Monthly Archives: March 2024

Friday-night expectations? UTSA’s Orloski embraces the challenge

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Starting pitcher Robert Orloski. UTSA lost to UT-Arlington 10-9 in the Roadrunners' baseball season opener on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Nineteen-year-old freshman Rob Orloski is expected to get the ball to pitch tonight for the UTSA Roadrunners. UTSA opens a three-game series at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Chapman Field. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Hit hard in his first two starts as a collegian, UTSA freshman pitcher Rob Orloski showed signs last week that he can handle the Friday-night expectations.

Whether he starts or enters in long relief tonight at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the 19-year-old righthander hopes to build on last Friday’s performance, when he carried the load in a 12-0 victory at home over Grand Canyon University.

Fischer Kingsbery, Orloski and Cooper Hrbacek combined to limit the explosive Lopes to four hits in the first shutout by Roadrunners pitching since 2022.

Orloski, the player of the year in Idaho in 2022, worked six innings from the third through the eighth, allowing only three hits.

Facing a good offensive ball club, the 6-foot-4 righthander struck out seven and walked two and allowed a baserunner to reach third only once.

Afterward, his teammates gave him the game ball in the locker room.

“That was awesome,” Orloski said. “I mean, I got to thank God and the coaches for giving me the opportunity to keep pitching on Friday. To give me the opportunity to go out and prove myself. It’s a surreal moment.

“It’s something that you dream of, just, getting the opportunity to pitch on Friday as a freshman and getting the win and helping the team win.”

Securing his first victory in the combined shutout was meaningful for him.

“Fish started off the game great (with) two clean innings,” Orloski said. “Then, me going in there and having some help from the defense. And then Cooper being able to shut it out, it was a great game for the team.”

Orloski’s transition from high school to college has been bumpy at times.

Named to start in UTSA’s season opener, he yielded six runs and was tagged with the loss in a 10-9 setback to UT-Arlington. In his second start, the Roadrunners beat the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 7-6 at the Sugar Land Classic, but Orloski once again gave up six runs on six hits.

Combined, Arlington and SFA unloaded on him for five home runs.

At the same time, UTSA coaches weren’t really sweating it because while his pitch location needed improvement, his raw talent was obvious. Through three starts, Orloski has shown that he likes to challenge hitters, utilizing a fastball that seems to have late explosion.

He has struck out 20 in 15 innings of work.

UTSA coach Pat Hallmark’s assessment of Orloski in the days leading into the season opener seem to be holding up. “Eventually,” Hallmark said at the time, “Rob’s going to be a very good college pitcher, so we might as well start finding out when right now.”

For Orloski, a baseball journey that started with major league games he would watch on television in his Idaho home has been quite the experience, already.

In many ways, it’s been a quintessential American experience, starting with a dream and then with a question to his father.

“Dad, do you think I could pitch?” he would say, in not so many words.

Robert Orloski, the pitcher’s father, has been supporting his son in his diamond ball field pursuits ever since.

“He’s been my coach from 8- to 12U,” Orloski said Tuesday afternoon, outside the dugout at Roadrunner Field “He even helped (me) in high school. So he’s always been there coaching.

“Just, step by step. Teaching me to just be strong on the mound. Always attack. Just have that mentality on the field.”

Orloski’s demeanor on the mound? A lot of it comes from years of conversations with his father at the kitchen table, in the car, or on the lake fishing for bass.

“He’s just been able to teach me the basics,” Orloski said. “I’ve had good coaches all the way (up), teaching me more of the advanced stuff. But he’s really been the one to teach me my mentality on the field.”

In 2022, Orloski reached a pivotal moment in his career. He was named player of the year as a junior at Middlegton High School in his home state and then started fielding inquiries from college coaches.

“I had a few other options up in the Northwest, in the Oregon area (and) the Washington area,” he said. “Main reason I came down here was because of the coach. Coach Hallmark, coach (Zach) Butler and (Ryan) Aguayo. I had family down here. So it was an easy move. An easy decision for me, I think.”

