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Remembering Mickey Lashley (1954-2024) and the boys of summer at V.J. Keefe Field

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

I’ll always remember the images of young ball players in the San Antonio Dodgers’ cramped clubhouse at V.J. Keefe Field in the late 1970s. I remember distinctly that some of them, at the time, would talk about a decade-old, country-rock song by John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

“Lodi” was a bluesy number written in the 1960s that told the tale of a down-on-his-luck musician. One who showed up in a small, Southern California town for a one-night stand, only to spend months there, broke, and lamenting elusive good fortune on the trail to stardom.

Some of those ball players, I suppose, really did suffer from the blues.

The players who dreamed of days and nights at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, who instead seemed forever tethered to a minor-league existence that ranged from Class A Lodi in the California League to Double-A San Antonio in the Texas League. They could get down on themselves, I suppose.

But I don’t really remember that about Mickey Lashley, a one-time, eighth-round draft pick of the Dodgers. No sir. My best memory of Mickey? I remember him as an upbeat guy who brought positive energy to a minor-league clubhouse on the West Side of San Antonio in 1979.

Years later, in the 1990s, he brought the same intangibles in helping to start a fledgling baseball program at UTSA.

Sadly, as UTSA announced Saturday morning, Mickey Lashley died on June 13 at the age of 70. I didn’t know Mickey well, by any means. So, why am I writing this? Why does his passing strike such a chord with me this morning? Well, part of it is that he and I were about the same age. Born in the same year. Lashley in rural Oklahoma. Me in Midland, in dusty West Texas.

We were only passing acquaintances, sure, but we both sort of grew up together in the game, in a sense. Lashley was born in in 1954 Muskogee, Okla. Grew up in Bartlesville. Played in the mid-1970s for the University of Oklahoma Sooners, who made seemingly annual treks to the College World Series in that era.

My family moved to San Antonio in the 1960s. I played here when I was a kid and always loved the game. When I first crossed paths with Mickey at V.J. Keefe in 1979, I was a 24-year-old sports writer and he had already become a big-time presence in the game.

Me? I was driving my dad’s old Volkswagen beetle in my second year out of journalism school. Working for the old San Antonio Light newspaper, I thought I was big time, but I wasn’t, really. Man, I did well just to make it through a summer day. From home to the ball park, to the office and then back home every night. I still wonder how my stories ever made the paper.

For me, a good day started with a pre-game dinner at Church’s Fried Chicken on Culebra. It continued into the evening at V.J. Keefe, off 36th street, where if reporters were lucky, we’d have rosters for both teams and the games would end in less than three hours.

That way, I’d have the time to A) call the office and dictate the box score; B) drive fast (and probably beyond the speed limit) eastbound on Culebra, toward downtown; and then C) write six or eight paragraphs at the office for the morning newspaper.

Next day, repeat the previous. Hey, I did well just to spell all the names correctly, much less develop relationships with the players. Consequently, I didn’t know any of the players all that well. Lashley, though, was an easy-going sort and made it look pretty easy doing his thing on the pitcher’s mound, as best as I can recall.

He made appearances in 42 games that summer — all in relief — for San Antonio Dodgers manager Don “Ducky” LeJohn, according to Baseball Reference’s online records. Lashley won six games and he lost eight. He fashioned a highly respectable 3.39 earned run average.

As for my inter-actions with him in the locker room? Man, that’s just too long ago. But I do seem to recall that Lashley, as well as most of the other young guys on that team, were on many levels just happy to know that they could report to the ball park every day and play a kids’ game.

Even if, at times, their road trips on the team bus seemed endless. Or, that their pay check didn’t cover all their daily expenses. Or, that the close quarters in the dressing room at V.J. Keefe required them to be careful while putting on their jerseys, lest they accidentally back-hand a teammate at an adjacent cubicle.

