Category Archives: College basketball

UTSA women rout Sam Houston State, 79-36, for their seventh straight win

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UTSA women's basketball beat Sam Houston State 79-36 on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

The UTSA Roadrunners celebrate a winning play Saturday near the end of a 43-point victory over the Sam Houston State Bearkats. UTSA held Sam Houston to 21 percent shooting from the field. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

In a women’s college basketball game held as a salute to educators, the UTSA Roadrunners on Saturday afternoon administered a two-hour tutorial in pressure defense, dismantling the Sam Houston State Bearkats 79-36 at the Convocation Center for their seventh straight victory.

The Roadrunners controlled the action from the outset and then delivered a crushing blow in the second half, outscoring the visitors 41-17 in front of an announced 837 fans.

So much for the idea that UTSA’s travel back from Puerto Rico last Sunday and a week-long layoff would have an effect on the team’s performance.

Jordyn Jenkins. UTSA women's basketball beat Sam Houston State 79-36 on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA forward Jordyn Jenkins, taking it to the basket against Sam Houston, finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds. – Photo by Joe Alexander

“As a coach, I’ll nit-pick a little bit about certain things,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said. ” … We came back from Puerto Rico and I thought we had a little bit of a lag … recovering from it. And then with finals coming up, I think it was a tough week for us, practice-wise. But, again, (I’m) proud of how we started and finished (the game).”

Forward Jordyn Jenkins finished with a 22-point, 10-rebound double double for UTSA.

Idara Udo, on her birthday, produced a season-high 15 points and also eight boards as her teammates won the rebounding battle, 53-27. From the UTSA backcourt, Sidney Love scored 10 points on four of seven shooting and Nina De Leon Negron passed for eight assists.

Junior forward Cheyenne Rowe delivered off the bench, scoring eight points on four of four shooting. Rowe also contributed with six rebounds in 16 minutes.

As a team, UTSA limited Sam Houston to 21.6 percent shooting from the field. While the UTSA defensive effort produced an opponent season low in points, the team played well offensively, as well, running up a point total that represented a season high.

The Roadrunners shot 48 percent from the field as they won their second game in a row by more than 30 points, the first time that has happened in 28 years.

UTSA’s winning streak seems to have developed two phases to it. In the first three games, the Roadrunners’ offense clicked with scores in the 70s and also with high shooting percentages from the field and from the 3-point arc. But in those games, opponents also shot the ball well against them.

When they returned to San Antonio from a two-game road swing to New Mexico State and UTEP, the team’s approach to defense changed a bit, with eye-opening results for the Roadrunners. They have since held their last four opponents to an average of 43 points per game, allowing only 29.7 percent shooting from the field.

Asked what has changed with UTSA’s defense over the last four outings, Aston said, “I honestly think we just re-assessed. When we came back from UTEP, our defense was maybe a little bit too scout-based, up until that point. The coaching staff looked at that and said, ‘Ok, what’s going on here?’

“We sort of just went back to fundamentals and basics, and I think it’s paid off in a sense that, having as many young players as we do, maybe not making them think quite so much about personnel and what the play is, and all that, and just getting back to the basics and concepts.”

Idara Udo. UTSA women's basketball beat Sam Houston State 79-36 on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA center Idara Udo celebrated her birthday by producing a season-high 15 points and eight rebounds. She also won the team’s ‘Cash In’ award for the game. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Early on in Saturday’s matinee, both Sam Houston and UTSA were pressing and trapping aggressively While the Roadrunners weathered the storm of pressure, the Bearkats eventually broke down against their bigger and stronger opponent. In the end, the Roadrunners outscored the visitors 26-10 on points off turnovers.

Jenkins, a power forward, was deployed to trap in the backcourt and came up with three of UTSA’s eight steals on the day.

“I think our press is getting better,” Aston said. “I think there are some things that are getting much better. But we need to take some really big steps … in the next couple of weeks. I mean, I know we have a lot of games. After we get through with finals week (next week) we have three games … in six days.

“But, to be honest, I’m more worried about what we’re doing in the next two weeks … to prepare for conference play. Whatever happens in these (next) three games (at Stanford, at home against UT Arlington and at Texas State) it just happens, because our focus needs to be on preparation for Dec. 29.”

UTSA opens play in the American Athletic Conference at Charlotte on Dec. 29.

Records

Sam Houston State 5-3
UTSA 7-1

Coming up

UTSA at Stanford, Monday, Dec. 16, 2 p.m.

