The UTSA Roadrunners will play on the road tonight against the Wichita State Shockers, with both teams looking for brighter days after a difficult first half in the American Athletic Conference men’s basketball race.
Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in Wichita, Kan., at the 10,506-seat Charles Koch Arena.
UTSA has dropped two straight and six of its last seven games to fall into 12th place in the 14-team American. Wichita State is also struggling.
The Shockers have dropped two in a row and 10 of their last 11. Wichita State is tied for 13th (and last) in the conference with the Temple Owls. For the Shockers, five of their eight conference losses have been by single digits.
Coming up
UTSA at Wichita State, 6:30 p.m.
Records
UTSA 8-14, 2-7, Wichita State 9-13, 1-8
Notable
UTSA coaches will see a familiar face in warmups. Wichita State senior forward Jacob Germany played four seasons for the Roadrunners, earning honorable mention All-Conference USA honors in each of the last two.
The lefty from Kingston, Okla. ranks among the UTSA’s career leaders, ranking ninth in points with 1,293, fourth in rebounds with 779 and tied for third in blocks with 105. He averaged 12.3 points during the 2022-23 season and was second in the C-USA in both rebounding (8.3) and double-doubles (9).
Germany entered the transfer portal last spring and signed with Wichita State. Germany has played in six of 22 games for first-year Shockers coach Paul Mills. He’s averaging 2.3 points and 2.0 rebounds.
Mills came to Wichita State from Oral Roberts, where he worked for six seasons. He led the Golden Eagles to the NCAA tournament two of the last three years. In his first season at Wichita State, his leaders include the likes of Colby Rogers and Xavier Bell, Harlond Beverly, Kenny Pohto, Dalen Ridgnal and Quincy Ballard.
Rodgers leads the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game. Ballard plays in the post and averages 7.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.4 blocks. Ridgnal, Pohto and Ballard rank as the Shockers rebound leaders.
Wichita State’s latest heartbreak was at Memphis on Saturday. For the second straight game, the Shockers lost after leading by double figures, falling, 65-63, on David Jones’ game-winner with 2.3 seconds left. Wichita State held a 14-point lead with less than 10 minutes remaining.