When the media would come in, some players would bring up the “Lodi” song. I do remember that. I don’t remember any of them reciting the lyrics. It’s just that they knew of the song. For a refresher, I looked up the lyrics this morning. First verse goes like this:

Just about a year ago
I set out on the road
Seekin’ my fame and fortune
And lookin’ for a pot of gold
Things got bad, and things got worse
I guess you know the tune
Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi again

Such a sad song. But that was hardly the vibe in the Dodgers’ clubhouse that I remember. It was just a song. The vibe that I recall was one of hope and optimism and camaraderie. In a players’ world, there was just no time to dwell on what they didn’t have. Players had to stay positive and lean on their teammates.

If things didn’t go their way, they had to make adjustments and move on.

Mickey Lashley did just that in his career. Even though he never played in the majors, he had a significant impact on the game in San Antonio. In 1981, UTSA started an NCAA Division I athletics program. By 1992, the school added baseball. Jimmy Shankle was hired as the head coach, and Mickey Lashley worked on his staff.

By 1994, the Roadrunners enjoyed their first big year. They won enough games to qualify for the NCAA tournament. Later, after Shankle stepped down, Mickey served as head coach from 1996-2000.

Today, the program operates under the direction of head coach Pat Hallmark, and UTSA has started to make noise as one of the best teams in the American Athletic Conference. Playing at the mid-major level in Division I, the Roadrunners have won 38, 38 and 32 games in the past three seasons, respectively.

They finished second in the American this season and won weekend series against a pair of NCAA tournament teams — the East Carolina Pirates and the Tulane Green Wave. The Roadrunners went on the road and swept the Green Wave, who later won the AAC tournament.

Even though the Roadrunners sputtered at the end, going two and out in the AAC tournament at Clearwater, Fla., eyes have been opened around San Antonio for a program that holds significant promise if more improvements can be made over the next few years at their home stadium.

I’ve had the pleasure of covering that up-and-coming program in each of the last three years. It’s been a veritable pot of gold for an old ball writer who still loves the game. So, many thanks to Mickey Lashley for all the baseball memories over the years and for helping to make the UTSA program happen for all of us.

Sincerest condolences to your family, Mickey, and RIP.

Corpus Christi’s John Gaddis gets the win in CWS clincher for the Ole Miss Rebels

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Former Corpus Christi Calallen standout John Gaddis emerged as the winning pitcher in relief Sunday afternoon as the Ole Miss Rebels beat the Oklahoma Sooners 4-2 to win their first national title in baseball.

In the College World Series game played in Omaha, Neb., in front of a crowd announced at 25,972, Gaddis entered the game in the seventh and put a stop to a rally.

With the bases loaded and OU leading 2-1, Ole Miss replaced Mason Nichols with Gaddis to pitch to John Spikerman. Gaddis, a lefthander and a transfer from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, promptly struck out Spikerman to end the threat.

In the eighth, Gaddis issued a one-out walk but then got tough, retiring Tanner Tredaway on a fly ball and striking out Jimmy Crooks. In the bottom half, Ole Miss took the lead when the Rebels’ offense produced three runs.

With one out, TJ McCants singled up the middle. At that point, OU replaced starter Cade Horton with Trevin Michael.

Justin Bench greeted Michael by hitting a single to right field, moving McCants to third. From there, Jacob Gonzalez singled through the right side of the infield to score McCants, making it 2-2. Subsequently, the Rebels took the lead on a wild pitch, scoring Bench and moving Gonzalez to second.

Elko grounded out, advancing Gonzalez to third. But on yet another wild pitch, Gonzalez raced home for a 4-2 advantage.

In the ninth, Brandon Johnson closed the door on the Sooners. Johnson struck out three straight batters to start the Ole Miss celebration.

On Saturday, the Rebels got the jump on the Sooners in the CWS title round with a 10-3 victory. Their performance Sunday allowed the remarkable Rebels (42-23) to sweep the Sooners (45-24) in two straight games in the best-of-3 CWS title round.

Ole Miss entered the season ranked No. 5 nationally by D1Baseball. But by late April and early May, the Rebels were sputtering, at one point falling to 7-14 in the Southeastern Conference, which was tied for last.

