UTSA picks up its first victory, racing past Wiley College, 90-68

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Freshman point guard Erik Czumbel on Friday night shrugged off the pressure of making his first start in college basketball.

He just played his game, guiding the UTSA Roadrunners to their first victory of the season, a 90-68 win over the NAIA Wiley College Wildcats.

Afterward, the 6-foot-3 native of Italy couldn’t hide his joy at moving into the starting lineup in only his sixth game for the Roadrunners.

“It feels great,” Czumbel said. “It gives me a lot of confidence, and the home crowd gave me energy. It gave all the team energy, especially in the second half.”

Playing its home opener in front of an announced 917 at the Convocation Center, UTSA turned it on after intermission, shooting 54 percent from the field and outscoring the visiting team, 51-37.

As a result, the Roadrunners finally notched a mark in the win column, improving to 1-5.

Coach Steve Henson acknowledged some sloppy play by his team early, which allowed the visitors to stay close.

“Second half, (we) kind of let them hang (around) and then finally at one point, a couple of guys really stepped up,” Henson said. “I thought Atem (Bior) and Keaton (Wallace) stepped up defensively, and Jhivvan (Jackson) got a little more active.

“I thought Erik was terrific all night all night long. When those two or three guys really set the tone for us defensively, our activity picked up and we got some transition, and that kind of allowed us to pop the game open.”

Jackson led the Roadrunners with 31 points on 10 of 19 shooting. Bouncing back from some sub-par outings earlier in the season, Wallace filled the box score with 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds. He also had five steals.

Bior came off the bench for 11 points and six rebounds. But it was the play of Czumbel, who had 10 points, five assists and six rebounds, that had the media on press row talking.

If he can emerge as a steadying force as a starter at the point, UTSA has a chance to make a run for a conference title in March.

Czumbel played well on Monday in a loss at Utah State, which prompted coaches to consider giving him an expanded role against Wiley. He continued to play well in practice on Wednesday and Thursday, and, by Friday, he was the starter.

“Really proud of him,” Henson said. “I thought he did a lot of good things the other day against Utah State. He’s been steady all year in practice. Again, it’s just the impact we think he can have on getting Keaton back to his normal self.”

First-half recap

The Roadrunners hit six 3-pointers in the first half, racing to a 39-31 lead on Wiley College at intermission.

Playing its first home game of the season at the Convocation Center, UTSA nailed 6 of 18 from long distance and out-rebounded the Wildcats, 27-15.

Nine offensive rebounds for the Roadrunners contributed to a 22-5 advantage in second-chance points.

Records

UTSA 1-5
Wiley 2-2

Notable

The Roadrunners are 3-1 in home openers under Henson.

UTSA vs. Wiley College photo gallery

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UTSA's Keaton Wallace (center) passes the ball up to Jhivvan Jackson. UTSA beat Wiley College 90-68 on Friday in the Roadrunners' first home game of the 2019-20 men's basketball season. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA’s Keaton Wallace (center) passes the ball up to Jhivvan Jackson.


UTSA beat Wiley College 90-68 on Friday in the Roadrunners’ first home game of the 2019-20 men’s basketball season.

Czumbel could get start at point guard tonight for UTSA

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UTSA guard Erik Czumbel is averaging 4.4 points in 12 minutes off the bench through five games. - photo by Joe Alexander

Erik Czumbel is averaging 4.4 points in 12 minutes off the bench through UTSA’s first five games. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Hoping to break through with their first victory of a new season, the UTSA Roadrunners are considering a change in the starting lineup on the eve of tonight’s home opener.

UTSA coach Steve Henson said Thursday he may start with freshman Erik Czumbel at point guard when the Roadrunners play the NAIA Wiley College Wildcats.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center.

Asked if Czumbel could get his first start, Henson said it could happen.

“We haven’t made the full decision on that, but there’s a very good chance,” the coach said.

Surprisingly, the Roadrunners haven’t won any of their first five games.

Moreover, they couldn’t sustain much consistency in a road opener at Oklahoma, in three neutral-site games in Florida and, finally, in a 32-point road loss Monday at 15th-ranked Utah State.

“We haven’t played the way we expected to, the way we are capable of, against some really, really good opponents,” Henson said. “We expected to be a little further along than we were.

“(It was a) tough start. We got to figure some things out. We got to defend better. Got to get better possessions offensively. We got to settle into a (playing) rotation.

“It’s a combination of everything.”

Hopes were high coming into the season with the presence of scoring stars Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace and a cast of promising newcomers.

With those two 20-point scorers from last year returning, the Roadrunners were picked to finish second in Conference USA.

Readying for a three-game homestand, UTSA has yet to make much magic.

The Roadrunners come in shooting an unsightly 34 percent from the field as a team. They’re averaging only 63 points. Opponents are averaging 81, including 86.5 the past two games.

