Redshirt junior Austin Nunez played hard to the end of another frustrating loss for UTSA, finishing with 16 points, three rebounds and three assists against the Charlotte 49ers. – Photo by Joe Alexander
By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
They are disappointed, frustrated, you name it.
The UTSA Roadrunners show up for games believing that they’ve prepared as well as they can, and then, wham, the opponent slams them with an extended run or two that sets them back by a double-digit margins.
It happened again Wednesday night when the Roadrunners returned home after playing five of their last six on the road and got walloped, 74-58, by the Charlotte 49ers.
Coach Austin Claunch said in the wake of his team’s eighth-straight loss that his coaches and players will find a solution.
UTSA senior Mo Njie came off the bench for six points and two rebounds in 11 minutes. – Photo by Joe Alexander
As the coach said, whether it’s a day, a week, or a month, he believes they’re going to start playing better, though the fans are hoping to see improvement by Saturday at home against the Tulane Green Wave.
“One thing that’s been easy with this group, it’s going to be easy to show up tomorrow and see these guys and figure out the solution, come out here against a good team on Saturday and then go win the game,” Claunch said. “That part of it’s not going to change.
“We’re frustrated. I’m obviously very frustrated, and it’s my job to figure something out to help these guys, because they’re willing. They’re able. They’re a group that cares about winning and that cares about each other.
“So, I got to do a better job as head coach, and then we’ll come out and play better on Saturday.”
The losing streak is the longest for UTSA men’s basketball since 2023 when the program lost 11 in a row.
The 49ers (8-8, 2-1) used a late burst to build a 12-point lead at halftime and then rolled to leads as large as 22 after intermission, en route to their second straight victory in the American Conference.
UTSA (4-11, 0-3) lost its first two in conference at Florida Atlantic and Temple and returned home hoping to turn things round.
Charlotte had other ideas, winning the rebounding battle 47-29 and outscoring UTSA 23-8 in points off the bench. The 49ers created multiple second chances by pulling down 15 offensive rebounds.
Ben Bradford scored 18 points to lead five 49ers players in double figures. Bradford took over in the second half with 12 points, including a steal and a fast break dunk.
Charlotte’s Ben Bradford hit all five field goal attempts and scored 12 of his team-high 18 points in the second half. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Seven-foot-two center Anton Bonke dominated inside with 14 points and eight rebounds.
Afterward, Claunch said he didn’t try to say anything to his players to try and keep the morale high.
“It’s not high right now, right?” he said. “You know, in all seriousness, it’s like I tell these guys in the locker room. You should be disappointed when you lose. I’m not going to try and cheer them up. They’re competitors.”
“Like I said, ‘Be sad tonight. Come in here tomorrow, wake up and get to work.’
What nags at Claunch is that half a season has been played, and players that expected the team to play well still have only two wins against NCAA Division I programs to show for their efforts.
Two of their wins have come against the Houston-based College of Biblical Studies and Southwestern Christian (Okla.), two non-NCAA teams. The other two against Denver and Georgia Southern.
Since December, the schedule has included the likes of Alabama, Colorado and Southern Cal, all three of them high-major programs.
Seven of the eight losses have been by double digits, including one by 42 against Alabama and another by 40 in the conference opener last week against Florida Atlantic
“I’ve been on both sides of this and I can tell you that it’s not fun,” Claunch said. “I know for the players it’s not fun to be on this side, because they have one year together, like, the exact group … and so, obviously halfway through the season, this is not what you envisioned it to be.”
Austin Nunez paced the Roadrunners against the 49ers with 16 points, followed by Dorian Hayes with 15 and Jamir Simpson 11. Hayes matched a season high in point production but scored only four in the second half.
UTSA coach Austin Claunch continues to say he believes the team will turn the corner on a season that has started with a 4-11 record, – Photo by Joe Alexander
UTSA played short-handed with nine active players, including only eight on scholarship. Macaleab Rich, a 6-7, 245-pounder, and 7-foot Stanley Borden were both on the bench nursing injuries.
For the most part, the Roadrunners were no match physically for the 49ers, who started a 7-2 center, a 6-10 power forward, a 6-7 small forward, a 6-5 shooting guard and a 6-3 point guard.
They battled for stretches but could not sustain complementary play on both ends of the floor, which allowed the 49ers to go on streaks that could not be matched.
Nunez said he hopes players focus on reaching the conference’s postseason event in Birmingham, Ala. Once there, they can re-set for a run at the NCAA tournament, if they can just get hot over a three- or four-game stretch.
“Right now, we’re on an eight-game losing streak,” Nunez said, “but if we sit back and think about that, it’s not really going to help us. So, like coach said, having a mindset of showing up every day, listening to what the coaches are telling us and trying to compete and get better (is important).
“Not just trying to get the 90 minutes over, but trying to get better with whatever it is that we’re struggling with right now.”
For the most part, the Roadrunners are struggling to find consistency with their offense. They entered the Charlotte game in last or near last in every major offensive category. It was the same story against the 49ers, as they shot 35 percent from the field and 30 percent from 3-point territory.
Moreover, they seemed frustrated at times in absorbing contact by the 49ers and not being awarded with free throws. But then, when they did hear the whistle, they went to the line and hit only seven of 12.
Part of the problem could be that the Roadrunners play with a nine-man rotation that just doesn’t have much experience in playing extended minutes at this level. Three players in the rotation were in high school last year. Several were in programs where they didn’t play much.
Charlotte assistant coach Trevor DeLoach returned to the Convocation Center where he worked last season as an assistant under UTSA’s Austin Claunch. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Perhaps Jamir Simpson, the team’s leading scorer, is the only one that has played through an NCAA Division I season in which he has been asked to play a high volume of minutes.
Whatever the case, the Roadrunners have a little more than two months to figure it out, starting with a home game on Saturday against Tulane.
Said Claunch, “When you have kind of these years, it challenges your character. It challenges your habits. Can you continue to push forward when you seemingly have done that, and it’s not getting better? You keep pounding the rock. You keep chipping away.
“We got a group that’s going to do it. I believe that wholeheartedly, and it’ll turn. Tomorrow. A week. A month. I’m going to show up and be the same coach, and I have a feeling that (the players) are going to turn up and do the same thing.”
Records
Charlotte 8-8, 2-1
UTSA 4-11, 0-3
Coming up
Tulane at UTSA, Saturday, 4 p.m.
Notable
UTSA forward Macaleab Rich (groin) and center Stanley Borden (hand) did not play.
Rich, a Kansas State transfer who averages 8.1 points on 55 percent shooting, has sat out two straight games since he suffered the injury on New Years Eve at Florida Atlantic. He is the team’s best inside scoring threat.
Borden, a 7-foot forward, has played only three games this year. No word yet on when either might be available. But, Borden was on the floor shooting the ball during pre-game warmups.
Guards Vasean Allette and Pierce Spencer are out for the season.
First half
Coming out with a distinct size advantage and plenty of offensive weapons, the 49ers took a 34-26 lead into the dressing room at intermission.
Charlotte held UTSA to 29 percent shooting, out-rebounded the home team 29-15 and brandished scoring threats up and down the bench.
In fact, the 49ers bench out-scored the Roadrunners 17-5, with guard Damoni Harrison leading the team with eight points in only 10 minutes.