Even after a surge to the end of the regular season, they barely made the 64-team NCAA tournament field. The Rebels were the last of the teams to receive an at-large bid. All that notwithstanding, Ole Miss went 10-1 in the tournament, including 6-1 in the CWS.

Records

Oklahoma 45-24
Ole Miss 42-23

Notable

In one season with Ole Miss, John Michael Gaddis finished with a 4-2 record and a save. He had a 4.20 earned run average. He struck out 49 and walked 19 in 49 and 1/3 innings. At the CWS, Gaddis pitched in two games. He gave up two home runs and took the loss in a 3-2 setback against Arkansas. Against OU in the title game, Gaddis worked 1 and 1/3 scoreless innings, walking one and striking out two.

Ole Miss routs OU, 10-3, moves to within one victory of a CWS title

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The hard-hitting Ole Miss Rebels slugged four home runs Saturday night to rout the Oklahoma Sooners 10-3 in the first game of a best-of-3 for the College World Series baseball title. The Rebels also blasted out two doubles in a 16-hit attack.

In a pivotal top of the eighth inning, Oklahoma was in the field, and the Sooners had just benefited from an umpire’s decision that went to replay. Ole Miss’ Peyton Chatagnier attempted to take third base on the front end of a double steal. Initially, he was called safe. But after review, the call was reversed.

OU fans were delighted. With two out and an Ole Miss runner at second, the Sooners had a chance to escape trouble. But that’s when real trouble arrived in the form of three straight home runs by the Rebels. First, it was TJ McCants slugging a two-run blast to right. Next, it was Calvin Harris, with a solo shot. Finally, Justin Bench hit another solo homer.

All of a sudden, it was 8-2, and Ole Miss was on its way. The Rebels can wrap up the national title with a victory on Sunday. If necessary, a third and deciding game to determine the national champion in NCAA Division I baseball would be played on Monday.

Ole Miss got off to a fast start, scoring two runs in the first, one in the second and one in the third. A solo homer by Tim Elko lifted the Rebels into a 4-0 lead in the top of the third inning.

In retaliation, Oklahoma scored twice in the bottom of the sixth against Ole Miss starter Jake Dougherty.

Jackson Nicklaus led off with a single and Sebastian Orduno followed with a sharp single to right. Next man up, Kendall Pettis, dropped a bunt that was fielded by third baseman Garrett Wood, whose throw to first base was wild and late. Ole Miss had the play backed up but a throw home was late, and Nicklaus scored the first run for the Sooners.

When Dougherty walked John Spikerman, that was it for Dougherty. He was lifted for Mason Nichols, who put out the fire. The freshman struck out a pair of OU hitters and then walked one, forcing in a run to make it 4-2. From there, he got Jimmy Crooks on a come backer, and the Rebels escaped what could have been a very big inning for the Sooners.

Records

Ole Miss 41-23
Oklahoma 45-23

Notable

The CWS is being played at Omaha, Nebraska. Oklahoma won its bracket by beating Texas A&M, 13-8, before downing Notre Dame, 6-2. Advancing to the semifinals, the Sooners beat the Aggies again, 5-1, to make the finals. Ole Miss, in winning its bracket, beat Auburn, 5-1. Then it knocked off Arkansas, 13-5. In the semifinals, Arkansas edged Ole Miss, 3-2. But the Rebels rebounded to beat the Razorbacks, 2-0, to make the finals.

The coaches

Mike Bianco is the Ole Miss coach. Bianco has been at Ole Miss since 2000. This is his second trip to the CWS after making it in 2014. Skip Johnson is the coach at OU. Johnson’s first year in Norman was 2018. This is his first trip to the CWS as a head coach. Johnson was pitching coach under the late Augie Garrido at Texas for 10 seasons.

Ole Miss shuts out Arkansas, 2-0, advances to CWS title round

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Tied for last place in the Southeastern Conference standings in early May, the Ole Miss Rebels hardly seemed worthy of the NCAA tournament, much less the championship round of the College World Series.