First quarter

With both teams pressing and trapping, the period ended when the Roadrunners produced a 9-0 run in the final 2:20 for a 23-11 lead. Cheyenne Rowe and Maya Linton led the Roadrunners with six points apiece. Linton hit a three with 23 seconds left for the final bucket. Whitney Dunn scored nine in the period for the Bearkats. UTSA forced eight Sam Houston turnovers, while Sam Houston forced six by the home team.

Nina De Leon Negron. UTSA women's basketball beat Sam Houston State 79-36 on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Point guard Nina De Leon Negron continued her strong play by running a fast-break attack and dishing out eight assists – Photo by Joe Alexander

Second quarter

After going scoreless for nearly five minutes, the Roadrunners finished strong, scoring nine points in the final 2:12 of the half. De Leon Negron had a couple of assists and ran for a twisting reverse layup in the last few minutes. Two 3-pointers by Dunn in the last minute kept the Bearkats close.

First half

Pressing and trapping, the UTSA Roadrunners forced 13 turnovers and turned them into 18 points as they opened a 38-23 lead on the Sam Houston State Bearkats. UTSA, playing aggressively, also outrebounded Sam Houston 25-9 and pulled down 13 boards off the offensive glass. Jordyn Jenkins finished the half with 11 points and Idara Udo had seven. Nina De Leon Negron, running the team at point guard, had five assists. Whitney Dunn had 16 points at intermission for Sam Houston.

Third quarter

UTSA’s defense was at its best after intermission, holding Sam Houston to one of 13 shooting and seven points. Playing as many as three freshmen at the end of the period, the Roadrunners outscored the Bearkats and took a 52-30 lead into the fourth.

Notable

The Roadrunners keep setting new standards for team success. Their program-best national NET ranking of 69th as of Saturday morning is destined to improve after another lopsided win. Moreover, their 7-1 start now ranks second only to an 11-1 in 1985-86.

Additionally, they have won two games in a row by more than 30 points each for the first time since 1996-97. UTSA downed Towson, 71-40, last Friday in Puerto Rico. Their 43-point margin of victory over Sam Houston was the largest since an 86-33 victory over Nicholls State on Jan. 14, 2008.

Jordyn Jenkins surpassed the 1,500-point mark in her college basketball career. She entered the day with 1,484 points over two seasons at USC and two-plus at UTSA. She now has 1,506 points in 93 games. UTSA center Idara Udo won the team’s “Cash In” award on her birthday.

UTSA played without 6-foot-4 redshirt senior forward Nyayongah Gony and junior guard Siena Guttadauro. Gony has an injury and sat out a game for the first time this season. Guttadauro won’t play again this season as she steps away for personal reasons. Guttadauro, who made the announcement Friday, has indicated she plans to return to the team for 2025-26, according to an athletics department release.

The California native had a solid summer and started the fall in UTSA’s point guard rotation behind Nina De Leon Negron and Sidney Love.

Kyleigh McGuire, a reserve forward on last year’s UTSA team that reached the WNIT, started for Sam Houston State. She finished with four points, five rebounds and two blocks. Forward Whitney Dunn finished as high scorer for the Bearkats with 16 points. She was held scoreless in the second half.

Sidney Love. UTSA women's basketball beat Sam Houston State 79-36 on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA junior Sidney Love had 10 points on four of seven shooting from the field. Love also had five assists against only two turnovers. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Men’s basketball: Arkansas rallies past UTSA, 75-60

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The Arkansas Razorbacks shot 66.7 percent from the field after intermission, rallying from a five-point halftime deficit to down the UTSA Roadrunners, 75-60, on Saturday afternoon.

The Roadrunners traveled to Arkansas, looking to build on a solid performance in California earlier in the week.

Playing at Moraga, Calif., on Tuesday night, UTSA came back from a 23-point first-half deficit and nearly upset the defending West Coast Conference champion Saint Mary’s Gaels, before falling 82-74 in overtime.

Against the John Calipari-coached Razorbacks, the Roadrunners started the game much better, moving out to a 32-27 lead at intermission.

Hopes were high that they might be able to spring an upset and win a game against a power conference opponent for the first time in 15 years.

But after halftime, Arkansas found its shooting touch and outscored UTSA, 48-28.