After completing his high school career in 2023, Orloski came to another crossroads. The Boston Red Sox drafted him in the 20th round in July.

“It was a pretty awesome call,” Orloski said. “I mean, I was super ecstatic about it. (It’s) still a surreal moment for me knowing that I got drafted by the Red Sox. I couldn’t be happier to be here right now, but it’s still awesome.”

Orloski acknowledged that he gave serious thought to the idea of going straight from high school baseball into the pros.

“Tough decision,” he said. “It was a tough road. It was stressful at times. But when it all came down to it, after getting drafted and knowing the situation, I knew I wanted to come down here (to UTSA).

“Getting an education … has always been a goal of mine. Getting a diploma and everything. So I think school and coming here has been a great choice for me. I don’t regret a thing.”

For Orloski, making the move from Idaho to Texas came with a twist. He wasn’t the only one in his family making it. His parents — Robert and Angela — have since moved into the area, as well.

They’re living in the Canyon Lake area.

“It’s nice to be able to be with them and go do stuff” Orloski said. “Like, going fishing at Canyon Lake. It’s been fun. Going there with my dad and my uncle. It’s been fun. An easy transition.”

UTSA coaches would agree that it’s been fun to watch Orloski develop as a player, although from another standpoint, the largemouth bass at Canyon Lake may not be completely thrilled with his move into the area with a rod and reel in hand.

“I haven’t gone too much,” Orloski said. “But it’s been fun when I’ve gone. Caught three or four each time.”

Coming up

Three-game series at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Chapman field, starting tonight at 7. Series continues Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

Records

UTSA 7-6
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 7-8

Say, what? UTSA women’s basketball isn’t mentioned in AAC postseason honors

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA Roadrunners have been shut out in individual postseason honors for women’s basketball announced Friday by the American Athletic Conference.

UTSA finished 16-13 overall and 10-8, in a tie with South Florida, for fourth place. In the upcoming AAC tournament, UTSA will take the fourth seed and a double bye into its opening game Monday in Fort Worth at Dickies Arena.

UTSA failed to receive mention in the awards despite performances from center Elyssa Coleman (10.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game) and guard Kyra White (10.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists).

Also, a pair of UTSA freshmen — guard Aysia Proctor (10.3 points, 5.1) and forward Idara Udo (8.0 points, 6.2 rebounds) — played well. Jordyn Jenkins, the Conference USA Player of the Year last season, averaged 14 points and 7.3 rebounds in seven games since returning from a knee injury.

2023-24 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HONORS

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Temira Poindexter, F, Tulsa

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Danae McNeal, G, East Carolina

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Vittoria Blasigh, G, South Florida

COACH OF THE YEAR
Jason Burton, North Texas

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER
Delanie Crawford, G, Tulsa

SIXTH PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Dyani Robinson, G, North Texas

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
DesiRay Kernal, F, North Texas
Romi Levy, F, South Florida

AMBASSADOR AWARD
Chantae Embry, F, SMU

ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
Dazia Lawrence, G, Charlotte
Danae McNeal, G, East Carolina*
DesiRay Kernal, F, North Texas
Tommisha Lampkin, F, North Texas
Temira Poindexter, F, Tulsa*

ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM
Madison Griggs, G, Memphis
Romi Levy, F, South Florida
Tiara Young, G, SMU
Tiarra East, G, Temple
Delanie Crawford, G, Tulsa

ALL-CONFERENCE THIRD TEAM
Denim DeShields, G, UAB
Mia Moore, G, UAB
Malia Fisher, F, Rice
Aleah Nelson, G, Temple
Daniela Abies, F, Wichita State

ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM
Mia Moore, G, UAB
Tatyana Wyche, F, East Carolina
Alasia Smith, F, Memphis
DesiRay Kernal, F, North Texas*
Romi Levy, F, South Florida

* denotes unanimous selection

Baseball: UTSA smashes four homers in 21-4 victory over Tarleton

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Trailing by two runs early, the UTSA Roadrunners sent 13 batters to the plate in a seven-run second inning Wednesday night, rolling to an easy 21-4 victory over the Tarleton State Texans.

