Tag Archives: NCAA Division I men’s basketball

UTSA men looking for their first Division I win of the season today at Denver

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA men will play in the Mile High City today, taking on the Denver Pioneers at 1 p.m.

Against the Pioneers (1-2), the Roadrunners (1-2) are looking for their first win of the season against an NCAA Division I opponent.

After opening with a lopsided home victory over the non-NCAA College of Biblical Studies, UTSA has struggled to find consistency.

In their last two games, the Roadrunners have lost at home, falling 77-60 to the SIU Edwardsville Cougars, and on the road, getting beat 80-69 by the Texas State Bobcats.

Six-foot-five guard Jamir Simpson leads the Roadrunners in scoring at 17 points per game. A graduate student transfer from Southern Utah and a native of Ohio, Simpson is shooting 40 percent from three-point range.

Other standouts for UTSA have been 6-9 freshman forward Kaidon Rayfield and 6-5 sophomore forward Baboucarr Njie.

Rayfield, from Oklahoma City, has averaged 13 points and 10.3 rebounds. Njie, another Ohio native from Dayton, has averaged eight points and six rebounds off the bench.

Guard Vasean Allette, regarded as the team’s top offseason pickup out of the transfer portal, has yet to play. Coach Austin Claunch said earlier in the week that Allette is day to day.

The Pioneers also started off slowly, dropping road games at Seattle, 84-73, and Washington, 84-70.

They won their first game last Sunday, winning on the road against the Montana State Bobcats, 75-73.

Forward Jeremiah Burke leads the team with 19.7 points per game and 6.3 rebounds. He’s hit eight of 17 from three-point distance. Forward Logan Kinsey averages 17.7 points and guard Carson Johnson 15.3.

Records

UTSA 1-2
Denver 1-2

Coming up

UTSA at Denver, today, 1 p.m.
Southwestern Christian at UTSA, Tuesday, 11 a.m.

Notable

The Pioneers, who play in the Summit League, have never reached the NCAA Division I men’s tournament in some 40 seasons at the highest level of college basketball. Denver entered Division I for a stretch from the early 1960s through the late 1970s and then again from 1998-99 to the present.

Tim Bergstraser is in his first year as head coach. He is charged with turning around a program that hasn’t had a winning record since the 2016-17 team finished 16-14. The Pioneers finished 17-17 in the 2023-24 season but slumped to 11-21 last year.

The Roadrunners, who started playing basketball in 1981-82, have made four NCAA tournaments. They qualified in 1988, 1999, 2004 and 2011. The Roadrunners have had four straight losing seasons, including 12-19 last year in Coach Austin Claunch’s first year.

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Former Holmes HS basketball player at Utah notches a double-double against UTSA

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Good morning, all. While monitoring the UTSA at University of Utah game on Tuesday night, I noticed a prominent player for the Utes that I had omitted from my preseason list of San Antonio area athletes in NCAA Division I men’s basketball.

In that regard, I wanted to update the list to include Marco Anthony from Holmes High School, who played 33 minutes for the Utes against the Roadrunners.

Anthony, a sixth-year senior formerly with the University of Virginia and Utah State University, contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds for Utah in a 91-70 victory over UTSA.

The Utah guard is shown in the video (see above) making a steal and passing for an assist in a game last Thursday against Jacksonville State, Ala.

This is Anthony’s second year at Utah. Previously, he attended Utah State for two years, sitting out one as a redshirt, and two at Virginia. At Virginia, he played on the team that won the 2019 NCAA championship.

Another adjustment to the original preseason list is on Gerald Liddell, who is playing as a senior for the Detroit Mercy Titans in the Horizon League.

Liddell transferred into Detroit Mercy to play for Coach Mike Davis after playing last year at Alabama State. Originally, he was a top 50 recruit out of Steele High School to the University of Texas.

Playing for the Titans, Liddell is making a huge contribution, averaging 18.5 points and 14.8 rebounds in four games.

If any other additions or adjustments to the preseason list come to light, I’ll be sure to update. But, for the time being, here is the update, with athletes listed in alphabetical order:

San Antonio area athletes

In NCAA Division I men’s basketball

Marco Anthony, Utah, a 6-6 senior guard from Holmes HS, formerly of Virginia and Utah State

Adam Benhayoune, LSU, a 6-5 sophomore guard from O’Connor HS

Trey Blackmore, Cal State-Fullerton, a 6-2 freshman guard from Cole HS

Marques Gates, Houston Christian, a 6-0 redshirt freshman guard from Clemens HS

x-Vincent Iwuchukwu, Southern Cal, a 7-foot freshman center, formerly of Cole HS, La Lumiere, Ind., Montverde Academy, Fla.

Jalen Jackson, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, a 5-11 senior guard from Wagner HS

Ja’Sean Jackson, Abilene Christian, a 6-0 sophomore guard from Wagner HS

Ellis Jefferson, Lamar, a 6-0 senior guard from Brandeis HS

Gerald Liddell, Detroit Mercy, a 6-8 senior forward from Steele HS; transfer from Texas, Alabama State

x-Carlton Linguard Jr., UTSA, a 7-foot junior center from Stevens HS, transfer from Temple JC and Kansas State

Silas Livingston, University of the Incarnate Word, a 5-9 freshman guard from Cole

Langston Love, Baylor, a 6-5 redshirt freshman guard, formerly of Steele HS, Montverde Academy, Fla.

Jayden Martinez, North Texas, a 6-7 senior forward from Steele; transfer from New Hampshire

Jordan Mason, Texas State, a 6-2 freshman guard from Clark

Kevin McCullar, Jr., Kansas, a 6-6 senior guard, formerly of Wagner High School, a transfer from Texas Tech.

Austin Nunez, Arizona State, a 6-2 freshman guard from Wagner HS

Ze’Rik Onyema, UTEP, a 6-8 sophomore forward from Jay HS

Dre Ray, Incarnate Word, a 5-9 freshman guard from Cole HS

Brendan Wenzel, Wyoming, a 6-7 guard from O’Connor HS; a transfer from Utah

Dalen Whitlock, Texas State, a 6-4 sophomore guard from Clark HS

Players with San Antonio roots who attended high school out of the area

Zach Clemence, Kansas, a 6-10 forward from Findlay Prep (Nev.) and Sunrise Christian Academy (Kan.)

Micah Peavy, TCU, a 6-7 junior forward from Duncanville, transfer from Texas Tech

x-Linguard is getting healthy and practicing at UTSA after rehabilitating a knee injury. He’ll need NCAA clearance to play this season because he’s academically ineligible. Iwuchukwu hasn’t played after suffering what he described as a cardiac arrest last summer.