Ole Miss players and coaches weren’t listening to their critics then, and they certainly aren’t paying too much attention to them now.

The Rebels are headed for the CWS title round after a 2-0 victory Thursday against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

They’ll meet the Oklahoma Sooners in a best-of-three series for the national title starting Saturday in Omaha, Neb.

In a winner-take-all, CWS semifinal for a chance to play in title series, Dylan DeLucia pitched a nine-inning gem, blanking the Razorbacks on four hits.

DeLucia struck out seven and walked none.

Trailing by two runs, the Razorbacks had a chance to do some damage in the bottom of the seventh but couldn’t score.

Robert Moore reached base with a two-out, infield single. San Antonio’s Jalen Battles kept it going when he hit a ball toward the middle that was misplayed by Ole Miss shortstop Jacob Gonzalez.

At that point, Moore was at second base, and Battles was standing on first on a play that was scored as an error on Gonzalez.

Brady Slavens, who hit a long home run in Arkansas’ 3-2 victory over Ole Miss on Wednesday afternoon, stepped to the plate. But he grounded out to second base to end the inning and the threat.

Ole Miss took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on Kevin Graham’s RBI double. The Rebels made it 2-0 in the seventh on Calvin Harris’ run-scoring single.

While DeLucia (8-2) earned the victory, Arkansas ace Connor Noland (8-6) took the loss.

Noland worked eight innings. He yieded two runs, both earned, on seven hits. Noland was sharp with his control, walking none while fanning seven.

Coming up

CWS championship round (Oklahoma vs. Ole Miss, best of three)
Saturday — 6 p.m.
Sunday — 2 p.m.
Monday — 6 p.m. (if necessary)

Records

Oklahoma 45-22
Ole Miss 40-23

Notable

In early May, Ole Miss was 7-14 in the SEC and was in danger of missing the conference’s postseason tournament. From there, the team started to click and won eight of 11 games. It was good enough for a spot in the NCAA tournament as the last at-large team selected.

Once they made the NCAA postseason, the Rebels got hot. They clicked off wins against Arizona and Miami and then Arizona again to win the Coral Gables regional. On the road again in the Super Regionals, they won two straight — both by shutout — at Southern Miss, the Conference USA champion, in Hattiesburg.

In all, they had strung together five straight wins leading into the CWS.

Ole Miss continued to play well in Omaha. DeLucia got the victory in a 5-1 victory over Auburn. Freshman left-handed pitcher Hunter Elliott followed by leading the Rebels in an 13-5 victory over Arkansas. In the semifinals, the Rebels met the Razorbacks again. Arkansas won the first game, 3-2, but Ole Miss responded with DeLucia going the distance in the 2-0 shutout.

Ole Miss has two Texans on its roster. One is pitcher John Gaddis, from Corpus Christi’s Calallen High School. The other is infielder Peyton Chatagnier from Cy-Fair High School in the Houston area.

Arkansas holds off Ole Miss, 3-2, to stay in the CWS title hunt

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Arkansas junior Zack Morris, pitching in relief in a harrowing ninth inning, shut down an Ole Miss rally Wednesday night as the Razorbacks held on to beat the Rebels 3-2 at the College World Series.

“Everyone in the dugout had faith in him,” Arkansas starting pitcher Hagen Smith said in a post-game interview with reporters on-site in Omaha, Neb. “Nerves were high. But we knew he was going to get out of it.”

By claiming the victory, the Razorbacks forced a deciding game Thursday against the Rebels, with the winner advancing to play the Oklahoma Sooners in the championship round.

The best-of-three championship round will start on Saturday night. Earlier Wednesday, Oklahoma earned the right to play for the title by beating the Texas A&M Aggies.

In the night game, the Razorbacks took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth, only to see the Rebels open the frame by loading the bases with a single and two straight batters hit by pitch.

Morris entered the game in relief at that juncture and struck out Hayden Leatherwood.