All told, UTSA stroked 19 hits and four home runs in the midweek home game at Roadrunner Field, avenging a 14-10 loss to the Texans in Stephenville on Feb. 20.

Caleb Hill, Alexander Olivo, James Taussig and Tye Odom all homered for the Roadrunners, who have scored 58 runs in five games since Feb. 27, a nine-day run in which they have compiled a 4-1 record.

Freshman Diego Diaz produced four hits, while Odom and Matt King had three apiece.

Righthander Fischer Kingsbery (1-1) pitched to four batters in relief and struck out all of them for the Roadrunners, who blanked the Texans in six straight innings from the third through the ninth.

Records

Tarleton State 9-5
UTSA 7-6

Coming up

UTSA at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Friday, 7 p.m.

Notable

James Taussig, a 6-foot-5, left-side hitter, has homered in three consecutive games. The Houston native has eight RBIs in his last four. Olivo and Hill had two hits apiece against Tarleton and raised their batting averages to .438 and .419, respectively. Kingsbery. a right-handed pitcher, has yielded no runs on two hits in five innings over his last three appearances. In that span, he has struck out nine and walked none.

UTSA women win, seize a No. 4 seed in the AAC tournament

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Idara Udo. UTSA beat Rice 60-52 in American Athletic Conference women's basketball on Tuesday, March 5, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

The American Athletic Conference tournament opens Saturday in Fort Worth, but freshman Idara Udo and the UTSA Roadrunners have earned a double bye all the way through to Monday’s quarterfinals.- Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

For the UTSA women’s basketball team, its winning formula Tuesday night was a lot like so many others this season. Appy pressure on defense. Rebound with a fury. On the offensive end, pound the ball into the paint and make the opponent stand up to a physical style.

Once again, the Roadrunners made it all work. Despite their own offensive struggles, they opened a 12-point lead at halftime, held a 15-point advantage after three quarters and bullied their way to a 60-52 victory over the Rice Owls.

With the victory, the Roadrunners finished the regular season 16-13 and clinched a tie for fourth in the American Athletic Conference at 10-8.

Elyssa Coleman. UTSA beat Rice 60-52 in American Athletic Conference women's basketball on Tuesday, March 5, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Elyssa Coleman produced 14 points and six rebounds in the regular-season finale against Rice despite foul trouble that limited her to 17 minutes. – Photo by Joe Alexander

About 90 minutes after the game was completed, the AAC on its website posted a bracket indicating the Roadrunners would be the No. 4 seed in the five-day AAC postseason tournament, which will open on Saturday at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.

A double bye will place UTSA in a strong position to claim the conference’s postseason title. In other words, the team will get to skip past play on Saturday and Sunday and will get to start in the quarterfinal round on Monday, March 11.

With such an advantageous placement in the bracket, the Roadrunners will need to win only three games in three days to clinch the AAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Before the conference posted its bracket, UTSA coach Karen Aston said in her postgame news conference that she believes the Roadrunners, picked to finish eighth in the conference’s preseason poll, would get the No. 4 seed. “I think we’re fourth, unless I’m missing something, and I don’t think I am,” she said.

AAC teams receiving double byes into the tournament quarterfinals will be No. 1 Tulsa, No. 2 North Texas, No. 3 Temple and UTSA.

Tulsa and North Texas both won Tuesday night and finished 13-5, while Temple, at 12-5, plays its finale on Wednesday at home against FAU.

Officially, UTSA and South Florida have tied for fourth in the standings at 10-8. But with the Roadrunners having beaten the Bulls 65-42 in San Antonio on Jan. 16, they get No. 4 seed via the two-team tiebreaker, which is based on the one and only head-to-head meeting this season.

