By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA women will attempt to tie a 16-year-old program record for victories in a season tonight in New Orleans when they face the Tulane Green Wave. Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m. at Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse.

With three games remaining in the regular season, the Roadrunners (23-3, 14-1) need one more win to tie the UTSA record of 24 set by the Rae Rippetoe-Blair-coached team from 2008-09.

The ’08-09 team forged a 24-9 record and played in the NCAA tournament. It was also the last one in school history to win a regular-season championship, as it finished 14-2 in the Southland Conference and tied for first with UT Arlington.

Coach Karen Aston’s Roadrunners (14-1) have a chance to win the American Athletic Conference title within the next week, and it would be the first regular-season title in Aston’s 17 years as an NCAA Division I head coach.

The Roadrunners lead the South Florida Bulls (13-2) and the North Texas Mean Green (12-3) in the AAC standings, with each having three to play.

Both of the Roadrunners’ nearest pursuers play next on Wednesday night. The Bulls, who have won nine in a row, take to the road to play the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, while the Mean Green will host the Charlotte 49ers.

A chance exists for a two-way or three-way tie for first place, and in either case, the teams tied for the lead at the end of the regular season would be considered co- or tri-champions, according to the AAC.

If there is a two-way tie for first between UTSA and South Florida, the Bulls would be the No. 1 seed in the AAC tournament, and the Roadrunners would be No. 2, based on a head-to-head tiebreaker.

If there is a three-way tie between UTSA, South Florida and North Texas, the Bulls would be seeded first, followed by the Roadrunners in second and the Mean Green third, an AAC spokesman said.

Records

UTSA 23-3, 14-1
Tulane 16-10, 9-6

Coming up

UTSA at Tulane, tonight, 6:30
FAU at UTSA, Saturday, noon
UTSA at East Carolina, Tuesday, March 4, 5 p.m.
(end of regular season)

Notable

The Green Wave, in their last game, defeated the Wichita State Shockers to snap a three-game losing streak. The Wave won 68-64 at home on Saturday to keep hope alive for a top-four finish in the standings.

Amira Mabry, a Tulane junior from Judson, starts and averages 11.6 points and 6.7 rebounds. She is a 52 percent shooter from the field but has slumped lately, hitting only nine of 29 shots in her last four games.

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Close losses are getting old for the UTSA men’s basketball team.

The Tulsa Golden Hurricane won a duel between teams battling for 10th place in the American Athletic Conference standings, building a 19-point lead late in the first half before holding on at the end for an 80-76 victory.

It was UTSA’s second straight loss on a two-game AAC road trip and its fourth overall, all by five points or less.

“In (the) last five games we’re going to really push ourselves and test ourselves,” first-year UTSA coach Austin Claunch told Andy Everett on the team’s postgame radio broadcast. “Obviously, we’ve had a tough little stretch. We’re close.

“And so, we’re frustrated obviously. We’ve been close, but that’s part of what this is all about. We’re going to keep fighting.”

With the win, the Golden Hurricane (5-8, 11-15) swept two games against the Roadrunners (4-9, 10-15) in the season series and seized control of ninth place in the AAC standings.

UTSA fell to 11th place, two games in the loss column behind Wichita State (14-10, 4-7). The Roadrunners have five games remaining, with the next one coming up Wednesday at home against South Florida.

Tulsa won the game in the first half when it held UTSA to 23 points on five for 25 shooting. While the Roadrunners were struggling, the Golden Hurricane were sizzling, shooting 60.7 percent en route to a 40-21 lead late.

The Hurricane entered halftime up 40-23.

In the second half, the Roadrunners made a good push, outscoring the Golden Hurricane 26-14 in the first nine minutes.

A three pointer by Primo Spears with 11:14 remaining brought the Roadrunners to within five at 54-49.

UTSA kept coming at Tulsa late, reducing the deficit to four twice, the last time at 8:41 when forward Horton, running off a Jo Smith defensive rebound, took a pass from Spears and sank a driving layup to make it 58-54.

From there, the Golden Hurricane pushed back, going off on a 9-2 run. At the end of the run, Dwon Odom sank a couple of free throws for Tulsa. Suddenly, the Golden Hurricane were in charge again, leading 67-56.

UTSA kept battling to the end, reducing an eight-point deficit to only three in the last minute. Spears hit a three to give the Roadrunners life, down 77-74, with 16 seconds left.

Willis, a guard who once played in San Antonio at the University of the Incarnate Word, hit three of four free throws down the stretch to seal it.

For Tulsa, Willis led in scoring with 19 points, including 11 in the second half, all on free throws. Forward Isaiah Barnes scored 18, contributing 10 in the first half on four of seven shooting, including a couple of threes. Odom and Jared Garcia scored 16 each.

Raekowon Horton had 20 points and five rebounds to lead the Roadrunners. Millender, one of the hottest offensive players in the conference through the end of last week, scored 19 but was limited to seven of 21 shooting.

The 5-foot-11 guard from Houston knocked down four three pointers, reaching four long-distance makes for the fourth time since Jan. 11. Spears scored 18 points, coming on strong in the second half with 15. Spears, the team’s leading scorer, finished three of seven from three.

