to stop the charge.

Wallace poured in 11 of his team-high 20 points and Germany scored 10 of his 16 after intermission. Germany also finished with 10 rebounds for his first postseason double-double.

Asked if he was worried when the 49ers started to make a run, Germany said, “Mmm, kind of.”

“Coach told us they were going to get into their little groove offensively and try to slow the game down,” he said. “We always knew they would eventually get going. But I think we did a good job in responding and controlling the game.”

For the streaking Roadrunners, it was their 10th win in their last 12 games. It was also their first win at the C-USA tournament since 2018 when they beat UTEP in the opening round before bowing out with a loss to Middle Tennessee in the quarterfinals.

In 2019, the Roadrunners had a first-round bye into the quarterfinals but stumbled in a loss to the UAB Blazers.

Last season, UTSA lost in the opening round, falling to UAB for the second straight year on March 11, the day before the tournament was scrapped because of the pandemic.

Charlotte’s season ended on a nine-game losing streak. The 49ers were led by guards Jordan Shepherd with 20 points and Jahmir Young with 19.

Records

UTSA 15-10
Charlotte 9-16

Coming up

Conference USA quarterfinals
Thursday, at The Star, in Frisco

UTSA vs. Western Kentucky, 5:30 p.m.
Rice vs. UAB, 6 p.m.

Looking ahead

Western Kentucky (18-6) is the No. 1 seed out of the C-USA East Division. The Hilltoppers boast the Player of the Year, center Charles Bassey. Bassey, a 6-11 center, averages 17.6 points, 11.8 rebounds and 3.1 blocks.

Guard Taveion Hollingsworth (14.3 points and 2.3 assists) is also a threat. The Hilltoppers won in non- conference play against Memphis, Rhode Island and on the road at Alabama. They topped the C-USA East standings at 11-3. It’s the first game of the tournament for WKU, which earned a first-round bye. Because of the unbalanced schedule this year, the Roadrunners did not play them.

“They had a terrific year,” Henson said. “We didn’t get to play all the teams in the East this year. But we’re excited. We’ve got great respect for them. They’re clearly one of the best teams in the East and the No. 1 seed. We know what Bassey will do, and it’s not a one-man show. You know, and they’ve got some other really, really good players. It’ll take a great effort. But, shoot our guys are fired up. They’re excited.”

UTSA takes high expectations into the postseason

UTSA coach Steve Henson waves to the fans while walking off the court Thursday following the Roadrunners' final home game of the season. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA coach Steve Henson has willed his team to an 8-2 record down the stretch in Conference USA and 9-2 overall leading into the C-USA championships. — Photo by Joe Alexander

High-scoring offense. Capable defense. Positive mindset. The UTSA Roadrunners seem to have everything in order in terms of elements necessary to make a run in the postseason.

They’ll put it all to the test at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday when they meet the Charlotte 49ers in Frisco in the first round of the Conference USA championships.

Cedrick Alley Jr. UTSA beat UAB 96-79 in Conference USA on the Roadrunners' senior day for Jhivvan Jackson, Keaton Wallace and Phoenix Ford on Feb. 27, 2021, at the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA newcomer Cedrick Alley Jr. has emerged as a defensive stopper and a capable perimeter shooter during UTSA’s 9-2 streak. — Photo by Joe Alexander

One of the best things going for the Roadrunners right now is momentum — they’ve won 9 of their last 11.

Charlotte, meanwhile, has lost eight straight.

“Everybody’s going to head to Frisco with a different speech for their guys,” UTSA coach Steve Henson said on a zoom conference Monday morning. “But, yeah, in a perfect world you need to be healthy. You need to be fresh. Guys still need to enjoy being around each other. We’ve felt that with our guys.

“For the last two weeks, with the exception of Adrian (Rodriguez) we’ve been pretty healthy. I mean, very healthy.

“There’s some guys constantly getting treatment, trying to stretch out, but we’re in pretty good shape physically,” Henson said. “We’re playing better basketball. We’ve won 9 out of 11. Confidence is high. Spirits are high. Our expectations are high. That’s really what you want when you head into conference tournament play.”

UTSA enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed in the C-USA West. Charlotte is No. 5 in the C-USA East. Henson said he knows what 49ers coaches are telling their players.