“I’m really proud of the way the team played tonight,” Aston said. “I know that they haven’t necessarily been in that situation before, where the stakes were as high as they were today. They knew first of all that if they didn’t win, they had a chance to get in that bottom four and play the first day (on Saturday).

“We’ve been talking about that since Day 1 … that it’s a difficult track if you have to play that first day. So I think that was on their minds and they were ready to play. I could tell they were ready to go at shootaround. I thought the last five minutes, we got a little bit tight, and maybe tried to play not to lose.

Jordyn Jenkins. UTSA beat Rice 60-52 in American Athletic Conference women's basketball on Tuesday, March 5, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Jordyn Jenkins came through in the last minute with five of her 14 points as the Roadrunners fended off a late Rice Owls rally. – Photo by Joe Alexander

“But that’s a learning process.”

Aston said that by posting a winning record in conference play, UTSA has put itself into a position to play in a postseason tournament, no matter what happens to the Roadrunners in Fort Worth at the AAC.

“It could be one of three tournaments,” UTSA’s third-year coach said. “We hope it’s the big one (the NCAA tournament), but the fact is, we’re eligible for postseason and that’s just an unbelievable feat in the time that we’ve been trying to build this program.”

Initially, after UTSA completed the game and secured the victory, players looked almost as exhausted as they were exuberant. It was a physical game. They had the upper hand for most of it, but the Owls made a run at the end behind post Malia Fischer, who produced 30 points and 12 rebounds.

Later, after the Roadrunners sang the school song at halfcourt, players were informed that all the dominoes had fallen their way on the last night of the season, meaning that they likely had attained the double bye. In unison, they celebrated, with some of them smiling broadly, some of them clapping and others just screaming.

UTSA redshirt junior Elyssa Coleman told reporters that she doesn’t think the Roadrunners have a so-called ‘ceiling’ in terms of how far they might advance in the AAC and beyond. “It’s really cool,” she said, “like in my first year (in 2021-22), winning that first conference game was like a Super Bowl win for us.”

Coleman, playing only 17 minutes because of foul trouble, finished with 14 points and six rebounds. Jordyn Jenkins, playing in only her eighth game of the season, produced 14 points and nine boards.

After spending most of the past year rehabilitating a knee injury, Jenkins came up big at the end of the game against the Owls, scoring five points in the final 30 seconds to help the Roadrunners close out the game.

Freshman Idara Udo also played a major role, scoring 10 points and pulling down 11 rebounds, including six on the offensive end. As a team, UTSA outrebounded Rice, 45-41. The Roadrunners held the Owls to 30 percent shooting on 18 of 60 from the field.

Kyra White. UTSA beat Rice 60-52 in American Athletic Conference women's basketball on Tuesday, March 5, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Senior guard Kyra White played 35 minutes and totaled seven points, two assists and two rebounds. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Sidney Love. UTSA beat Rice 60-52 in American Athletic Conference women's basketball on Tuesday, March 5, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Sidney Love had four points, seven rebounds and two assists. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Records

Rice 15-14, 9-9
UTSA 16-13, 10-8

Coming up

AAC women’s basketball championship

Saturday, March 9
Game 1: No. 13 Wichita State vs. No. 12 Florida Atlantic – 4 p.m.| ESPN+
Game 2: No. 14 Tulane vs. No. 11 SMU – 6 p.m. | ESPN+

Sunday, March 10
Game 3 – No 9 East Carolina vs. No. 8 Memphis – Noon | ESPN+
Game 4 – Game 1 winner vs. No. 5 South Florida – 2 p.m. | ESPN+
Game 5 – No. 10 Rice vs. No. 7 UAB – 6 p.m. | ESPN+
Game 6 – Game 2 winner vs. No. 6 Charlotte – 8 p.m. | ESPN+

