By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Routed by 29 points a few days ago in New Orleans, Austin Claunch’s UTSA Roadrunners return home looking for redemption as they prepare to take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane Tuesday night at the Convocation Center.
Tipoff is at 7 p.m.

UTSA forward Raekwon Horton is averaging 10.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.1 steals this season. He had 15 points and nine rebounds at Tulane last weekend. – File photo by Joe Alexander
The Roadrunners have won four out of five at home this season, including three in a row, but UTSA’s first-year coach is still haunted by a 92-63 loss at Tulane in their American Athletic Conference opener.
In that game, they gave up 63 percent shooting from the field and 46 points in the paint. But with Tulsa, a ball club that is also struggling, the Roadrunners will play the first of two home games this week and three of the next four overall.
It’s a chance to turn the page on the team’s most lopsided loss of the season.
“Yeah, I’m excited, our first conference game at home,” Claunch told reporters Monday on a zoom call. “But we got to come out and play better. We got to play better than we did the other night in New Orleans, or, it doesn’t matter if we’re playing here, on the road, outside, (on a) different planet. We got to prepare today to step out and beat a good Tulsa team.”
Tulsa basketball has a proud tradition with a list of distinguished coaches having elevated the program over the years. Nolan Richardson in the 1980s, followed by J.D. Barnett, Tubby Smith, Steve Robinson and Bill Self, all made regular appearances in the NCAA tournament through the turn of the century.
It’s been awhile since the Golden Hurricane have made those kind of headlines, however, with the program’s last NCAA trip coming in 2016. Third-year coach Eric Konkol, who had a long and successful run at Louisiana Tech, is in his third season at Tulsa with mixed results.
Last year, the Golden Hurricane started to make progress with freshman guard PJ Haggerty leading them to a 16-15 record. But Haggerty is now at Memphis and is one of the top players for the highest-rated team in the AAC. Meanwhile, Tulsa is 6-9, having lost its first two in AAC play — by six at home to the Rice Owls and by 32 on the road to UAB on Saturday.
“They’ll be ready to go when they come in here on Tuesday,” Claunch said. “They really guard. They really compete defensively. They’re not quite as big as some of the teams in our league, sort of like us. But they really fly around and compete.”

Third-year Tulsa coach Eric Konkol leads his team into the Convocation Center tonight. – File photo by Joe Alexander
Both UTSA and Tulsa feature strong guard play, with the Roadrunners relying on Primo Spears, Marcus Millender and Tai’Reon Joseph and the Golden Hurricane countering with Keaston Willis, Dwon Odom and Tyshawn Archie.
Speaking on the UTSA basketball radio show Monday night, Spears described the Hurricane as “a great team” that relies on strong guard play. “So we just have to be the better three backcourt guys, to be able to take over the game and lead our team to victory,” he said.
Both teams are also limited at the moment with injury concerns. For Tulsa, forward Isaiah Barnes has been out with a fractured hand since Dec. 7. UTSA center Mo Njie has sat out the last two games with a foot injury. His return timeline is uncertain as Claunch describes it as “a couple of weeks” to a month.
Records
Tulsa 6-9, 0-2
UTSA 6-7, 0-1
Coming up
Tulsa at UTSA, today, 7 p.m.
Wichita State at UTSA, Saturday, 3 p.m.