The next batter, TJ McCants, flied out. One out away from a loss, the Rebels found life when Justin Bench’s RBI single drove in a run.

The ball was hit into the hole between third and short. Gliding toward his right, Arkansas shortstop Jalen Battles gloved it and kept it from going into the outfield, which likely prevented a second run — the tying run — from scoring.

At the same time, the San Antonio Madison High School alumnus had no other play to make after fielding the ball, and so the bases remained loaded.

Ole Miss’ Jacob Gonzalez was up next, with the game hanging in the balance. Arkansas was one out away from winning, but it also remained a possibility that a two-run single could end its season.

Gonzalez swung and struck the ball well. Slicing into left field, it was caught by Zack Gregory for the last out.

“Zack (Morris) has been clutch for us all year,” Arkansas designated hitter Brady Slavens said. “He’s done a great job. We all had faith in him. We all had belief in him. You know, he didn’t have the best start the other day. But he came out and proved himself tonight.”

With the teams tied in the early innings, Slavens’ 436-foot solo home run to center field in the top of the fifth staked Arkansas to a 2-1 lead.

“I guess I was just looking for a fastball over the plate,” Slavens said. “Luckily I got it. It might be the farthest home run I’ve ever hit. I don’t know. Not sure.”

In the deciding game, Ole Miss is expected to start ace Dylan DeLucia, who beat Auburn on the second day of the tournament last Saturday.

“We’re going to have to really fight,” Slavens said. “It’s going to take all of us to win.”

Oklahoma wins 5-1 to oust Texas A&M from the College World Series

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The Oklahoma Sooners advanced to the championship round of the College World Series Wednesday afternoon with a 5-1 victory over the Texas A&M Aggies in Omaha, Neb.

Jimmy Crooks helped the Sooners start fast by belting a three-run homer in the first inning. After that, right-handed pitcher David Sandlin dominated the Aggies, ousting them from the CWS with a powerful seven-inning performance.

Sandlin yielded only a run on five hits and struck out 12. The only run for A&M came in the sixth on a solo homer by former UTSA standout Dylan Rock.

It wasn’t nearly enough for the Aggies, as the Sooners moved on to the title round. Oklahoma will play either Ole Miss or Arkansas on Sunday to open a best-of-three set for the national title.

A&M will transition into the offseason coming off perhaps the best season in school history. In coach Jim Schlossnagle’s first year as coach, A&M finished 44-20.

The Aggies picked up momentum during Southeastern Conference play, claiming consecutive series victories over Kentucky, Georgia, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Mississippi State and Ole Miss.

Entering the NCAA tournament as the No. 5 overall seed, the Aggies won the College Station regional when they swept to three straight victories, knocking off Oral Roberts, Louisiana and TCU.

In the Super Regionals, also played in College Station, A&M claimed a pair of one-run victories over the Louisville Cardinals to take a five-game winning streak into the CWS.

The streak ended last Friday on opening day in Omaha, as the Sooners knocked out Aggies’ starter Nathan Dettmer early in a 13-8 victory.

Undeterred, A&M moved into the losers bracket and domintated Texas 10-2 before beating Notre Dame 5-1.

Against the Irish, Dettmer, from San Antonio’s Johnson High School, pitched seven shutout innings in the historic win, as it was the first time in school history that the Aggies had won two games in one CWS.

The win sent them to the semifinals, where they needed two straight victories over the Sooners to advance. Sandlin and the OU bullpen just didn’t let it happen. The Sooners limited the Aggies to only six hits.

A&M outfielder Jordan Thompson, a junior from Boerne Champion, enjoyed a standout CWS. In four games, he finished four for 10 at the plate with five RBIs. He also walked four times and stole two bases.

The Sooners didn’t let Thompson get going on Wednesday, though, as they held him hitless in three at bats.

Dettmer pitches Texas A&M into the semifinals at the College World Series

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The Texas A&M Aggies will play another day in Omaha at the College World Series, thanks in large part to San Antonio’s Nathan Dettmer.