Records

UTSA 10-15, 4-9
Tulsa 11-15, 5-8

Coming up

South Florida at UTSA, Wednesday, 7 p.m.
UTSA at East Carolina, Sunday, Feb. 23, 1 p.m.

UTSA guard Primo Spears poured in a career-high 40 points against Tulsa on 13 of 23 shooting from the field. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Guard Tyshawn Archie scored seven points in the final minute of the game, and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane rallied from down 16 in the second half to knock off the Primo Spears-led UTSA Roadrunners, 82-77, Tuesday night at the Convocation Center.

Tulsa pulled out the victory despite a career-high 40-point performance from Spears, the UTSA guard whose scoring binge tied for the ninth best in school history. It was the first 40-point game for the Roadrunners since 2020 when Jhivvan Jackson scored 45 at Old Dominion.

After the final buzzer, UTSA remained winless after two games in the American Athletic Conference. In the postgame, Roadrunners coach Austin Claunch called it an improvement from the team’s showing at Tulane on Saturday, when they lost 92-63.

UTSA forward Jonnivius Smith contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds, including five on the offensive end. – Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA held Tulsa to 29 points in the first half, but gave up 53 in the second, including eight 3-pointers. “We just weren’t able to get that big stop,” said Claunch, who attended the postgame media session with Spears and forward Jonnivius Smith.

“Now we’re 0-2 (in the American) with another home game coming up,” the coach continued, “and we just got to keep playing. Listen, that was a great improvement. It’s disappointing to not ultimately get a win when the two guys sitting next to me played their hearts out.”

Smith produced a double double with 12 points and 12 rebounds in 28 minutes.

Spears, playing 38 minutes, hit 13 of 23 shots from the field. Included in his masterpiece were five 3-point buckets, in addition to an array of mid-range jumpers and quick-step drives to the bucket.

Speaking with the media, the 6-foot-3 senior, who has played previously at Duquesne, Georgetown and Florida State, downplayed his individual success and looked ahead to an AAC home game Saturday against Wichita State.

“I’m about winning,” Spears said. “The 40 doesn’t matter unless you come up with the W. It’s a hard loss, but we got a bounce back game, another one at home, so we just got to get that one.”

Braeden Carrington scored 20 to lead the Golden Hurricane, who won their first game in the American with a sizzling offensive attack in the second half, when they shot 66.7 percent from the field.

Guards Tyshawn Archie and Keaston Willis each scored 19 for Tulsa. Willis, who once played in San Antonio at the University of the Incarnate Word, poured in all of his points in the second half.

The Roadrunners seemed to have the game well in hand, leading 52-36, after Spears hit a three with 16:42 remaining. From there, the Golden Hurricane went to work, scoring the next eight points to force a timeout.

At that point, UTSA settled down and ran some offensive sets, which led to a Raekwon Horton dunk and a three from Spears. Down 13 at that point, Tulsa just would not go away. The Golden Hurricane promptly hit the Roadrunners with a 19-5 run.

Willis finished it with a three that gave the visitors a 63-62 lead with 6:57 remaining. It was their first lead since the nine-minute mark in the first half.

Tulsa coach Eric Konkol watched as his team caught fire in the second half, hitting 18 of 27 from the field for 66.7 percent. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Challenged with adversity, Spears responded by scoring 10 points in a little more than two minutes. His move on a three-point play left the home fans aghast, as he spun on a drive, got fouled and made a free throw for a 72-68 UTSA lead with 4:19 remaining.

After another Golden Hurricane surge, Spears did it again, driving to his right and scooping a shot high off the glass. Fouled on the play, he connected, lifting the Roadrunners into a 75-74 advantage with 39.8 seconds remaining.

It would be their last lead of the game, as Archie scored five points, including a three from the corner, and Tulsa held UTSA without a field goal down the stretch.

Trailing by three in the closing seconds, UTSA brought the ball up, with Spears on the dribble. Spears lost the handle and turned it over, leading to a breakaway dunk by Archie with one second left for the final points.

The Roadrunners played without two of their primary big men, Mo Njie and Jaquan Scott. Njie sat out his third game in a row with a foot injury, while Scott was not in attendance, dealing with a personal matter.

First half

Smith sparked an 8-0 run in the final two minutes as the UTSA Roadrunners opened a 38-29 lead on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Smith had a steal that led to a basket and later converted a three-point play, rebounding his own miss to score the last bucket before intermission.

Fouled on the play, he knocked down a free throw to give UTSA the nine-point lead.

Damari Monsanto, playing off the bench, produced six points and three rebounds . He hit two of seven from the 3-point arc. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Smith, a 6-9 forward, finished the half with 10 points and seven rebounds and a steal. Three of his rebounds came off the offensive glass on a night when the Roadrunners needed him.

The absence of the two left UTSA with only two big men, Smith and David Hermes. Tulsa was also playing short-handed without injured forward Isaiah Barnes.

