
Sophomore guard Marcus Millender is averaging 12.3 points, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals for the UTSA Roadrunners, who will play at Florida Atlantic on Wednesday after winning three of their last five in the American Athletic Conference. – File photo by Joe Alexander
By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
The UTSA men’s basketball team isn’t blessed with a vast reservoir of talent. But the talented players they do have are capable of tapping into deep reserves of fortitude, which allows them to rebound from tough situations and compete at surprisingly high levels.
It’s a trait I noticed early in the season during the Roadrunners’ 1-3 start. During that stretch I remember asking guard Primo Spears about his level of optimism for the team in the wake of lopsided losses to Bradley and Little Rock.
Spears said he wasn’t worried because, as he said, his teammates’ talents would come to light soon enough.
Sure enough, the Roadrunners rebounded from their early struggles and started playing better, nearly knocking off the Saint Mary’s Gaels on the road in Moraga, Calif. They continued with two wins against North Dakota, a bizarre home-and-away played over a course of three days.
UTSA’s uptick in good fortune, as it turned out, seemed to stall out a bit as players returned from the Christmas break. In the Roadrunners’ last non-conference game, they stumbled. With a chance for a road victory and a four-game winning streak, they lost to the Army Black Knights, 77-74.
Then they were routed in the American Athletic Conference opener, losing 92-63 to the Tulane Green Wave. Another loss followed when they returned home. Seemingly on their way to a victory over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, their defense faltered late, and they lost 82-77.
For the most part, the Roadrunners have played well since then. Waging the good fight with a couple of their big men unavailable and now with guard Tai’Reon Joseph also sitting out, UTSA has won three of its last five in AAC play.
They capped the five-game stretch with a quality win at home Saturday, defeating the Temple Owls, 88-79. With the win, they again displayed promising stretches of disruptive defense and explosive offense, improving to 9-10 overall and to 3-4 in the American.
On the eve of road games this week against FAU and North Texas, I talked to Coach Austin Claunch this morning, telling him about my previous conversation with Spears and then asking him to help explain the source of his team’s resilience.
“I think we have an older team. We have a mature team,” Claunch said. “Obviously Primo is a guy who’s played a lot of college basketball and has been a part of a lot of our wins. You know, it’s a long season. You’re going to have ups and downs. You’re probably not going to go undefeated.
“There’s going to be moments of adversity that you have to overcome,” the coach continued. “I thought early in the year, (with a) brand new team, we were still working through some rotations and things we wanted to do schematically.”
Now, their offense looks good on most nights, with crisp ball movement and unselfish play. But at the same time, their defense is vulnerable with opponents shooting 46 percent from the field and 35 percent from three.
Also, broader questions loom. Such as, how long can they continue to win when they’re missing five scholarship players, with three of the absences left largely unexplained and two out with injuries?
“This is the time of year that everyone is banged up a little bit,” Claunch said. “You have bruises here and there. You know, Primo was actually questionable for the Temple game. He got banged up in practice the day before and gutted it out.”
Injured Roadrunners include center Mo Njie and reserve guard Paul Lewis, both with foot ailments. Lewis has been ruled out for the season, and Njie’s return is uncertain. Players whose status can only be described as not available at the moment are Tai’Reon Joseph, Jaquan Scott and Skylar Wicks.
Joseph was on the bench for the Temple game, though he wasn’t dressed out to play, as he missed his second straight game after a 19-point outburst against North Texas. Claunch said he hopes to know more in coming days on Joseph’s status. For the time being, the coach said he is questionable for FAU.
I have no updated information on Scott, a Mississippi State transfer, or Wicks, who came over from Incarnate Word. Scott, who had 14 rebounds at Saint Mary’s, has played in only six games. He hasn’t played in 10 of the last 11. Wicks has played in only 10 games and hasn’t seen action since Dec. 29 at Army.
In the meantime, UTSA will soldier forward in conference play, led by a smallish lineup comprised of Spears, Marcus Millender, Damari Monsanto, Raekwon Horton and Jo Smith.
David Hermes has been starting at center, with Smith coming in off the bench. Six-foot-five freshman Baboucarr Njie, Mo’s younger brother, also has been playing off the bench. Naz Mahmoud is getting spot duty, too, as the eighth man.
Not a great team, at the moment, but certainly a fun team worth watching.
Records
UTSA 9-10, 3-4
FAU 10-10, 3-4
Coming up
UTSA at FAU, Wednesday, 6 p.m.
UTSA at North Texas, Saturday, 5 p.m.
Tulane at UTSA, Feb. 5, 7 p.m.
East Carolina at UTSA, Feb. 8, 7 p.m.