Dettmer started and pitched seven scoreless innings Tuesday as A&M eliminated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 5-1.

As a result, the Aggies will move into the semifinals of the CWS to meet the Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners and Aggies will play at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

OU can advance to the championship round with a victory. The Aggies will need to win twice against the Sooners to play for the national title.

The Sooners (2-0 in the CWS) beat the Aggies (2-1) by a 13-8 score last Friday in the tournament opener.

Against OU, Dettmer started but didn’t make it through the second inning.

Even though he has struggled over the past five weeks, he settled down and pitched his best game of the season against the Irish.

The 6-foot-4, righthander, who played in high school at San Antonio Johnson, allowed only three hits, did not walk a batter and struck out six.

“I’m feeling great right now,” Dettmer told Michella Chester, a reporter for NCAA Digital. “It’s a great relief to have such success on … one of the greatest baseball stages in the world. It felt great.”

For Dettmer, it was quite a change of fortune. Over his last seven starts, he had pitched 20 innnings, yielding 33 hits and 28 earned runs.

Against OU, Dettmer was pulled after 1 and 2/3 innings. The Sooners had roughed him up badly. He was charged with giving up seven earned runs.

Chester asked Dettmer, “What turned it around?”

“I trusted myself,” he said. “All I had to do was believe in myself. My teammates believed in me. My coaches believed in me. I just had to believe in myself.

“It was all up here,” he added, pointing to his head.

“I just did it today. It was me and (catcher) Troy (Claunch) working the whole time. It felt great.”

What was working for him?

“Honestly, everything. I don’t want to seem cocky. But I felt like I could throw any pitch in any count. Just to have that confidence and to have my catcher working with me, it felt amazing.”

Dettmer said it felt good that coach Jim Schlossnagle would turn to him at such an important juncture in the season.

“To feel that confidence — I really felt it,” he said. “It showed up. It worked.”

Chester asked Dettmer about the days in the aftermath of his last start and what he was experiencing.

“It felt like forever,” he said. “That one game, when I got pulled, it felt like a 20-inning game. I felt so small. But (for the coach) to have that confidence (in me) it felt amazing.”

Notable

The Aggies have won multiple games at a College World Series for the first time in seven trips, according to the school’s website. Their two victories (over Texas and Notre Dame) matches their total from the program’s previous six trips to Omaha.

A&M capitalized on Notre Dame mistakes, including a balk and a throwing error, to take a 3-0 lead in the third inning. In the fifth inning, a Trevor Werner leadoff homer highlighted a two-run rally as the Aggies opened a 5-0 lead.

Jordan Thompson, a Texas A&M junior from Boerne Champion, reached base twice on a walk and a hit against the Irish, increasing his on-base total in three CWS games to nine.

Against Notre Dame, he went 1 for 3 and scored a run. He was 2 for 2 and scored twice and drove in two runs in a 10-2 victory over Texas on Sunday. Thompson was 1 for 2 and clubbed a three-run homer in the Aggies’ 13-8 loss to OU last Friday.

Coming up

Wednesday — (CWS semifinals) Texas A&M (2-1) vs. Oklahoma (2-0). Also, Arkansas (2-1) vs. Ole Miss (2-0). To advance to the title round, both Oklahoma and Ole Miss can advance with a single victory, while both A&M and Arkansas need to win twice.

Oklahoma’s defense suffocates UTSA in a 96-44 blowout

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The Oklahoma Sooners held UTSA scoreless for a span of almost eight minutes in the first half Friday night and then capitalized on the momentum, rolling to an easy 96-44 victory over the Roadrunners.

In the game played at the Noble Center in Norman, Okla., UTSA kept its head above water in the first few minutes, leading 4-2, before the home team set in motion a crushing defensive performance with a 17-0 run.

As the teams took a break for intermission, OU entered the UTSA record book by holding the Roadrunners to their fewest points in a half (10).