Monday March 11
Game 7 – Game 3 winner vs. No. 1 Tulsa – Noon | ESPN+
Game 8 – Game 4 winner vs. No. 4 UTSA – 2 p.m. | ESPN+
Game 9 – Game 5 winner vs. No. 2 North Texas – 6 p.m. | ESPN+
Game 10 – Game 6 winner vs. No. 3 Temple – 8 p.m. | ESPN+

Tuesday, March 12
Game 11 – Semifinal 1, Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner – 6 p.m. | ESPN+
Game 12 – Semifinal 2, Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner – 8 p.m. | ESPN+

Wednesday, March 13
Game 13 – Championship, Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner – 6 p.m. | ESPNU

–From the AAC website

Aysia Proctor. UTSA beat Rice 60-52 in American Athletic Conference women's basketball on Tuesday, March 5, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Freshman Aysia Proctor hit three of six from the field and had six points and three rebounds. – Photo by Joe Alexander

First half

After misfiring on 10 straight shots in the second quarter, the UTSA Roadrunners started to make a move.

Finally breaking through on the offensive end, they scored 10 points in two minutes. Near the end of the streak, the Roadrunners trapped at midcourt, forced a turnover and turned it into a Jordyn Jenkins fast-break layup.

Pressured again by the Roadrunners, the Owls finally took advantage and turned it into a Malia Fischer layup for the final points of the half. UTSA ducked into the dressing room leading 30-18.

For the Roadrunners, it was a productive half in many ways. They forced the Owls into 7 of 26 shooting from the field, including 0 for 9 from the three-point line. They also harassed the Owls into 11 turnovers.

Then again, it felt like the Roadrunners should have been able to open a wider gap than 12 points at intermission.

UTSA hit only 12 of 32 from the floor, with some of the misses coming on clean looks. Despite Rice’s problems offensively, UTSA never led by more than seven in the first quarter. Their 12-point lead was the largest of the half.

Karen Aston. UTSA beat Rice 60-52 in American Athletic Conference women's basketball on Tuesday, March 5, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Third-year coach Karen Aston has led the Roadrunners to a 16-13 record overall, including 10-8 in the American. UTSA hasn’t had a winning record in the regular season since 2014-15 when team went 16-14, which ultimately became 16-15 after a Conference USA tournament loss. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Roadrunners baseball on the upswing leading into home game vs. Tarleton State

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Back-to-back losses at the Sugar Land Classic a few weeks ago left the UTSA Roadrunners searching for that missing something. A day after dropping a 4-1 decision to the Creighton Bluejays, they gave up five early runs to the Lamar Cardinals and lost 5-3 at Constellation Field.

All in all, a 3-5 record at that point wasn’t what anyone in the Roadrunners’ camp wanted or expected.

Not to worry. The Roadrunners turned it around last week with four victories in five games against solid competition, boosting them to 6-6 leading into a Wednesday night home game against the Tarleton State Texans.

The Roadrunners don’t have everything ironed out in their quest to generate early-season momentum. But in a road victory at the University of Houston and two wins in three days at home over the Grand Canyon University Lopes, they have displayed some of the toughness and resilience that Coach Pat Hallmark always likes to see.

“I didn’t think we were real tough initially,” he said Tuesday afternoon. “We do look like we’re getting tougher. We do look like we’re still resilient and that we like to compete. Maybe another box we need to check is to play better defense and run the bases better. We’re starting to hit a little bit. I’m not disappointed in the pitching despite the total runs (allowed). I think we’re still pitching fine.

“The bats need to stay competitive, which they have been, but the next two boxes is that we need to shore up the defense a little bit. We’re pretty inconsistent there. And the baserunning, I got to look (as head coach) in the mirror on all of it. But if the team doesn’t run the bases good, certainly it could be some coaching there. So, we need to run the bases a little better.”

Coming up

Tarlton State at UTSA, Wednesday, 4 p.m.
UTSA at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Friday, 7 p.m.
UTSA at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Saturday, 6:30 p.m.
UTSA at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Sunday, 1 p.m.