“Charlotte is a much better team than what they’ve shown in the the last six ball games,” he said. “So they’re talking to their guys about a fresh start. They played well against Marshall (in the) second game (last weekend). They’re on a clean slate, ready to play better basketball. But I like where we’re at, and that’s what we’re concerned about right now.”

Jhivvan Jackson. UTSA beat Southwestern Adventist from Keene, Texas, 123-43 in a non-conference game on Thursday, March 4, 2021, at the UTSA Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Jhivvan Jackson led the C-USA in scoring at 20.7 points per game en route to first-team, all-conference honors for the third straight season. — Photo by Joe Alexander

For the 49ers, the task will center on slowing a Roadrunners’ offensive attack that has averaged 82.5 points in its last 11 games. Led by guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace, UTSA is shooting 47.9 percent in that stretch.

“It’s such a good feeling, knowing that everybody can step up at any moment,” Rodriguez said. “What I enjoy the most out of that, is that we all trust each other. You know, we trust each other to make that extra pass. To give the ball to the man that’s open. Whenever we need it. And everybody makes plays. The right plays. Especially recently. The most recent games.

“The ball movement is beautiful. With great shots. That shows that you can trust each other.”

Coming off a knee injury, Rodriguez played 16 minutes last week against Southwestern Adventist and is expected to be ready to play against the 49ers.

Records

Charlotte 9-15, 5-11
UTSA 14-10, 9-7

Looking ahead

If the Roadrunners win Wednesday, they would advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Western Kentucky, featuring 6-foot-11 center and former San Antonio schoolboy Charles Bassey, is the No. 1 seed in the C-USA East.

Two victories would send the Roadrunners into Friday’s semifinals against either the UAB Blazers, the Marshall Thundering Herd or the Rice Owls. Rice won Tuesday on opening night, eliminating Southern Miss, 61-52.

UTSA senior Keaton Wallace goes to the bench in the second half Thursday in the Roadrunners' final home game of the season. - photo by Joe Alexander

Senior Keaton Wallace goes to the bench in the second half last Thursday in the Roadrunners’ final home game. Wallace enters the postseason averaging 16.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists. – Photo by Joe Alexander

The Thundering Herd and the Owls will play Wednesday at 6 p.m., with the winner moving on to the quarterfinals to meet the Blazers, the No. 2 seed in the C-USA West Division.

The semifinals are set for Friday and the finals on Saturday.

Western Kentucky, UAB (No. 2, West), Louisiana Tech (No. 1, West) and Old Dominion (No. 2, East) all have byes into Thursday’s quarterfinals, meaning that each would need to win three games in three days to win the tournament. Teams playing on Wednesday, like UTSA, would need to win four games in four days.

In the C-USA, the seventh-seeded Houston Cougars in 2010 were the last team to win four times in four days to earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Since then, three teams seeded outside the top four (Middle Tennessee in 2015, Old Dominion in 2016 and Marshall in 2017) have won three games to play in the C-USA finals. Each one of them ran out of steam and lost in the championship game to a team that only had to win twice to get there.

Quotable

In a zoom interview Monday, Wallace said he thinks the Roadrunners have enough depth on the roster to win four games this week. “Most definitely,” he said. “We have confidence in all our teammates. Recently, we’ve been probably like eight-nine (players) deep in our rotation. Everybody plays their part. Everybody chips in. We’ve had a lot of success the last few games, so we expect to keep that going.”

Notable

NCAA tournament selections will be announced on Sunday. At the moment, two prominent media projections have installed Western Kentucky as the only C-USA team to make the NCAAs. Jerry Palm of cbssports.com projects the Hilltoppers as a No. 12 seed. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has penciled them in as a No. 13 seed.

Kemba Walker’s 10-year-old miracle still resonates

Ten years have passed since guard Kemba Walker led the UConn Huskies on a wild ride to the Big East Conference title and, ultimately, to the NCAA title.

It was perhaps the only time in recent memory that a school’s performance in a major conference tournament ever equaled that of an ensuing ride at the national level in terms of how fans would come to view the accomplishment years after the fact.

What the Huskies did at Madison Square Garden in 2011 still seems unthinkable. They won five game in five days to win the Big East crown.