With a 33-10 lead, the Sooners came out and kept pouring it on in the second half, increasing the advantage to 30 with 16:55 left, to 40 with eight minutes remaining and, ultimately, to 53 with 33 seconds to go.

In the end, it was one of the most lopsided losses in UTSA’s 41-year school history.

“They just got after us from the start,” UTSA coach Steve Henson told Jay Howard on the team’s radio broadcast. “We just couldn’t get a good shot early on. We were fighting. We fought defensively for awhile. But I think just the fact that we could not get good looks at the basket eventually took some of our energy away from the defensive end, and it just steamrolled on us.”

Late in the half, OU center Tanner Groves asserted himself with shot-making both inside the paint and from 3-point range. Groves, during the streak, fired in one shot from beyond the arc, sank a mid-range jumper and flipped in a jump hook.

He finished with 21 points to lead four players in double figures. Umoja Gibson, Elijah Harkless and Marvin Johnson scored 10 each for the Sooners, who shot 61.5 percent from the field in the second half and ended with 58.2 percent for the game.

On the flip side, UTSA shot 22.7 percent, just off the school record 22.6 percent set on March 2, 2013, in a 53-37 home loss to Seattle.

With first-year coach Porter Moser in charge, Oklahoma employed a switching defense, with obvious positive results.

“They got a bunch of interchangeable sized guys. That’s kind of what we try to do defensively. Certainly, they were able to blow up a lot of our action with their switching,” Henson said.

A bright spot for UTSA was forward Dhieu Deing, a newcomer to the team who played his high school career at High Point, N.C. Held scoreless early, Deing got hot late and hit five three-pointers. He finished with 15 points. Guard Jordan Ivy-Curry scored 10 points and center Jacob Germany six.

Records

Oklahoma 2-0
UTSA 1-1

Coming up

UTSA hosts a three-day, multi-team event starting Monday at the Convocation Center. The Roadrunners play Texas A&M-Commerce on Monday night at 7:30. They’ll take on Denver on Tuesday night at 7:30 and IUPUI on Wednesday afternoon at 4:30.

UTSA-OU notebook

With the victory, Oklahoma of the Big 12 Conference improved to 7-0 against UTSA all time, including 5-0 against the Henson-coached Roadrunners. OU handed Henson his worst loss last year, 105-66.

Coming into the game, UTSA men’s basketball was winless in 12 years against teams from the five biggest revenue-producing athletic conferences. The loss dropped UTSA to 0-24 against Power Five opponents in that span. The program’s last victory over a P5 team came in November of 2009 at Iowa of the Big Ten.

Moser came to OU from Loyola-Chicago to replace Lon Kruger, who retired after last season. Moser is best known by fans in South Texas for leading his team to the 2018 NCAA Final Four at the Alamodome.

Under Moser, OU has stocked its roster with transfers, including brothers Tanner Groves and Jacob Groves from Eastern Washington, Ethan Chargois (SMU) and Jordan Goldwire (Duke). Also, super senior Marvin Johnson (Eastern Illinois).

Goldwire played 116 games at Duke over the last four years.

Oklahoma hits 17 from three to blow out UTSA, 105-66

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Senior forward Brady Manek scored 29 points as the Oklahoma Sooners opened their season by routing the UTSA Roadrunners 105-66 Thursday night in Norman, Okla.

Manek hit 9 of 15 from the field and 8 of 11 from beyond the arc for the Sooners, who hit 17 from long distance.

The Roadrunners fell to 1-2 on the season with an early flight out of Oklahoma scheduled Friday morning. UTSA will fly home to play Division III Sul Ross State Friday at 6 p.m.

Senior guard Jhivvan Jackson led the Roadrunners with 28 points.

The game started with some promise for the Roadrunners, who scored seven straight points to seize a 7-6 lead.

Undeterred, the Sooners answered with 19 straight to go up 25-7. The Sooners kicked the lead up to 51-28 at intermission and kept pouring it on in the second half.