Forward Adou Thiero led the Razorbacks with a career-high tying 26 points, and he also pulled down 10 rebounds. Florida Atlantic transfer Johnell Davis contributed 13 points and three assists.

For UTSA, Primo Spears and Marcus Millender gave the Razorbacks fits, especially in the first half. Spears finished with 19 points and Millender 18.

Guard Tai’Reon Joseph, making his UTSA debut after sitting out seven games on an eligibility issue, started the game for the Roadrunners. He had four points, two rebounds and three steals in 21 minutes.

The Roadrunners enjoyed their best moments in the first half, particularly in the last five minutes, when they outscored the Razorbacks 13-6.

Spears hit a couple of 3-pointers and Damari Monsanto nailed one during the stretch. Center Mo Njie dunked with 25 seconds left to boost UTSA into a 32-24 lead.

For Arkansas, DJ Wagner hit a three to bring the Razorbacks to within five at intermission.

In the second half, the Razorbacks went to Thiero early, and he responded. The 6-foot-8 forward dunked and completed a three-point play. Then he hit a jumper. Arkansas completed an 8-0 run when Davis knocked down a three.

As soon as Davis’ shot went down with 16:36 remaining, the Razorbacks flipped the scoreboard and took a 35-32 lead. The Roadrunners would not lead or tie again.

Records

UTSA 3-5
Arkansas 7-2

Coming up

North Dakota at UTSA, Friday, 7 p.m.

Energy boost: Guard Tai’Reon Joseph available to play for UTSA today

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Tai'Reon. The UTSA men's basketball team on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Explosive UTSA guard Tai’Reon Joseph will be available to play today at Arkansas after sitting out the team’s first seven games. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Guard Tai’Reon Joseph is available to play for the UTSA Roadrunners today in a road game at the University of Arkansas.

Joseph, the leading scorer in the Southwestern Athletic Conference last season at Southern (La.), would be making his UTSA debut if he gets into the game against the John Calipari-coached Arkansas Razorbacks.

To this point, he has been ineligible, sitting out the team’s first seven games for what is believed to be academic reasons.

Joseph’s addition to the active roster is expected to supply UTSA with a boost of offensive firepower and another long-armed, perimeter defender.

The 6-foot-3 shooting guard from Baton Rouge rated as a four-star transfer prospect when he committed to the Roadrunners last spring.

Playing for Southern in 2023-24, he led the SWAC in scoring at 20.5 points per game, with 43.8 percent shooting. He also averaged 3.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals.

In 19 games, he scored in double figures 18 times, including 11 games with 20 or more.

During the summer and fall workouts with the Roadrunners, Joseph flashed his potential at open practices by using a quick step to get to the basket. He can dunk with authority.

Records

UTSA 3-4
Arkansas 6-2

Coming up

UTSA at Arkansas, today, 1 p.m.
North Dakota at UTSA, Dec. 13, 7 p.m.
UTSA at North Dakota, Dec. 15, 2 p.m.

Notable

In the opener of a two-game set against their toughest opponents to date, the Roadrunners rallied from a 23-point deficit to tie at the end of regulation before losing 82-74 Tuesday night at Saint Mary’s (Calif.)

Primo Spears scored 24 points, and Marcus Millender had 21 for the Roadrunners. Spears, a Florida State transfer, averages 23.7 points to rank fifth nationally.

The Razorbacks have wins over Lipscomb, Troy, Pacific, Little Rock, Maryland-Eastern Shore and Miami. Arkansas beat Miami 76-73 on Tuesday in Florida for its first win over a Power 4 team this season. Losses have come against Baylor and Illinois.

Rowe says UTSA’s focus has been on defense, defense and … defense

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Cheyenne Rowe. The UTSA women's basketball team beat St. Mary's 90-38 in an exhibition game on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Junior forward Cheyenne Rowe elevated her game in Puerto Rico last week, averaging nine points and four rebounds in wins over UNC Greensboro and Towson. UTSA hosts Sam Houston State Saturday at 1 p.m. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

For the surging UTSA women’s basketball team, one of the most important storylines to emerge from last week’s sweep of two games in Puerto Rico centered on the team’s high level of performance on the defensive end.

But as the Roadrunners returned to San Antonio and then started preparations for Saturday’s home game against the Sam Houston State Bearkats, the focus in practice didn’t seem to change. Not a bit.

Asked about the coaches’ points of emphasis this past week, reserve forward Cheyenne Rowe said succinctly:

“Team defense, team defense and team defense,” she said, smiling

It’s that simple, apparently. The goal is to cut off the Bearkats, who apparently have players who like to drive the ball.

