By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Two former San Antonio high school standouts will meet in Philadelphia Saturday when the UTSA Roadrunners and the Temple Owls tip off in American Conference men’s basketball at 11 a.m. Central time.
Both guards Austin Nunez of the Roadrunners, from Wagner, and Jordan Mason of the Owls, from Clark, are coming off season-high scoring performances.
Mason, a senior transfer from the University of Illinois-Chicago, scored 18 points as the Owls opened play in the American Conference with a 76-73 road victory Tuesday at Charlotte.
After starting his college career at Texas State and then moving on last season to UIC, Mason has won a starter’s role in his first season at Temple, averaging 11.6 points, 4.4 assists and 2.9 rebounds.
Nunez, a redshirt junior transfer from Arizona State, produced 22 points as one of the only bright spots for UTSA in a 110-70 road loss Wednesday to Florida Atlantic.
Opening his college career at Arizona State, transferring to Ole Miss in 2023-24 and then moving back to Arizona State last season, Nunez also has become a starter at UTSA, averaging 8.5 points, 2.4 assists and 2.3 rebounds.
The women’s teams for the respective schools will follow with a game that starts at 1:30 p.m., with both games set to be played in Philadelphia at the Liacouras Center.
Records
Men’s game: UTSA (4-9, 0-1) at Temple (9-5, 1-0), Saturday, 11 a.m.
Women’s game: UTSA (6-6, 1-0) at Temple (6-6, 0-0), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
Coming up
Charlotte at UTSA men, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 7 p.m.
Charlotte at UTSA women, Saturday, Jan. 10, noon
Notable
Men’s game: In the NET rankings, Temple comes in ranked 172nd, while UTSA is 314th out of 365 teams in the nation. The Owls, who average 77.6 points a game on 46.7 percent shooting, have won five straight.
UTSA has lost six in a row and hasn’t won since it defeated Georgia Southern on Nov. 25 in Jacksonville, Fla. Two of the losses have been by 40 points more more, including 97-55 at Alabama and 110-70 at Florida Atlantic on Wednesday.
UTSA’s opponents in the skid were 64-19 coming into the weekend.
Roadrunners forward Macaleab Rich is listed as questionable today, according to the conference’s player availability report. Guards Vasean Allette and Pierce Spencer are both out for the season, and Stanley Borden is out for the game.
Women’s game: In the NET rankings, Temple enters Saturday’s game ranked 95th in the nation, while UTSA comes in 135th.
The Roadrunners are coming off a win at home. The Roadrunners edged the Tulane Green Wave 65-63 Tuesday in San Antonio. In that contest, newcomer Ereauna Hardaway had 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds.
For Temple, the UTSA game is the conference opener. In the Owls’ last outing, they lost on the road against No. 25 Princeton, 87-77. Guard Kayla Turner leads the American in both scoring (17.8) and three-point shooting percentage (46.0).