UTSA women host Rice in regular-season finale laced with tournament implications

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The stakes are high for the UTSA women’s basketball team as it hosts the Rice Owls tonight in an American Athletic Conference regular-season finale at the Convocation Center. Tipoff between the Roadrunners and the Owls is set for 6:30 p.m.

With the five-day AAC tournament set to open Saturday in Fort Worth, the seeding and the schedule for the 14-team postseason event will be sorted out over the next few days. Much of the picture will come into focus after tonight, with six conference games on the schedule. The final piece of the puzzle is expected to fall into place after Florida Atlantic plays at Temple in the AAC finale on Wednesday night.

The tournament opens Saturday in Fort Worth’s Dickies Arena, with two games involving the AAC’s four lowest seeds. It will continue on Sunday with those two survivors thrown into a mix of teams seeded from fifth through 10th. The top four seeds will gain a double-bye through the bracket and will open play in the quarterfinals on Monday, March 11.

The AAC semifinals are set for March 12, followed by the finals on March 13. The winner of the AAC postseason title will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which has been one of UTSA coach Karen Aston’s goals since she came to San Antonio. In her three years at the helm, the Roadrunners have made steady progress, with this year’s squad showing a capability of beating some of the conference’s strongest teams.

Tonight, both UTSA and Rice will enter the Convocation Center with identical records, 15-13 overall and 9-8 in the conference. Both are among six teams locked into a six-way numerical tie for fourth. With the tangle of teams tied at 9-8, a UTSA team spokesman said it’s possible that the Roadrunners could emerge with a top-four tournament seed or, alternately, he said they also could fall into the bottom four placements.

To attain the best outcome, obviously, the Roadrunners need to beat the Owls.

AAC standings

(AAC women’s basketball standings have been adjusted to reflect the tiebreakers and seedings for the conference tournament. Tulsa, North Texas and Temple have clinched top three seeds)

Tulsa 12-5, 22-8
North Texas 12-5, 22-7
Temple 12-5, 18-11
Charlotte 9-8, 16-13
UTSA 9-8, 15-13
Memphis 9-8, 13-15
UAB 9-8, 18-11
Rice 9-8, 15-13
USF 9-8, 17-13
East Carolina 8-9, 15-13
SMU 8-9, 14-14
Florida Atlantic 6-11, 11-17
Wichita State 4-13, 8-21
Tulane 3-14, 10-18

Note: If the tournament were to start today, UTSA would be seeded fifth, a team spokesman said. Since UTSA is in a six-way tie for fourth, the order of those six teams has been determined by winning percentage only in contests against each other.

Tonight’s schedule

East Carolina at Charlotte, 5:30 p.m.
Wichita State at UAB, 6 p.m.
Tulsa at Tulane, 6 p.m.
Rice at UTSA, 6:30 p.m.
Memphis at North Texas, 6:30 p.m.
South Florida at SMU, 7 p.m.

Wednesday’s schedule

Florida Atlantic at Temple, 6 p.m.
End of regular season

UTSA scores on a wild pitch to win in the ninth inning

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Matt King scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth as UTSA edged the hard-hitting Grand Canyon University Lopes 10-9 Sunday afternoon at Roadrunner Field.

With the win, UTSA took two of three games in the series from Arizona-based GCU. Coming into Sunday, the teams had split a pair, with UTSA winning 12-0 on Friday night and then with GCU bouncing back to score a 9-7 victory on Saturday afternoon.

In the finale, Grand Canyon unleashed a four home-run attack. UTSA answered with 14 hits, including a three-run homer by James Taussig. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Lopes reliever Shawn Triplett threw a breaking pitch in the dirt that got away from the catcher, allowing King to score from third base.

Ruger Riojas pitched four innings of relief to earn the victory. Riojas (3-0) allowed three hits and one run, including a game-tying homer to Dustin Crenshaw in the top of the eighth. Riojas struck out five and walked none.

Records

Grand Canyon 6-5
UTSA 6-6

Coming up

Tarleton State at UTSA, Wednesday, 4 p.m.