All that comes to mind for me today with the Conference USA championships opening in Frisco.

For Southern Miss and Rice, playing today in the preliminary round for the right to advance into the main bracket, Walker’s achievement stands as a testament that anything can happen in a tournament setting.

Even if you have to win as many as five games in five days to reach the NCAA’s Big Dance.

For seven other C-USA teams who start play on Wednesday, they’ll need to win four in four days. That eight-team group includes the UTSA Roadrunners, who open the tournament Wednesday afternoon against Charlotte.

Finally, for the select four with byes into Thursday’s quarterfinals, the dream can be secured with three wins in three days.

From a historical perspective, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, UAB Blazers, Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and Old Dominion Monarchs would seem to hold a massive advantage over the others.

In 24 previous C-USA tournaments — last year’s wasn’t completed because of the pandemic — the conference has never crowned a champion that won five games in five days, and only two previous tournaments in years past have been structured in such a way, with five rounds. In all the others, only four champions have been crowned after winning four games in four days.

According to the brackets, only the 1997 Marquette Golden Eagles, the 1999 Charlotte 49ers, the 2000 Saint Louis Billikens and the 2010 Houston Cougars have danced through the C-USA tournament with an improbable 4-0 record during a 96-hour period. To me, it was surprising to find that while going through the records.

Going into my research, I really didn’t think I’d find more than one or two.

As a long-time hoops fan who probably has spent far too much time in my life following March Madness, I could only think of one other situation when a team pulled off such a head-slapping achievement.

Going in, I remembered that the 2006 Syracuse Orange did the four-in-four thing at another memorable Big East tournament.

But I had forgotten the account of the team’s championship celebration, when one reporter pointed out that Syracuse star Gerry McNamara had made a bigger splash in the New York tabloids that week than even Paris Hilton.

I asked UTSA coach Steve Henson on a recent zoom conference if he had a favorite memory of a team that had won four games in a conference tournament, and he didn’t know of one right off the top of his head.

“When we were coaching at UNLV, I think we probably just won three in a row in two different years,” he said. “I don’t think it was a four-game situation. Those memories are pretty special. There was a stretch in the Mountain West where New Mexico was always good. San Diego State was always good. Two years in particular, us and BYU were the two best teams.

“BYU won the regular season two years in a row. Then we knocked them off in the conference tournament two years in a row. That was pretty special. Unbelievable atmosphere.

“In the Mountain West, there could not have two semifinal games … with a better atmosphere that we had in those games at the Thomas and Mack Center (in Las Vegas). San Diego State traveled well. BYU traveled well. New Mexico traveled well. Atmosphere was unbelievable … For us to beat the regular-season champions two years in a row, was pretty special.

“To win four in a row is a little bit tougher, but that’s our task.”

Hey. it is a tall task. But it’s not as rare as you might think. As a matter of fact, the Appalachian State Mountaineers on Monday night completed a four-wins-in- four-days romp through the Sun Belt Conference tournament.

Michigan did it in 2017 in the Big Ten tournament in Washington D.C. after its charter air craft, en route to the event, slid off the runway and crashed. At the time, Wolverines coach John Beilein said his players were “a little banged up and shook up” after the experience, but then they went on to beat Illinois, Purdue, Minnesota and Wisconsin on consecutive days.

Austin Peay did it in 2016 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Houston, with Tom Penders in his final year as a Division I head coach, was the last team in Conference USA to pull it off. In 2010, with a team led by Aubrey Coleman, Kelvin Lewis, Maurice McNeil and San Antonio’s Adam Brown, Houston claimed the C-USA crown as the No. 7 seed. The Cougars knocked off East Carolina, Memphis, Southern Miss and, finally, top-seeded UTEP in one remarkable week in Tulsa.

UTSA, in turn, has won three in three days but never four. The Roadrunners did the three-in-three thing in 1988 in Daytona Beach, Fla., when they claimed their first NCAA berth out of the old Trans America Athletic Conference. They won two games in 1999, three in 2004 and three in 2011 in their other three conference title conquests. But, never in a three-day period as they did under the late Ken Burmeister in ’88.

So, boiling it all down, the Roadrunners will face an uphill challenge this week rivaling a drive up the winding roads on Pike’s Peak.