“We haven’t been making shots, and we haven’t been getting the stops we needed,” Jackson said. “We’re really ready to step it up and start winning some games.”

Henson hopes that a return to the home court will help.

He also hopes that by playing Czumbel more at the point, he can relieve Wallace from some of his ball-handling responsibilities and allow him to start finding open spaces and knocking down more threes.

“We got to get Erik in there a lot more, because that’s going to help Keaton and Jhivvan,” Henson said.

UTSA’s starting backcourt tonight could be Czumbel, with Jackson and Wallace on the wings.

In that case, senior Byron Frohnen likely moves to the power forward, with either Atem Bior or Luka Barisic at center.

For the past three years, the Roadrunners started Giovanni De Nicolao at the point, and he emerged as a steady passer and ball handler who didn’t shoot much unless a play broke down.

He was solid defensively.

Czumbel has also exhibited strong defensive capabilities, but on offense, he has proven to be more of a shooter than a facilitator — at least, to this point.

The 6-3 guard from Italy, averaging 4.4 points in 12 minutes through five games, has has hit 8 of 13 from the field and 5 of 9 from three.

He has four assists and four turnovers.

Texas State rallies for 64-57 road victory at UNLV

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The Texas State Bobcats rallied from a 10-point deficit in the first half and then held on late to defeat the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels 64-57 Wednesday night in Las Vegas.

Guard Nijal Pearson led the Bobcats with a season-high 25 points and 10 rebounds in the victory at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The Runnin’ Rebels couldn’t get anything going offensively against the Bobcats, shooting 34.7 percent from the field.

Records

Texas State 4-2
UNLV 2-4

Key Sequence

Trailing 26-16, the Bobcats constructed a 12-2 run to tie the game at halftime. Pearson hit four straight free throws and a jumper in the streak that lifted Texas State into a 28-28 tie.

Star watch

Amauri Hardy scored 18 for UNLV, hitting 4 of 7 from beyond the three-point stripe. The junior guard from Detroit was 5 of 14 from the field. Hardy entered averaging 19 points.

Pearson, a senior guard from Beaumont, hit 8 of 16 from the floor. He was only 1 of 5 from three. But he nailed 8 of 9 at the line. He came in averaging 17.8.

No. 15 Utah State shakes off slow start to down UTSA, 82-50

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The 15th-ranked Utah State Aggies allowed the UTSA Roadrunners to hang around for a few minutes to start the game.

But they weren’t going to be that generous for too long.

Utah State rolled on a 14-0 run over a four-minute stretch in the first half and never faced another serious challenge in routing UTSA 82-50 Monday night.

In the game played before a raucous crowd of 8,667 in Logan, Utah, Sam Merrill scored 21 points to lead the undefeated Aggies, who improved to 5-0.

The Roadrunners fell to 0-5 on a night when they were out-rebounded 55-36.

UTSA played well defensively in stretches but couldn’t close out possessions, getting beat 38-8 in second-chance points.

An ugly offense and, perhaps an unsettled point guard situation, also contributed to the Roadrunners’ demise. They shot 28.6 percent from the field.

Notable

UTSA is 0-5 for the second season in a row.

Quotable

“Probably the best team we’ve played in my three-plus years here. Great environment. Great opportunity for us. I thought we were ready to go there in the first half. We (knew we) were going to have to play a really, really good ball game. We gave up that (14-0) stretch and in the second half we got whooped.” — UTSA coach Steve Henson, on the team’s radio broadcast.

Records

UTSA 0-5t
Utah State 5-0

Statistically speaking

UTSA stars Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace combined to shoot 11 of 41 from the field. Jackson was 7 of 25.

Coming up

UTSA opens its home schedule Friday night against Wiley College, an NAIA program based in Marshall, Texas.

A three-game home-stand continues against Prairie View A&M on Nov. 30 and against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 3.

The Roadrunners play at Texas State on Dec. 7.

UTSA faces challenge on the road against No. 15 Utah State

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Still in search of a victory after four games, the UTSA Roadrunners will play on the road Monday night against the undefeated and 15th-ranked Utah State Aggies.

It is regarded as UTSA’s toughest challenge since an opening-night road test at Oklahoma.

History would suggest that the odds are stacked against the Roadrunners, who haven’t won against a ranked opponent since 1994, when they knocked off Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz.

UTSA will enter the game struggling offensively, averaging 67 points on 35.5 percent shooting.

The Roadrunners, who were picked in the preseason to finish second in Conference USA, have lost on the road at Oklahoma and in three neutral-site games in Florida against Southern Illinois, Oakland and Delaware.

The Utah State game will be televised on Facebook (Stadium) and will be broadcast on Ticket 760 AM. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.