Shocker: UTSA rallies behind Ivy-Curry, Carter to win at SMU

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Jordan Ivy-Curry. UTSA beat Tulsa in American Athletic Conference men's basketball on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Jordan Ivy-Curry scored 33 points to lift the UTSA Roadrunners past the SMU Mustangs Saturday in Dallas. Ivy-Curry, shown here in a file photo, hit 12 of 22 shots from the field. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Jordan Ivy-Curry buried a 25-footer from the wing with 15 seconds left Saturday afternoon as the UTSA Roadrunners completed an improbable comeback, rallying from a 13-point deficit to down the SMU Mustangs, 77-73.

Ivy-Curry finished with 33 points for the Roadrunners, who entered the game at SMU’s Moody Coliseum in a tie for last place in the American Athletic Conference.

But after knocking off the fourth-place Mustangs, they have now won three in a row, a streak that started a week ago with a win on the road at North Texas and continued at home against Tulsa.

The victory over SMU was easily UTSA’s best of the season. The Mustangs entered the day at No. 44 nationally in the NET ratings. They were 13-2 at home and 7-0 in AAC home games.

Up until a week ago, they were still in contention for the AAC title.

PJ Carter. Rice beat UTSA 80-76 in American Athletic Conference men's basketball on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

PJ Carter scored eight of his 23 points in the last seven minutes when the Roadrunners outscored the Mustangs in an 18-10 closing kick. – File photo by Joe Alexander

Nonetheless, Ivy-Curry, PJ Carter (23 points), Dre Fuller Jr. (13), Christian Tucker (nine assists) and all their friends supplied the grit to help make the upset victory a reality.

Interviewed in the postgame on the ESPN Plus livestream, Ivy-Curry thanked his teammates for staying together through tough times this season.

“Big shoutout to my teammates,” Ivy-Curry said. “We’ve been through a lot of tough battles. We was on a losing streak and we had to fight some battles, keep going to practice. You know, keeping our head level and staying (together). So I want to give a shoutout to my teammates for staying positive, no matter what the outcome was.”

In the wake of the win, the Roadrunners will get some time off before they play the regular-season finale at home against Temple on March. 10. The AAC men’s basketball tournament opens March 13 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.

For SMU (19-10, 10-6 in the American), the loss might be costly.

The Mustangs entered the day in fourth place in the 14-team AAC. With a top-four finish, teams get a double-bye into the AAC tournament, meaning they will need to win only three games in three days to win it. Teams that finish from fifth place to 10th place must play four games in four days.

With the win, UTSA (11-19, 5-12) likely needs a victory over Temple at home on March 10 and some help to avoid a bottom-four finish, which would result in a five-games in five days route to the automatic NCAA berth.

All that seems improbable. But, who would have guessed a few weeks ago, after the Roadrunners lost at last-place Temple en route to a 1-11 skid that they could ever get the team moving in a positive direction again? Ivy-Curry cited his teammates’ toughness and defensive effort for the turnaround.

Steve Henson. UTSA beat Western Illinois 78-68 in overtime in men's basketball on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Steve Henson’s UTSA Roadrunners have won three in a row leading into a March 10 regular-season finale against the Temple Owls. – File photo by Joe Alexander

“We were always good offensively,” Ivy-Curry said. “But we had to step it up defensively. We’ve been switching (defensively, on screens) a lot so our bigs have stepped it up big-time. They’ve been fighting for the defensive rebounds and the offensive rebounds.

“Our toughness has been lacking, and we’ve been bringing it these last few games. That’s what it is. Our toughness is the reason we won these last few games.”

A decisive run

With 7:18 remaining in the game, the SMU faithful felt pretty good about the home team’s chances. That’s when guard Zhuric Phelps connected on a driving layup, drew a foul and sank a free throw, boosting the Mustangs into a four-point lead.

From there, UTSA played what might go down as its best stretch of the season, outscoring SMU 18-10 to the final buzzer. Carter, a 6-foot-5 junior transfer from Georgia Highlands College, scored eight points in the run.