Today, UTSA will be all about “making the court look small,” Rowe said. “Playing defense as a team. Helping each other out (and) being in help defense.

“Because there are so many drivers,” she said, “we have to be there for each other, and when we do that, we can get into good rebounding position.”

Sam Houston (5-2) and UTSA (6-1) will tip off at 1 p.m. in the Convocation Center. The Roadrunners have won six in a row, including a string of three straight wins when they have held opponents to an average of 45.3 points.

During that streak, UTSA has limited opponents to 32.6 percent shooting, including only 25.8 percent from the 3-point line.

After UTSA knocked off Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 62-43, on Nov. 20 in San Antonio, the team journeyed to Puerto Rico and walloped UNC Greensboro, 62-53, and Towson, 71-40, last Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Rowe said coaches didn’t let up in their drive to preach defense leading into this week’s one and only game against Sam Houston.

“Just because you’re doing good at something, doesn’t mean you stop working on it,” Rowe said. “So, that’s what we’re doing.”

With two relatively comfortable victories last week, another storyline emerged, with Head Coach Karen Aston going to the bench freely to play her reserve players.

The maneuver seemed to benefit Rowe, in particular, who produced eight points and five rebounds in 10 minutes against Greensboro and a career-high 10 points and three rebounds in 16 minutes against Towson.

In the two games combined, the 6-foot-2 junior from Ajax, Ontario in Canada hit eight of 14 shots from the field.

“One way to describe her compared to last year is that she’s comfortable with the system, the expectations and how we do things,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said. “She’s very comfortable, which enables her to play a little more (freely) and not worry about mistakes.

Continued Aston: “She’s in better shape. She’s spent a lot of time in the gym. Shoots a lot. She spent a lot of time this summer working on her game, and I think it’s just now starting to translate into games.”

UTSA has a talented frontcourt with Jordyn Jenkins headlining the group.

Jenkins, a high-scoring power forward, starts on the front line along with center Idara Udo. Backing up are Nyayongah Gony and Rowe, a second-year Roadrunner who started her college career with one season at James Madison.

Waiting in the wings is 6-foot-5 freshman Emilia Dannebauer.

After the team’s first four games, Rowe’s production was down, as her playing time fluctuated between seven and 14 minutes.

Staying on the floor was a challenge.

“I honestly don’t know what was going on,” she said. “It was just the nerves, probably. And then, now that I’m used to everything, my body’s used to it, game-time speed. Everything’s falling into place now, I think.”

Rowe’s talents range far beyond the basketball court.

In the classroom, she is one of the team’s brightest students, taking a double major in psychology and Japanese as a member of the UTSA honors college program.

While Rowe is fluent in Japanese, she also plays piano. Additionally, one of her long-range goals with the psychology major is to work for NASA one day.

A group on campus introduced her to the idea about a year ago.

“That’s when I realized that being a psychologist at NASA was a thing,” she said, “and I really love space and everything astro-physics, so I figured that would be a good combination of my two passions.”

Rowe is optimistic about the team’s continued success.

“Winning is always a really good feeling,” she said. “I think our team has realized where we’re at right now and I think we’re prepared to get in the gym and work harder, focus on what we need to improve on. Focus on our weaknesses and get better from there.”

Records

Sam Houston State (5-2)
UTSA (6-1)

Coming up

Sam Houston State at UTSA, 1 p.m.
UTSA at Stanford, Monday, Dec. 16, 2 p.m.

UTSA coach Karen Aston shrugs off ranking, saying, ‘We got a long way to go’

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Update: UTSA guard Siena Guttadauro announced through an athletics spokesman on Friday that she will be stepping away from basketball for the remainder of the 2024-25 season for personal reasons. Guttadauro is planning to return for the 2025-26 season, according to the statement.

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

In the wake of a six-game winning streak, the UTSA women’s basketball team landed at No. 57 nationally in the NCAA’s NET rankings earlier this week. The Roadrunners were 64th on Thursday when they took the floor for an afternoon workout at the Convocation Center.

Without data to know for sure, it’s likely the highest ranking for the UTSA women since the NET came into play in women’s basketball in 2020-21, when officials started to use it to help evaluate teams for selection and seeding in the NCAA tournament.