For the game, Oklahoma hit 34 of 68 for 50 percent from the floor. They also produced 50 percent shooting from three, nailing 17 of 34.

The Roadrunners, who have dropped two straight, hit 23 of 67 for 34.3 percent from the floor. They were also held to 8 of 30 from three for 26.7 percent.

Turnovers (18) were a major problem for the Roadrunners, especially in the first half when they were charged with 13 to kick-start Oklahoma’s high-flying offense.

Records

Oklahoma 1-0
UTSA 1-2

Coming up

Sul Ross State (1-2) at UTSA (1-2), Friday, 6 p.m.

Notable

The 39-point margin of defeat ranks as the widest in Henson’s five seasons as head coach of the Roadrunners. UTSA lost by 38 in a Conference USA game against Old Dominion (100-62) on Feb. 15, 2018 and by 37 in non-conference against Texas Tech (87-50) on Dec. 7, 2016.

In addition, UTSA fell to 0-10 against teams from the five major, revenue-producing conferences in Henson’s tenure with the Roadrunners.

UTSA has now lost 22 in a row against teams from conferences that include the Big 12, the Big Ten, the Pac-12, the ACC and the SEC. The Roadrunners’ last win against a power conference team came 11 years ago, in November of 2009, at Iowa.

Quotable

“They bombed in a lot of threes but that wasn’t really the story of the game. Our lack of fight was concerning.” — UTSA coach Steve Henson said on the team’s radio broadcast.

A crazy schedule? UTSA players ‘grateful’ for chance to play

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Looking to bounce back from a dispiriting road loss, the UTSA Roadrunners on Tuesday announced a not-so-minor adjustment to their schedule, unveiling a plan to play on the road Thursday night at the University of Oklahoma.

Eric Parrish. UTSA beat UT-Permian Basin 97-71 on Friday, Nov. 27, 2020 in the men's basketball season opener at the Convocation Center.

Forward Eric Parrish drives to the bucket in last Friday’s season opener against UT Permian Basin. — Photo by Joe Alexander

The wrinkle sets up back-to-back games for the Roadrunners for the second time in two weeks, as they return home Friday night to meet the Division III Sul Ross State Lobos.

In most years, back-to-back games are rare unless they are played at neutral sites with multiple teams involved. But this isn’t any ordinary year. UTSA junior Eric Parrish said it’s all part of trying to get a season going during the coronavirus pandemic.

“With them extending the season to us, we’re grateful,” Parrish said. “We’re grateful for each game that we’re able to go lace ’em up.”

Last week, UTSA was scheduled to open its season at OU. But the game was called off because of Covid-19 issues in the Sooners’ program, forcing the Roadrunners to scramble travel plans and take a bus ride back to San Antonio on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.

It all set up a two-game, season-opening test last Friday and Saturday.

On Friday afternoon, the Roadrunners played well and blew out the Division II UT Permian Basin Panthers, 97-71. That night, they took a five-hour bus ride to Edinburg, where they would spend the night in preparation for a Saturday afternoon game at UT Rio Grande Valley.

The Division I Vaqueros were ready and waiting for them. Forcing UTSA into a slow pace, UTRGV pounded out an 81-64 victory, leaving the Roadrunners in a bit of a funk for a good 48 hours. UTSA coach Steve Henson said players responded with enthusiasm Monday afternoon when it looked like they would get to play the OU game this week.

“It was kind of a cool deal yesterday,” Henson said. “We had a long meeting to recap the disappointments from Saturday. We had a good team meeting and had ’em speak in that meeting. When the meeting was over, I asked ’em if they had anything going on Thursday night.

“They kind of looked at me funny. I said, ‘Let’s go play Oklahoma then.’ They were pretty fired up. I think the opportunity to play an exciting game and get that taste out of our mouth, was a pretty exciting situation for our guys.”

Notable

Henson said he expects Jhivvan Jackson will be back in the starting lineup Thursday night at Oklahoma. Jackson came off the bench in his first game of the season Saturday at UT Rio Grande Valley.