Records

UTSA 0-4
Utah State 4-0

Coming up

UTSA opens its home schedule Friday night against Wiley College, an NAIA program based in Marshall, Texas.

A three-game home-stand continues against Prairie View A&M on Nov. 30 and against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 3.

The Roadrunners play at Texas State on Dec. 7.

UTSA signs two players for the 2020-21 season

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UTSA on Wednesday signed two players for the 2020-21 season, including a guard out of the Houston area and a forward from Australia.

Jaja Sanni, a 6-foot-4 guard, is from Clear Lake High School. He is rated as the No. 25 player in the state by TexasHoops.com.

UTSA also signed 6-6 Australian forward Lachlan Bofinger. Bofinger prepped as a junior and senior at Montverde Academy in Florida.

Darling, Delaware turn back winless UTSA, 91-79

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Guard Nate Darling poured in 38 points Sunday as the Delaware Blue Hens posted a 91-79 victory over the winless UTSA Roadrunners.

Competing in the finale of the Sunshine Slam at Kissimmee, Fla., the Roadrunners (0-4) played better on the offensive end than they had in three previous losses.

But they couldn’t stop Darling or Kevin Anderson, a pair of 6-foot-5 juniors, and lost for the third time in three days.

Anderson scored 31 for the Blue Hens (4-0).

As a team, Delaware shot 59.2 percent from the field and 56.5 percent from three (on 13 of 23) in winning for the third time in three days in Kissimmee.

Jhivvan Jackson scored 31 and Keaton Wallace had 19 for UTSA. Knox Hellums added 10 off the bench.

The Roadrunners shot 50.9 percent afield and 44.4 percent from beyond the arc (12 of 27).

UTSA entered the game averaging 63 points and shooting 32.8 percent.

Records

Delaware 4-0
UTSA 0-4

Coming up

UTSA will play at Utah State on Nov. 18.

First half highlights

The Roadrunners had trouble stopping Delaware from scoring in the first half and fell behind 47-37 at intermission.

Darling led the Blue Hens with 18 points

UTSA made a game of it in the final few minutes, rallying on an 11-2 run against the Blue Hens to cut the deficit to 10.

Freshman center Jacob Germany sparked the scoring spree with a dunk off a feed from Jhivvan Jackson.

Jackson hit a three for the final points of the half with 25 seconds left.

Oakland defense takes charge in 75-62 victory over UTSA

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Kevin Kangu scored 20 points, and the Oakland (Mich.) Golden Grizzlies’ defense took over in the second half, sparking a 75-62 victory Saturday over the winless UTSA Roadrunners on Day Two of the Sunshine Slam at Kissimmee, Fla.

The Grizzlies’ defense clamped down on the Roadrunners early in the second half in an 18-1 run highlighted on the offensive end by Xavier Hill-Mais, who scored 11 of his 19 points in an eight-minute stretch.

Jhivvan Jackson led UTSA with 21 points. The Roadrunners led 36-33 at halftime. UTSA closes the tournament on Sunday against Delaware.

Records

Oakland 2-1
UTSA 0-3

Southern Illinois holds off UTSA, 72-60

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Starting fast to build an early 20-point lead, the Southern Illinois Salukis held off the UTSA Roadrunners 72-60 Friday night at the Sunshine Slam in Kissimmee, Fla.

With the victory, Southern Illinois improved to 2-0 on the season. UTSA fell to 0-2.

The Salukis surged to leads of 11-0 and 33-13 in the first half against the Roadrunners.

Southern Illinois continued to convert in the second half when Marcus Domask sank a layup to make it 45-27.

From there, the Roadrunners started to click. Lucas Barisic hit a three, igniting UTSA on a 15-0 run.

A steal and a layup by Byron Frohnen pulled the Roadrunners within 45-42 with 12:15 remaining.

UTSA also had it down to three seven minutes later when Barisic hit another three to make it 52-49.

But the Roadrunners’ offense sputtered again, and Domask, a 6-6 freshman, scored eight points in the final five minutes to put the game away.

Records

Southern Illinois 2-0
UTSA 0-2

Leaders

Domask, in his first game against a Division I opponent, finished with 24 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals for the Salukis. Aaron Cook had 19 points and Barret Benson 17.

For UTSA, Jhivvan Jackson led with 32 points, while Keaton Wallace scored 11. Barisic finished with nine.

First half summary

Southern Illinois moved out a 39-25 lead on the Roadrunners at halftime.

Freshman guard Marcus Domask has done most of the damage, leading the Salukis with 12 points.

Guard Jhivvan Jackson has scored 18 for the Roadrunners, who were down by as many as 20 in the opening period.

The Roadrunners will take on Oakland, Mich., on Saturday before closing out the event against Delaware on Sunday.

UTSA opened the season on the road at Oklahoma on Tuesday night. After playing the Sooners to a halftime tie, they got blown out 85-67.