Regardless, UTSA is at least momentarily the highest NET-ranked team in The American Athletic Conference as it prepares to play a non-conference home game on Saturday against Sam Houston State.

Without placing too much emphasis on their top-64 stature in the first week of the metric’s publication, Roadrunners coach Karen Aston said it’s good to know her players and her program have been noticed.

“Anytime you’re in a better position than you’ve been in the past, it’s a good feeling,” she said. “Obviously you don’t put a lot of weight into it right now. But, I’m proud of where we are. No question, we have not been in that spot since I’ve been here, for sure.

“So, I’m proud of ’em and would like to see ’em get better.”

After UTSA, Tulane came in at No. 90, with South Florida at 99 and Temple 100 as the highest-ranked teams in the American, according to the rankings as they were published on Thursday morning.

“Yeah, it’s good to know that we’re in that position, but we also understand we got a long way to go,” Aston said. “You know, things happen, and you got to keep getting better. There’s a lot for us to (improve on) but we understand that.”

Part of the challenge this week centered on the team’s travel schedule. After traveling to Puerto Rico and beating North Carolina Greensboro and Towson last week, the Roadrunners returned home Sunday and faced a daunting challenge with their academic regimen.

Preparing for final exams scheduled next week is only part of the challenge for the Roadrunners.

“A lot of players, a lot of students in general, don’t really have a lot of finals anymore,” Aston said. “A lot of times, it’s really the week prior to finals that is really hard, because they have to turn in a lot of stuff, a lot of papers.

“Sometimes their last exam is this week instead of finals week. I’ve discovered that this is actually a harder week than finals week.”

Consequently, the players’ attention to detail at practice this week has been “up and down,” the coach acknowledged.

“Coming off the long road trip and having the week off, you’re anxious and maybe a little leery of them letting their guard down and losing an edge that they had before,” the coach said. “But, I mean, it is what it is. They’ll learn some lessons if they don’t have one on Saturday.”

Soon after Sam Houston State (5-2) beat McMurry 74-53 on Thursday, Aston gathered her Roadrunners (6-1) before practice started and told them about the Bearkats’ guard tandem of Kaila Kelley and Fanta Kone. Kelley scored 21 points in the win and Kone had 14 rebounds and 10 assists.

As a team, the Bearkats forced 30 turnovers against the War Hawks.

“They’re relentless,” Aston said. “They really pressure the ball. They play hard. They’re scrappy and real intentional at ball pressure. The live off of transition and turnovers, so it’ll be a challenge.”

Notable

After almost a year of analysis, the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee decided the time was right for full implementation of NET for 2020-21, with ratings percentage index (RPI) no longer being used.

RPI was created in 1981 to provide supplemental data for the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee in its evaluation of teams for at-large selection and seeding of the championship bracket. The Division I Women’s Basketball Committee began using RPI in 1984.

North Dakota at UTSA game rescheduled for December 13

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The postponed UTSA men’s basketball home game against North Dakota has been rescheduled for Friday, Dec. 13 at the Convocation Center, with tipoff at 7 p.m.

The teams will meet again in Grand Forks, N.D., on Dec. 15 as part of an in-season home-and-home.

North Dakota and UTSA were set to play on Nov. 9 at the Convo, but the game was postponed when severe winter weather across the Rocky Mountains impeded North Dakota’s ability to travel into South Texas.

Coming up

UTSA men at Arkansas, Saturday, 1 p.m.
North Dakota at UTSA, Friday, Dec. 13, 7 p.m.
UTSA at North Dakota, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2 p.m.

Saint Mary’s survives scare and holds off UTSA in overtime, 82-74

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA Roadrunners lost a basketball game but likely gained a significant amount of confidence on Tuesday night in Moraga, Calif.

Down by 23 points in the first half against one of the best teams on the West Coast, the Roadrunners rallied to tie it at the end of regulation, only to see guard Augustas Marciulionis and the Saint Mary’s Gaels pull away in the extra period for an 82-74 victory.

Marciulionis, who led the Gaels had 23 points and eight assists, scored the first basket of overtime and then knocked down two free throws with eight seconds remaining to clinch the victory for the heavily-favored home team.

Primo Spears led the Roadrunners with 24 points, including 19 after intermission. The fifth-leading scorer in NCAA Division I scored eight points in the last five and a half minutes of regulation and five in overtime. Guard Marcus Millender added 21.

UTSA coach Austin Claunch, whose decision to switch from man-to-man to zone defense likely turned the game around, agreed that the Roadrunners could build on the performance against a team that is expected to play in the NCAA tournament.

“That’s why I’m on their butt about a lot of little things, the things we can get better at, because we showed tonight (that we can compete) and now it’s undeniable to them,” Claunch told Andy Everett on the team’s radio broadcast.

“You know,” the coach added, “I think they really turned a corner together (tonight). I thought our staff did a great job, staying poised and making the right adjustments, and I thought our guys just kept getting on to the next play. (Just) really, really proud.”

Who could question that? While UTSA is a program coming off three straight 20-plus loss seasons, Saint Mary’s has strung together 26-plus victories in each of those three years, with NCAA tournament appearances in each of them.

Moreover, the NCAA released its official NET rankings for the first time this week, and on Tuesday morning, Saint Mary’s was 24th among 364 Division I teams, while UTSA was 295th. After the final horn, however, the two teams looked pretty even.

“This is one we can watch and say, ‘We got something here, it’s coming,’ ” said the 35-year-old Claunch, who is working in his first season with the Roadrunners. “You know, whether it’s next game or down the line or three months, UTSA is coming.”

If his players need motivation leading into a road game set for Saturday against the Arkansas Razorbacks, Claunch could show some film of his team’s effort in the second half against Saint Mary’s.

In outscoring the defending West Coast Conference champions 42-28 over a 20-minute period, the Roadrunners forced 10 turnovers and won the rebounding battle, 27-16. On the offensive glass, UTSA held a surprising 13-8 edge.

If the Roadrunners could have cut down on their eight second-half turnovers by just one or two, they might have won the game in regulation. It was a pretty entertaining finish, regardless. Saint Mary’s led by 19 with 11 minutes remaining and by 10 with 8:54 left.

In the final 11 minutes, Millender scored 11 points, while Spears chipped in late with eight. The 6-foot-3 guard from Hartford, Conn., tied the game with six seconds left when he created space on the dribble and hit a pull-up jumper. Saint Mary’s guard Jordan Ross misfired from three at the buzzer to send it to overtime.

In the extra period, the Gaels attacked the Roadrunners’ zone and scored buckets on their first two possessions, one on a right-side drive by Marciulionis and another on a slashing move by Ross. Mitchell Saxen made it a 6-0 run when he hit a couple of free throws, pushing the home team in front, 73-67.

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

Records

UTSA 3-4
Saint Mary’s 8-1

Coming up

UTSA at Arkansas, Saturday, 1 p.m.

First half

At one point midway through the first half, the Roadrunners seemingly were on the verge of getting blown out. The Gaels executed defensively to perfection in the first 12 minutes and built a 30-7 lead. In response, the Roadrunners kept playing and climbed back into contention.

At the end of the half, they misfired on two opportunities to cut the lead to 10, and the Gaels capitalized, getting a dunk from Mitchell Saxen for a 39-25 edge going into intermission.

Marciulionis led the Gaels in the half with 11 points and three assists. The Gaels hurt the Roadrunners in the paint with Saxen producing eight points and six boards. Also, Luke Barrett had six points and eight boards.

For UTSA, Spears was quiet on the offensive end. He hit only two of nine shots and scored five. Millender led the Roadrunners with 10 points on four of seven shooting. Millender connected on two of two from 3-point territory.

In a horrendous start, UTSA hit only three of its first 19 from the field. But, by intermission, the Roadrunners started to find the range, finishing nine of 30.

Notable

Freshman Boogie Fland produced 18 points and six rebounds Tuesday night as the Arkansas Razorbacks rallied to beat the Miami Hurricanes, 76-73, for their first road win of the season. The Razorbacks (6-2) will host UTSA Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark. John Calipari is coaching Arkansas this season after 15 seasons at Kentucky.

UTSA men to play the 7-1 Saint Mary’s Gaels tonight in California

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Boosted by the nation’s fourth-leading scorer and winners of two straight games, the UTSA Roadrunners will take on the Saint Mary’s Gaels in Moraga, Calif., tonight in men’s college basketball.

Tipoff is at 9 p.m. in a game that will be aired on ESPN+.

UTSA has won two straight for the first time this season, with a neutral-site victory against the Merrimack College Warriors and a win at home against Houston Christian Huskies.

Guard Primo Spears led the Roadrunners in both games by averaging 30 points. Spears, who scored a season-high 31 against the Huskies on Saturday in San Antonio, is fourth in scoring in NCAA Division I with 23.7 points per game.

After taking down Houston Christian 78-71, first-year UTSA coach Austin Claunch made it clear that the Roadrunners remained a work in progress and that they’d need improvement to compete against two national brands this week — the Gaels tonight and the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark.

Saint Mary’s, a rival to Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference, is one of the premier mid-major programs in the nation. Coach Randy Bennett is in his 24th season at the school and has won 540 games, taking the Gaels to 10 NCAA tournaments along the way.

Receiving votes in both the AP coaches Top 25 polls, the Gaels opened the season with seven straight victories before losing to Arizona State Friday at Palm Desert, Calif.

Records

UTSA 3-3
Saint Mary’s 7-1

Coming up

UTSA at Saint Mary’s, Calif., tonight at 9.
UTSA at Arkansas, Saturday at 1 p.m.

Notable

The NCAA released its official NET rankings this week, and on Tuesday morning, Saint Mary’s was 24th among 364 Division I teams, while UTSA was 295th.

Lithuanian-born Augustas Marciulionis, the Gaels’ leading scorer and the Player of the Year in the WCC last season, is the son of Naismith and FIBA Hall of Fame player Sarunas Marciulionis. A 6-4 guard, Augustas Marciulionis averages 14 points and 5.5 assists to lead Saint Mary’s in both categories.

Sarunas Marciulionis won three Olympic medals, including a gold in 1988 for the Soviet Union, and bronzes in 1992 and 1996 for Lithuania. He played seven years in the NBA, notably in 1991 helping the seventh-seeded Golden State Warriors upset the No. 2 San Antonio Spurs in a first-round playoff series.

Former Spurs players Patty Mills and Jock Landale played at Saint Mary’s.

UTSA women show signs of maturity after winning on back-to-back days in Puerto Rico

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

A day after jetting back to San Antonio from a holiday tournament in Puerto Rico, the UTSA women’s basketball team returned to work on Monday with wind behind its sails, so to speak.

The Roadrunners swept two games at the Puerto Rico Clasico in San Juan, improving their record to a 6-1 on the season and extending their winning streak to six games.

Coach Karen Aston thanked the UTSA administration for allowing her program to make the trip.

“It was an experience for everyone — the staff, student-athletes,” she said. “We have a lot of people, including myself, who’ve never been to Puerto Rico. It was a great, great atmosphere. Tournament was well done.”

The Roadrunners made the most of their trip by notching victories over the UNC Greensboro Warriors and the Towson Tigers.

After dispatching a once-beaten Greensboro team 62-53 on Thursday morning, UTSA walloped winless Towson 71-40 on Friday, the second day of a back-to-back.

“I thought our team played with a good amount of energy,” Aston said. “It was kind of a long trip, so I was curious to see how we would handle back to back games, with Towson not having played the day before, like we did. I thought our team handled it really well, a sign of a different level of maturity.

“I thought we played good in spurts and definitely had some things that we can get back this week and work on.”

Coming up

Sam Houston State at UTSA, Saturday, 1 p.m.

Notable

Upon release of the NCAA’s NET rankings on Monday, the first release of the season, the UTSA women were ranked No. 57 out of 362 Division I programs, the highest of any team in the American Athletic Conference.

Tulane was 90th, followed by South Florida (99) and Temple (100) among the highest-ranked teams in The American.

Only four other teams in the state were ranked higher than UTSA, with Texas listed third, TCU fifth, Baylor 26th and Stephen F. Austin 48th.

The NET rankings were initiated for the 2018-19 season to replace the RPI.

UTSA men hold off Houston Christian down the stretch, 78-71

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Raekwon Horton. The UTSA men's basketball team beat Houston Christian 78-71 on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Raekwon Horton had 19 points and nine rebounds Saturday as the Roadrunners notched their second straight win. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

For the UTSA Roadrunners, the confidence started to surge earlier this week when they rallied from 14 points down in the final three minutes to beat Merrimack College in Troy, Ala.

It clearly carried over to the waning moments Saturday afternoon at home against the Houston Christian Huskies, when the outcome hung precariously in the balance.

In the end, the Roadrunners made all the key plays and hit all their free throws down the stretch to pull out a 78-71 victory at the Convocation Center.

“I think our guys are confident in close games now,” UTSA coach Austin Claunch said. “They know they can do it. They know they’ve been there. I think they also know that if we don’t play better in these next two games, we’re not going to be in a close game. That’s the reality of the situation.”