At the same time, they do have a couple of dangerous offensive threats in Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace. They do have some confidence instilled by a 9-2 record over their last 11 games. And they did win some of those games with defense that seems much-more suited to conference tournament-style play than what fans may have seen last November and December.

All that’s missing, if you look at it from a historical perspective, is magic.

It’s the magic that some fans in New York are still talking about 10 years after Walker scored 130 points (combined) on five opponents, turning his five-day stay in the city into the stuff of basketball legend.

C-USA honors go to UTSA’s Jackson, Wallace, Ivy-Curry

Jordan Ivy-Curry. UTSA beat Southwestern Adventist from Keene, Texas, 123-43 in a non-conference game on Thursday, March 4, 2021, at the UTSA Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Jordan Ivy-Curry finished the regular season fourth on the team in scoring at 7.1 points per game. — Photo by Joe Alexander

Haunted by poor shooting through his first eight games in college basketball, UTSA freshman Jordan Ivy-Curry eventually re-discovered his touch.

As a result, Ivy-Curry started to flourish as an all-around player in his first year with the Roadrunners, and on Monday, he joined seniors Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace in winning honors announced by Conference USA.

For the third year in a row, Jackson was named first-team all-conference. Also for the third straight year, Wallace was named to the second team. This time, they were joined by Ivy-Curry, who was named to the C-USA all-freshman team.

The Roadrunners, one of the hottest teams in the conference, were scheduled to practice in San Antonio for the last time Monday afternoon before boarding a bus bound for Frisco. They’ll work out again Tuesday in Frisco as the tournament opens at The Star with preliminary round games.

On Wednesday afternoon, they Roadrunners will play the Charlotte 49ers in a second-round game.

‘Juice’ makes his mark

In the first third of a 24-game season, Ivy-Curry had yet to live up to his reputation as a high-octane scorer. As a high school senior, he averaged more than 30 points a game at La Marque. But with the Roadrunners, his shot would not fall — at least, not initially.

In his first eight games, Ivy-Curry was playing off the bench and shooting a meager 32.6 from the field. From three-point range, he was way off the mark — 0-for-13. All that started to change on Jan. 2. ‘Juice’ hit a three out of the corner and finished 5 of 14 overall in a road loss at Rice. Coaches stayed with him, and he kept getting better.

For the season, he played in all 24 games, averaging 7.1 points and 2.8 rebounds in 19.7 minutes. He was also good in terms of moving the ball on offense and in defending the perimeter. Down the stretch, his three-point shooting touch returned. In his last 16 games, he hit 22 of 45 from distance for 48.9 percent.

Rodriguez improving

UTSA coach Steve Henson said in a zoom conference with reporters that junior forward Adrian Rodriguez has practiced well. “In another 2 or 3 days, hopefully he’ll be close to 100 percent,” the coach said.

Rodriguez hurt his knee on Feb. 6 in at Florida International and sat out the next three games. On Feb. 27, he played two minutes at home against the UAB Blazers. Last Thursday, Henson played him 16 minutes in UTSA’s tune-up against Southwestern Adventist. Rodriguez had 12 points and seven rebounds.

Trying to make history

For the Roadrunners to claim the C-USA’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, they will need to win four games in four days in the pressure cooker of a single-elimination event.

UTSA has never executed such a four-in-four conference tournament run in its previous 39 seasons of basketball.

In 1988, a Ken Burmeister-coached UTSA squad claimed the school’s first NCAA berth when it won three games in three days to claim the Trans America Athletic Conference title at Daytona Beach, Fla.

In 1999, the first of two Tim Carter-coached NCAA teams won two games in two days for the Southland championship in Shreveport, La.

In 2004, Carter took his team to the NCAA dance once again as Southland titlists with three wins in five days. The Roadrunners won in San Antonio, in Hammond, La., and then in San Antonio again (against Stephen F. Austin).

In 2011, the Brooks Thompson-coached Roadrunners won three games in four days to win a Southland championship at the Merrell Center in Katy.

Coming up

Conference USA tournament. UTSA vs. Charlotte, Thursday at 5:30 p.m., at The Star in Frisco.

Records

UTSA 14-10, 9-7
Charlotte 9-15, 5-11