Included in Carter’s late-game heroics were two memorable highlights.

One was a go-ahead three-pointer with 3:50 remaining. Chandler Cuthrell rebounded a miss and dished to Carter, who sank the shot to put UTSA on top, 69-68. Later, Carter topped even that one. Just as SMU’s Tyreek Smith scored with 2:25 left, pulling the Mustangs to within one, Carter drilled another long ball with a hand in his face for a four-point spread.

Trailing 74-70, SMU wouldn’t give in. The Mustangs came down and worked the ball inside. They missed twice from close range, the second one ending in a loose ball that appeared to be kicked across the floor. The ball found its way to Phelps, who rose up and drained another three. It was a shot that reduced UTSA’s lead to one with 92 seconds left.

Christian Tucker. North Texas beat UTSA 59-48 on Thursday, March 3, 2022, at the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Junior guard Christian Tucker passed for nine assists against SMU after notching a conference record-tying 14 last week against Tulsa. – File photo by Joe Alexander

From there, UTSA and SMU traded misses. After SMU’s misfire, the Roadrunners rebounded and called time out with 34 seconds left. Inbounding and working the ball around, the Roadrunners got it to Ivy-Curry, who launched from the right wing. It swished for the final three points of the game. After SMU called time with seven seconds remaining, the arena fell quiet.

A few moments later, it was all over after SMU’s Ricardo Wright missed and Fuller secured the final rebound.

“That feels great man,” Carter told the UTSA radio broadcast. “A thriller, for sure.”

For the game, both Ivy-Curry and Carter played with eye-opening efficiency against one of the conference’s best defensive teams. Ivy-Curry hit 12 of 22 from the field. Carter made eight of 15. They both made five three-point shots apiece.

“Our coaches preach to us — get shots up,” he said. “(They tell us) we’ve got to compete on the offensive end … My teammates believe in me. They make it real easy for me to get shots (and that) puts confidence in me.”

For UTSA, the team’s two most recent trips to the Dallas area have been fruitful.

Last week, the Roadrunners played in Denton and beat North Texas, 64-62, winning in the Super Pit for the first time since 2015. On Saturday, they knocked off a 19-win team that still hopes to play for a championship at the AAC tournament.

“Last two weekends have been pretty good,” UTSA coach Steve Henson said. “Our guys have showed a lot of toughness in both games.”

Halftime

Reversing course from a dismal start, the UTSA Roadrunners battled from behind and made a statement against the SMU Mustangs. The Mustangs withstood the charge and emerged with a 36-34 lead at halftime.

In the beginning, the Mustangs dominated. Employing a physical style, they methodically buried the Roadrunners, surging into a 21-8 lead with a little less than 10 minutes remaining.

UTSA, at times, had trouble getting off a shot against the home team. The Roadrunners mixed turnovers with three-of-13 shooting from the field and found themselves in a rather large hole.

Then, all of a sudden, they flipped the narrative. With Dre Fuller Jr., PJ Carter and Ivy-Curry leading the way, they stunned the Mustangs with a 14-0 run.

Records

UTSA 11-19, 5-12
SMU 19-10, 10-6

Coming up

Temple at UTSA, Sunday, March 10, 2 p.m.
AAC men’s postseason tournament, March 13-16, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth

-Video courtesy of UTSA athletics

Women’s basketball: UTSA wins on the road at Wichita State

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The UTSA women’s basketball team built a 15-point lead in the third quarter and then watched as it dwindled to five down the stretch Saturday afternoon in Wichita, Kan. In the end, the Roadrunners kept their poise and came away with their 15th win of the season, a 68-61 victory in the American Athletic Conference over the Wichita State Shockers at Koch Arena.

Records

UTSA 15-13, 9-8
Wichita State 8-21, 4-13

Coming up

Regular-season finale: Rice at UTSA, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.
AAC women’s basketball tournament, March 9-13, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth