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UTSA prepares for Pac-12 trip to face the Oregon State Beavers

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Undaunted by a burgeoning pandemic that has affected some of the most powerful college basketball programs in the nation, UTSA plans to travel to the Northwest on Tuesday with the idea of playing the Oregon State Beavers in Corvallis on Wednesday afternoon.

Steve Henson. UTSA beat UT-Permian Basin 97-71 on Friday, Nov. 27, 2020 in the men's basketball season opener at the Convocation Center.

Coach Steve Henson and the UTSA Roadrunners are expected to play at Oregon State of the Pac-12 Conference on Wednesday afternoon. — Photo by Joe Alexander

Roadrunners coach Steve Henson said his team is still working to correct some inconsistencies on the court.

But when asked in a Zoom conference with reporters Monday if his team has had any tests come back positive for the Covid-19 virus in the past few weeks, he said all recent tests have been negative.

“We’ve been all negative for quite some time,” Henson said.

Over the past 10 days, Gonzaga and Baylor, the top two teams in the nation, have had to scrap games because of Covid-19 issues. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has called off the rest of his non-conference schedule.

Most concerning, Keyontae Johnson, a returning All-Southeastern Conference player for the Florida Gators, remains hospitalized and in “critical but stable condition” after collapsing during a road game at Florida State on Saturday afternoon.

Henson said his program is monitoring events daily, and he is prepared to follow whatever medical guidance he might receive.

“I wouldn’t have been surprised if at any minute someone hadn’t stepped up and said, ‘All right, we’re not going to play non-conference games,'” he said. “Obviously we’re all following very closely the Keyontae Johnson situation, the kid from Florida.

“You know, that may or may not have some impact on some decisions as we move forward. Very concerning situation there. We’re all thinking about that young man and praying for him.

“Coach K, I believe, was one of the coaches early on saying we shouldn’t start (the season) until January. So there was a lot of that conversation going on early in the season, that we should cancel non-conference games. That we should push everything back.

“So we were just trying to stay ready to play. Trying to practice and be ready. Trying to stay healthy and get some games in. And also be ready to pivot if we need to at any point.”

Henson said he talked to Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle “four or five weeks ago” about the game.

“I had read some things that Portland State had been shut down (and) I didn’t know if that would affect Oregon and Oregon State, or anybody else up there,” he said. “So I called him and at that point, (we) felt good about it (and) just kept monitoring it. As long as we kept seeing them play games, we felt good about it.”

Coming up

UTSA (2-2) at Oregon State (2-3), Wednesday, 4 p.m.

Recently

Playing at home, UTSA downed NCAA Division III Sul Ross State 91-62 on Dec. 4 to forge a split of the first four games on the schedule. Both losses have come by double digits on the road against Division I competition, including a 39-point loss on Dec. 3 at Oklahoma. Oregon State has lost three straight, including an 87-86 home loss on Dec. 10 against the University of Portland, a member of the D-I West Coast Conference.

Missions invited to join Texas League as a Padres affiliate

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The San Antonio Missions have received an invitation to join the Texas League as the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres.

The announcement came Wednesday morning as part of Major League Baseball’s reorganization of the minor leagues.

“We are pleased to have received an invitation to affiliate with the San Diego
Padres,” Missions President Burl Yarbrough said in a news release. “We enjoyed a terrific 12-year partnership with the Padres through the 2018 season.

“However, we first need to have the overall agreement with Major League Baseball formalized before any affiliation can be finalized.

“Once we receive the full details, we’ll be evaluating the proposal carefully to assure that it works for the Missions, our fans and the City of San Antonio before formally accepting.”

In 2019, the Missions moved up from Double-A and joined the Triple-A Pacific Coast League as an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. As a Brewers’ organization team, the Missions finished 80-60 and in second place in their division.

They were technically affiliated with the Brewers on a two-year deal through 2020. But the season was scrapped in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

In rejoining the Texas League, the Missions would be returning as the only charter member and 13-time champion in the league’s history.

The Missions played 113 seasons in the Texas League and were the winningest franchise in league history with more than 7,500 victories.

As a Padres affiliate from 2007 – 2018, the Missions won three league championships and made seven playoff appearances.

During the Padres affiliation, future MLB players Fernando Tatis Jr, Chris Paddack and Corey Kluber played for the Missions.

MLB is still formalizing plans and schedules for the 2021 minor league season. Once plans are formalized, the Missions will release their schedule.

UTSA bounces back with an easy victory over Sul Ross State

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UTSA guard Jhivvan Jackson produced 18 points and four assists and did not commit a turnover against the Sul Ross State Lobos. — Photo by Joe Alexander.

Who needs sleep? The UTSA Roadrunners didn’t get much of it in between a road game at Oklahoma on Thursday night and a Friday night home game against the Sul Ross State Lobos.

But, somehow, they got all that they needed, bouncing back from a 39-point loss to the Sooners with a 91-62 home victory over the Division III Lobos.

The Roadrunners started slowly, falling behind by five points in the first few minutes. But once Jhivvan Jackson and the Roadrunners found a rhythm, they rolled to an easy victory.

Highlights included a balanced offensive attack featuring double-figures scoring from Keaton Wallace (19), Jackson (18), Eric Parrish (14) and Erik Czumbel (10), and also a defensive effort that held the Lobos to 29 percent shooting in the second half.

Omar Boone scored 17 and Tristen Licon 16 for the Lobos.

Adrian Rodriguez had four points off the bench including this dunk for UTSA in Friday's victory over Sul Ross State in the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA forward Adrian Rodriguez had four points off the bench, including this dunk. – photo by Joe Alexander

Records

UTSA 2-2
Sul Ross State 1-3

Notable

Scoring whiz Jhivvan Jackson, who played off guard for most of the first three years of his UTSA career, continues to get significant playing time at point guard. He struggled some with it at Oklahoma with turnovers early in the 105-66 loss. But he did a good job against Sul Ross, passing for four assists against no turnovers. He also produced three steals.

Quotable

“I think I like that role. Before I came to UTSA, that’s the position I played. I know that most of the time I’m going to get the attention, so, I’m very unselfish and I want to make the right play. Me being at the point, I can get my teammates the ball and they can make plays, for sure.” — Jhivvan Jackson, on playing the point.

Keaton Wallace had a team-high 19 points for UTSA in Friday's victory over Sul Ross State in the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Keaton Wallace had a team-high 19 points for UTSA in Friday’s victory over Sul Ross State. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Coming up

UTSA at Oregon State, Dec. 16.

Coach’s corner

UTSA’s Steve Henson said his players encouraged him to put on a full court press early in the second half.

“They were definitely hungry to do that, in that case,” Henson said. “We felt a little momentum building. Our players came into that timeout wanting to put on the full court press. There’s a couple of other possessions where they had a side out of bounds, and we got a bunch of guys slapping the floor. I think Phoenix (Ford) helped us in that regard. Cedric (Alley) got going with that.

“We’ve been challenging Cedric to become a big part of that. He needs to join Keaton and Czumbel and be those rocks that we have on the defensive end.”

Henson said after the OU game that he wanted to see more intensity and more toughness from his players, and he said he liked what he saw in that regard against Sul Ross.

“We didn’t fix everything in 24 hours,” he said. “This was not the kind of game where we’re going to be able to draw a ton of conclusions. That’s kind of been the challenge with our opponents and our schedule. Oklahoma obviously is very talented.

“Hopefully they’re a really, really good team. We don’t know. (But) the response (tonight) was what we wanted. Have we solved our issues? Absolutely not. But, we’re not going to solve them in 24 hours. Were not going to solve them in a week. The challenge right now is to make progress. Recognize who we are … and take steps.”

Struggling UTSA hopes to bounce back against Sul Ross

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Coming off two straight losses, one of them painfully lopsided, the UTSA Roadrunners return home to face the Sul Ross State Lobos tonight at the Convocation Center.

Tip off is scheduled for 6 p.m.

UTSA (1-2) will play against Division III Sul Ross (1-2) less than 24 hours after falling 105-66 on the road at Oklahoma.

The Roadrunners opened the season last Friday with a 97-71 victory over Division II UT Permian Basin.

By the next night, adversity struck. The Roadrunners were set back with an 81-64 road loss last Saturday against UT Rio Grande Valley.

Next, they were blown away by the Sooners, a Big 12 program that competes for an NCAA tournament berth on an annual basis.

Nevertheless, it was loss that represented the widest margin of defeat in Steve Henson’s five years as coach. Henson told reporters after the OU game that “we’ve got to figure some things out.”

“If these two games didn’t get our attention, nothing thing will,” the coach said.

With no time to prepare for Sul Ross, what’s the point of emphasis?

“Compete. Fight. Battle,” the coach said. “Rebound. Play tough. Play unselfish. We don’t need a scouting report for that. We don’t need a shootaround for that. We need to dig down and find a way to become a tougher team.”

Oklahoma hits 17 from three to blow out UTSA, 105-66

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Senior forward Brady Manek scored 29 points as the Oklahoma Sooners opened their season by routing the UTSA Roadrunners 105-66 Thursday night in Norman, Okla.

Manek hit 9 of 15 from the field and 8 of 11 from beyond the arc for the Sooners, who hit 17 from long distance.

The Roadrunners fell to 1-2 on the season with an early flight out of Oklahoma scheduled Friday morning. UTSA will fly home to play Division III Sul Ross State Friday at 6 p.m.

Senior guard Jhivvan Jackson led the Roadrunners with 28 points.

The game started with some promise for the Roadrunners, who scored seven straight points to seize a 7-6 lead.

Undeterred, the Sooners answered with 19 straight to go up 25-7. The Sooners kicked the lead up to 51-28 at intermission and kept pouring it on in the second half.

For the game, Oklahoma hit 34 of 68 for 50 percent from the floor. They also produced 50 percent shooting from three, nailing 17 of 34.

The Roadrunners, who have dropped two straight, hit 23 of 67 for 34.3 percent from the floor. They were also held to 8 of 30 from three for 26.7 percent.

Turnovers (18) were a major problem for the Roadrunners, especially in the first half when they were charged with 13 to kick-start Oklahoma’s high-flying offense.

Records

Oklahoma 1-0
UTSA 1-2

Coming up

Sul Ross State (1-2) at UTSA (1-2), Friday, 6 p.m.

Notable

The 39-point margin of defeat ranks as the widest in Henson’s five seasons as head coach of the Roadrunners. UTSA lost by 38 in a Conference USA game against Old Dominion (100-62) on Feb. 15, 2018 and by 37 in non-conference against Texas Tech (87-50) on Dec. 7, 2016.

In addition, UTSA fell to 0-10 against teams from the five major, revenue-producing conferences in Henson’s tenure with the Roadrunners.

UTSA has now lost 22 in a row against teams from conferences that include the Big 12, the Big Ten, the Pac-12, the ACC and the SEC. The Roadrunners’ last win against a power conference team came 11 years ago, in November of 2009, at Iowa.

Quotable

“They bombed in a lot of threes but that wasn’t really the story of the game. Our lack of fight was concerning.” — UTSA coach Steve Henson said on the team’s radio broadcast.

UTSA hopes to end skid against major conference foes

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Keaton Wallace. Oklahoma beat UTSA 87-67 on Monday, Nov. 12, 2018, at the UTSA Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA’s Keaton Wallace looks to pass in a game against Oklahoma, played two years ago at the Convocation Center. — Photo by Joe Alexander

In a little more than four seasons under Coach Steve Henson, the UTSA Roadrunners have created their share of magical moments with victories over some of the best teams in Conference USA.

The Roadrunners have won games against the likes of Marshall, Western Kentucky and Old Dominion. In the past three seasons, they’re a combined 29-25 in the C-USA regular season.

But in games played in November and December, it’s been tough sledding for UTSA against teams that it would like to beat to boost its national profile.

In games played against teams from the major, revenue-producing conferences, the Roadrunners are 0-9 under Henson leading into tonight’s road test at Oklahoma of the Big 12.

“We’re always going to try and schedule a few of those games,” Henson said. “It’s fun for our kids. … Going to Oklahoma, you know what to expect from a style-of-play standpoint. And vice versa, they know we’re not going to come in there and hold the ball on ’em and try to work the clock, things like that. You want to set up some good matchups in the non-conference.”

UTSA plays most of these games on the road for the financial reward. But, in most cases, UTSA’s opponent has been pushed to the brink before it finishes off the victory.

“It’s always a good measuring stick for us and also prepares us. We want to learn from these opportunities. We’ve played well in stretches against a lot of these opponents. (Against) Oklahoma, Nebraska, Arkansas — there were some stretches fairly deep in the ball game in second half when we were right there in it.

“We just haven’t found a way to finish it off and get a win yet.”

Here’s a list of UTSA’s games against the ‘majors’ under Steve Henson:

Scores

Nov. 13, 2016 — At Oregon State. L, 64-72.
Dec. 7, 2016 — At Texas Tech. L, 50-87.
Dec. 4, 2017 — At Oklahoma. L, 85-97.
Dec. 20, 2017 — At Nebraska. L, 94-104.
Nov. 12, 2018 — Oklahoma. L, 67-87.
Nov. 14, 2018 — At Oklahoma State. L, 60-82.
Dec. 15, 2018 — Arkansas (at North Little Rock). L, 67-79.
Nov. 5, 2019 — At Oklahoma. L, 67-85.
Dec. 18, 2019 — Oregon State. L, 78-88.

Close calls

In 2016, lost by eight at Oregon State — The Roadrunners surprised the Beavers by rolling to a lead of 10 late in the first half. After intermission, the Beavers surged to regain control of the game, but the Roadrunners hung around to within two possessions for most of the second half. With 3:30 remaining, Giovanni De Nicolao hit a three to bring UTSA to within one point. But Oregon State held UTSA without a field goal on a 9-2 run the rest of the way.

In 2017, lost by 12 at Oklahoma — The Roadrunners unleashed freshman guard Jhivvan Jackson, who opened eyes by outscoring heralded Sooners freshman Trae Young, 31-28. UTSA was within five at halftime and within two with 16 minutes left, but OU blew it open with a 25-11 run over a five-minute stretch to take charge.

Also in 2017, lost by 10 at Nebraska — UTSA hit 15 three-point shots in the game and scored 52 points in the second half. The game was tied with 4:23 left when Jackson hit a three. But Nebraska constructed a 9-0 run to put down the upset bid.

In 2018, lost by 12 to Arkansas — The Roadrunners stayed close for three quarters of the game at North Little Rock against the cold-shooting Razorbacks. Midway through the second half the Roadrunners went on an 11-2 run and assumed a four-point lead with 9:07 left. But the Razorbacks closed strong behind Jalen Harris and Daniel Gafford.

In 2019, lost by 10 to Oregon State — In a game played at Houston in the Toyota Center, the Beavers were blowing out the Roadrunners, pushing the lead to 16 points early in the second half. But UTSA retaliated behind Jackson to outscore OSU 26-16, dropping the lead down to six. It was still a six-point game with 6:45 left before the Beavers held off the Roadrunners to the final buzzer.

Through the years

UTSA’s last victory over a team from one of the five major revenue producing conferences came on Nov. 15, 2009, when the Roadrunners registered a 62-50 upset on the road against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Since then, UTSA has lost 21 straight against teams from a group including the Big 12, the Pac 12, the SEC, the ACC and the Big Ten. The drought covers 22 games if you count a 2015 loss to Creighton, from the Big East. The Big East is the NCAA’s pre-eminent, basketball-led powerhouse, albeit one that does not play major-conference football.

A crazy schedule? UTSA players ‘grateful’ for chance to play

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Looking to bounce back from a dispiriting road loss, the UTSA Roadrunners on Tuesday announced a not-so-minor adjustment to their schedule, unveiling a plan to play on the road Thursday night at the University of Oklahoma.

Eric Parrish. UTSA beat UT-Permian Basin 97-71 on Friday, Nov. 27, 2020 in the men's basketball season opener at the Convocation Center.

Forward Eric Parrish drives to the bucket in last Friday’s season opener against UT Permian Basin. — Photo by Joe Alexander

The wrinkle sets up back-to-back games for the Roadrunners for the second time in two weeks, as they return home Friday night to meet the Division III Sul Ross State Lobos.

In most years, back-to-back games are rare unless they are played at neutral sites with multiple teams involved. But this isn’t any ordinary year. UTSA junior Eric Parrish said it’s all part of trying to get a season going during the coronavirus pandemic.

“With them extending the season to us, we’re grateful,” Parrish said. “We’re grateful for each game that we’re able to go lace ’em up.”

Last week, UTSA was scheduled to open its season at OU. But the game was called off because of Covid-19 issues in the Sooners’ program, forcing the Roadrunners to scramble travel plans and take a bus ride back to San Antonio on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.

It all set up a two-game, season-opening test last Friday and Saturday.

On Friday afternoon, the Roadrunners played well and blew out the Division II UT Permian Basin Panthers, 97-71. That night, they took a five-hour bus ride to Edinburg, where they would spend the night in preparation for a Saturday afternoon game at UT Rio Grande Valley.

The Division I Vaqueros were ready and waiting for them. Forcing UTSA into a slow pace, UTRGV pounded out an 81-64 victory, leaving the Roadrunners in a bit of a funk for a good 48 hours. UTSA coach Steve Henson said players responded with enthusiasm Monday afternoon when it looked like they would get to play the OU game this week.

“It was kind of a cool deal yesterday,” Henson said. “We had a long meeting to recap the disappointments from Saturday. We had a good team meeting and had ’em speak in that meeting. When the meeting was over, I asked ’em if they had anything going on Thursday night.

“They kind of looked at me funny. I said, ‘Let’s go play Oklahoma then.’ They were pretty fired up. I think the opportunity to play an exciting game and get that taste out of our mouth, was a pretty exciting situation for our guys.”

Notable

Henson said he expects Jhivvan Jackson will be back in the starting lineup Thursday night at Oklahoma. Jackson came off the bench in his first game of the season Saturday at UT Rio Grande Valley.

UT Rio Grande Valley races to 81-64 victory over UTSA

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Forward Sean Rhea and guard Uche Dibiamaka fueled a second-half surge Saturday as the UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros scored an 81-64 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners.

The game was played in Edinburg at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.

Rhea produced 20 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots for the Vaqueros, who bounced back from a lopsided season-opening loss at Texas. Dibiamaka scored 15 and hit three 3-pointers.

UTSA’s offense never really got untracked against the Vaqueros’ defense, which employed a mix of pressure in the backcourt, along with alternating man-to-man and zone schemes.

A day after scoring a 97-71 victory at home against Division II UT Permian Basin, the Roadrunners shot 41.7 percent and turned it over 13 times.

Freshman Jordan Ivy-Curry came off the bench to lead the Roadrunners with 12 points on 4 of 10 shooting.

Senior Jhivvan Jackson, the second-leading scorer in the nation last year, also came off the bench in his first outing this season. He added 10 points.

Last year, Jackson and Keaton Wallace were the highest-scoring backcourt in the nation, averaging more than 45 points between them. Against UTRGV, they combined for 16.

Wallace, who handled the ball for much of the afternoon, produced six points, six rebounds and four assists. He also had five turnovers.

Records

UTRGV 1-1
UTSA 1-1

Coming up

Sul Ross at UTSA, Friday, Dec. 4, 6 p.m.

Turning the tide

After a shaky first half, the Roadrunners came out after intermission, trailing only by five. Pretty soon, they were tied, 34-34, when center Jacob Germany scored in the paint.

At that point, the Vaqueros took charge, outscoring the visitors 46-25 over the next 15 minutes for an 80-59 lead with 2:48 remaining.

Notable

The game matched coaches Lew Hill of UTRGV against UTSA’s Steve Henson, two men who both worked together as assistants under Lon Kruger. UTRGV was pummeled 91-55 at Texas on Wednesday night. Also on Wednesday, UTSA was scheduled to open at Oklahoma and had traveled for the game, only to have it called off because of Covid-19 issues in the Sooners’ program.

In response, UTSA took an unscheduled bus ride back from Norman Wednesday night. The Roadrunners opened at home Friday afternoon, routing the Division II Falcons by 26 points, before boarding another bus bound for the Rio Grande Valley. UTSA was scheduled to bus back to San Antonio Saturday night.

Quotable

“We didn’t feel like fatigue was a factor,” Henson said on the team’s radio broadcast. “We didn’t think the bus trips had anything to do with it. The bottom line is, they competed harder, and we didn’t make enough plays. We’re certainly not going to look for any of those excuses.”

Breaking it down

“They won a lot of individual battles,” Henson said. “We couldn’t stop ’em in the post. Lot of transition opportunities for them, and then they got going, knocking down the threes.”

Added Henson: “They just kind of dictated pretty much every facet of the game. But in transition, some of their individual offense got us. We just didn’t compete hard enough on that end of the floor …

“We talked a lot about handling their press. We didn’t turn it over a lot against the press. It just took us out of our rhythm.”

UTSA cruises past UT Permian Basin, 97-71, in season opener

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Eric Parrish has 20 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals in his UTSA debut as the Roadrunners beat UT-Permian Basin 97-71 on Friday, Nov. 27, 2020 at the Convocation Center.

Eric Parrish scored 19 of his team-high 20 points in the first half in his first game for the UTSA Roadrunners. — Photo by Joe Alexander

Guard-forward Eric Parrish produced 20 points, four rebounds and four steals Friday in his UTSA debut, and the Roadrunners cruised to a 97-71 victory at home over the UT Permian Basin Falcons.

In addition, guard Keaton Wallace scored 19 points and center Jacob Germany 15 as the Roadrunners opened their 40th season as an NCAA Division I program.

Cedrick Alley Jr. UTSA beat UT-Permian Basin 97-71 on Friday, Nov. 27, 2020 in the men's basketball season opener at the Convocation Center.

Cedrick Alley Jr. made his debut by stuffing the stat sheet with seven points, five rebounds, three assists, a blocked shot and a steal. — Photo by Joe Alexander

Center Malik Brikat had 22 points and 15 rebounds for the Division II Falcons.

A few minutes into the game, the Roadrunners roared off on a 22-2 run to take charge. By the end of the streak, they were up 35-11. The Falcons never got closer than 16 for the remainder of the afternoon.

“I really liked the way we started the game,” UTSA coach Steve Henson said. “(It was) terrific to see Parrish and Cedric (Alley Jr.) get off to a good start. Those guys are going to be so important to our season. Didn’t really know how they’d respond in a game situation … certainly they responded very, very well.”

Both were making their UTSA debut. Parrish transferred to UTSA from Nevada last fall, and coaches hoped they could obtain a waiver that would have allowed him to play last spring. But it didn’t happen.

“It’s been a long time coming for him,” Henson said. “The transfer, the waiver (request), the waiting and waiting and waiting. To finally get out there and play, I know he was excited and relieved.”

Keaton Wallace had 19 points and a team-high five assists in UTSA's season opener as the Roadrunners beat UT-Permian Basin 97-71 on Friday, Nov. 27, 2020 at the Convocation Center.

Keaton Wallace had 19 points and a team-high five assists. — Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA won’t have much time to think about what went right and what went wrong against the Falcons. Game 2 looms in less than 24 hours.

The Roadrunners will play at 3 p.m. Saturday in Edinburg against Division I UT Rio Grande Valley.

“The game we just had is over,” Alley Jr. said. “It’s time to lock in on UTRGV and go down there and just handle business.”

Roadrunners star Jhivvan Jackson, the No. 2 scorer in the nation, is expected to play after sitting out against UTPB for violating team rules.

Nineteen seconds into the first game of the season, Parrish nailed a three pointer. He finished 7 of 11 from the field, including 2 of 4 from long distance.

Afterward, Parrish said he felt good about the team’s performance and tried to downplay his own contribution.

“I feel like I did some things well,” Parrish said. “Definitely a lot of things I’m going to look back on and see where I can improve and help my teammates. You know, it felt good to get this win. Now we’re looking forward to UTRGV.”

Parrish, a 6-foot-6 athlete with long arms, big hands and quickness, finished with 19 points and three steals at the half.

Alley, a 6-6, 230-pound transfer from Houston, hit three of his first four shots. Alley finished three of 11 from the field, but he filled the box with seven points, five rebounds and three assists, a blocked shot and a steal.

“If I could give myself a grade, I’d give myself a B minus,” he said. “I could have done a little bit more on the defensive end as far as rebounding. I don’t know how many offensive rebounds we gave up, a nice little amount, so I felt I could have brought a little more there.

“But, overall, I felt like I did a pretty good job.”

Playing off their defense, the Roadrunners rolled to a 57-29 halftime lead.

The Roadrunners held the Falcons to 31 percent shooting before intermission and cranked out an 18-2 advantage on fast-break points.

Even though UTSA star Jhivvan Jackson wasn’t playing, sitting out because of a violation of team rules, newcomers Parrish and Alley supplied energy and production from the very start.

Pandemic basketball

Not only was it UTSA’s first game of the season, it was also the team’s first during the Covid-19 pandemic, with attendance limited in the Convocation Center and with chairs on both benches separated to mitigate the risk of virus spread.

The setup present presented some unique challenges.

“You look down at the bench, and the bench is all spread out. (You) Look down to sub someone in and you got to find where they’re sitting,” Henson said. “One of the things we’re going to have to figure out, is how we can get a little more communication with the assistants.

“Usually I’m up quite a bit. Walking up and down. When I do sit, (the other) coaches are giving me some pretty good input. Now, that’s a little harder. They’re farther away. I would have liked to have communicated with them a little bit better … We’re missing that because we’re so spread out.”

Starting over

Because of the pandemic, UTSA’s schedule has already taken a hit.

The Roadrunners took a flight to Oklahoma Tuesday and found out Wednesday morning that their season-opening game that night had been postponed because of Covid-19 issues in the Sooners’ program. So, they boarded a bus Wednesday afternoon and traveled back to San Antonio.

“I feel like it took a lot out of us mentally because we were so well prepared,” Alley said. “But we couldn’t do nothing about it. It’s like a blessing from above because we could have (gone) out there and played (had) someone spread it to the team, and we’d have been out for two weeks. So it’s a blessing that we were able to come back and have a game today.”

Coming up

UTSA (1-0) at UT Rio Grande Valley (0-1), 3 p.m.

UTSA returns home after postponement of season opener

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The UTSA men’s basketball team was on an unscheduled bus trip from Norman, Okla., to San Antonio Wednesday afternoon.

The Roadrunners were in Norman, set to play the Oklahoma Sooners Wednesday night in the season opener for both teams. But the game was called off in the wake Covid-19 issues in the OU program.

A UTSA spokesman said in a text that the two coaching staffs would work to re-schedule the game in the next few months.

As a result, the Roadrunners were traveling back home.

UTSA is now scheduled to open at home against UT Permian Basin at 3 p.m. Friday. Afterward, UTSA will travel to Edinburg, where the team will meet UT Rio Grande Valley at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Before the team left for Oklahoma, UTSA announced that Jhivvan Jackson, the program’s all-time leading scorer, would not play the first two games of the season because of a violation of team rules. The statement said he would be eligible to return against UT Rio Grande Valley.

Now that the OU game has been scrapped, it’s uncertain when Jackson will see his first action of the season, whether it’s on Saturday against UTPB or on Dec. 4 in a home game against Sul Ross.