Austin Claunch. The UTSA men's basketball team beat Houston Christian 78-71 on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Austin Claunch will take his team on the road next week to play at Saint Mary’s, Calif., on Tuesday and at Arkansas on Saturday. – Photo by Joe Alexander

It’s true. The Roadrunners’ schedule gets much tougher next week, when they play on the road Tuesday night in Moraga, Calif., against the Saint Mary’s Gaels, and again next Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark., against the John Calipari-coached Arkansas Razorbacks.

“We’re playing the two best teams on our non-conference schedule, really well-coached,” Claunch said. “I love that (the Roadrunners) are confident and understand that they can win close games, but I also understand that we got to get back in the gym. We got to clean up some things. We got to clean up communication.

“We’ve got to be better come Jan. 1 (for) Jan. 4 when we take off for Tulane for conference game No. 1.”

Guard Primo Spears and forward Raekwon Horton carried the Roadrunners against the Huskies. Spears scored 17 of his season-high 31 points in the first half, when UTSA built leads as large as 15 points before taking a 35-26 advantage into intermission.

Horton had 15 of his 19 points in the second half, as the Roadrunners gave up the lead late, only to surge on a 13-4 run in the last three minutes to pull it out.

A Julian Mackey-led rally carried the Huskies to the brink of what would have been their best win of the season. Mackey, a 6-2 guard, scored 14 of his team-high 20 points in the second half. He pushed the Huskies into three- and two-point leads late.

But while the Huskies started missing a few free throws at the end, the Roadrunners continued to make theirs, hitting 19 of 19 in the second half. As a result, UTSA saddled HCU with its fourth straight loss, all of them by single digits.

“In the first half, we were locked in,” Claunch said, “but the thing about college basketball, man, it can flip in a hurry. It doesn’t take a lot. They got confident and they have good individual players. Because they’re also aggressive, eventually they’re going to find somebody to get on a run, and that’s kind of what happened.”

Flanked by Spears and Horton in the interview room after the game, Claunch said the two seniors provided “great leadership” during a game that could have gone either way at the end.

“That’s what I expect from them,” Claunch said. “I expect them, when it’s hard, for them to (play with) toughness and to be unselfish. They’re (talking) in the huddle. They’re keeping guys together. They’re both guys that have won at a high level.

“We got a lot to learn. But it’s always good to learn in a win.”

First half

After scoring 29 points against Merrimack in Alabama on Wednesday, 6-foot-3 guard Primo Spears returned home and exploded for 17 in the first half against the HCU Huskies.

The Roadrunners shot 48.3 percent from the field and raced to a 35-26 lead.

Spears’ moves with the ball looked a little like those of Jhivvan Jackson, the Roadrunners’ all-time leading scorer who dazzled fans at the Convocation Center from 2017-21.

Spears would face up with the basket and go into quick, dribble dances that gave him space to operate, and then he’d toss up soft floating jumpers. He took 14 shots in the half and very few, if any, looked forced.

Notable

The Roadrunners entered the game leading the nation in steals per game (12.2) and were eighth in forced turnovers (18.2).

But, in the end, Huskies ballhandlers did a good job. UTSA finished with only four steals and HCU committed only six turnovers. On the other hand, UTSA more than lived up to its billing as a team that hits a high percentage from the free-throw line. It came into the day ranked 15th nationally at 80.2 percent and made 23 of 25 for 92 percent.

Spears entered as the nation’s 12th leading scorer at 22.2 ppg. After his season-high outburst, the Connecticut native and Florida State transfer is now averaging 23.7 points and four assists.

Sitting out the HCU game were UTSA scholarship players Jaquan Scott, Paul Lewis, David Hermes and Tai’Reon Joseph. Scott, recovering from a leg injury, is expected to play at Saint Mary’s. Claunch has said that Joseph, ineligible at the moment, might be available for Arkansas.

For the second straight game, freshman walk-on Baboucarr Njie played a significant role. After making his collegiate debut against Merrimack, the 6-foot-5 guard from Centerville, Ohio, played 20 minutes off the bench. He had two points, three rebounds and also an assist, a block and a steal.

Primo Spears. The UTSA men's basketball team beat Houston Christian 78-71 on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Primo Spears celebrates after the Roadrunners close out the Houston Christian Huskies in the final seconds. – Photo by Joe Alexander.