Carrington led the Golden Hurricane in the half, pouring in 17 points on four of four shooting from the three-point line.

UTSA ratcheted up the defense from the start, holding Tulsa to two of 11 shooting and racing to a 17-7 lead in the first 10 minutes. Tai’Reon Joseph hit two shots off the bench to score five points in the burst.

Records

Tulsa 7-9, 1-2
UTSA 6-8, 0-2

Coming up

Wichita State at UTSA, Saturday, 3 p.m.
UTSA at Rice, Jan. 14, 7 p.m.

Notable

The Wichita State Shockers have forged a 10-5 record, including a couple of wins against Power 4 teams this season, but they have started the season 0-2 in the American Athletic Conference. The Shockers lost at home Tuesday night, falling to the South Florida Bulls, 91-72. Earlier, Wichita State registered victories against Minnesota of the Big Ten and Kansas State of the Big 12.

Tulsa holds a 8-1 record against UTSA in the all-time series, including 7-0 at home and 1-1 in San Antonio. Last year, the Golden Hurricane hit 16 3-point baskets and beat the Roadrunners 107-78 in Tulsa. That game was played in January, and freshman PJ Haggerty led the Hurricane with 25 points. In the rematch on Feb. 28 at the Convo, UTSA won 89-73 behind Christian Tucker’s 12 points and 14 assists, a conference record.

Haggerty is playing for Memphis this season and Tucker for Cal.

Austin Claunch’s Roadrunners fell to 6-8 on the season and to 0-2 in American Athletic Conference play. UTSA hosts Wichita State on Saturday at 3 p.m. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA women’s basketball team set a school record with a 12-2 start to the season after claiming a 60-53 victory Saturday over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.

Jordyn Jenkins produced 30 points and seven rebounds for the Roadrunners, who won their fifth game in a row and improved to 3-0 in the American Athletic Conference.

In addition, UTSA forward Maya Linton highlighted the defensive effort, holding Tulsa star Delanie Crawford to 10 points on three of 13 shooting from the field.

Earlier this week, Crawford scored 36 points in a victory over East Carolina and 22 in a road loss at North Texas.

Notable

The team’s previous best start after 14 games was 11-3 in 1985-86, in the program’s fifth season of basketball.

Quotable

“Hard-fought game,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said on the team’s radio broadcast. “I thought both teams looked quite fatigued, really as the third and fourth quarter started rolling along.

“It’s just one of those games that, you know, I would have liked to have played a few more kids, because I thought we had some fatigue going on with our players. But we just couldn’t find a combination that was great tonight.”

Continued Aston: “I think (Tulsa) would say the same thing. Third game in six days. First week of conference play and you could really tell. I thought our team was just fourth-quarter tough.”

Aston said Linton “was fantastic” in shadowing Crawford, who was averaging 19 points a game.

“If you want to have a team that has a chance to do something special, you have to have a kid like Maya that is willing to step up and guard somebody’s best player … and not worry about anything else. You know, ‘My shot’s not going in. I turned the ball over, but I’m going to get back and guard the best player,’ and she did that today.

“That’s the reason why we won.”

First half

Jenkins scored 15 points to lead the mistake-prone Roadrunners to a 30-25 lead on the Golden Hurricane at intermission.

UTSA reserve forward Cheyenne Rowe also provided a lift with eight points on four of four shooting.

In an AAC contest played at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa, the Roadrunners also played well defensively, holding the explosive Golden Hurricane to 31 percent shooting from the field.

Crawford, the AAC’s leading scorer, hit two for seven shots from the field and was held to six points.

But the Roadrunners, who led by 11 points early, committed eight turnovers. Some were forced by the Tulsa defense but some came on tentative, hesitant execution. The Golden Hurricane scored five points off those miscues.

Kennedi Alexander came off the bench to lead the Golden Hurricane with eight points in the half.

Individuals

UTSA – Jordyn Jenkins hit nine of 15 from the field and 11 of 12 from the free-throw line. It was her second 30-point game of the season after scoring 30 at UTEP on Nov. 16. She had four games of 30 or more in her first year at UTSA, in 2022-23.

Tulsa – Sophomore guard Elise Hill led the Golden Hurricane with 15 points, four rebounds and two assists. For Crawford, her 10-point production was her second lowest of the season after she scored eight on the road at Missouri State on Nov. 10.

Records

Tulsa 7-8, 1-2
UTSA 12-2, 3-0

Coming up

Rice at UTSA, Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.
Wichita State at UTSA, Jan. 11, noon

Notable

UTSA gained a measure of redemption after allowing a 13-point, fourth-quarter lead to slip away in a 74-70 loss at Tulsa last season. The Roadrunners’ 3-0 start in conference is the best since the team started 3-0 in the Southland Conference in 2009-10.

In the AAC preseason poll, Tulsa was picked to finish fourth, with UTSA fifth. Tulsa finished 25-10 a year ago. Temira Poindexter, the AAC Player of the Year last season at Tulsa, is now playing for the 13th-ranked Kansas State Wildcats.

Junior point guard Christian Tucker produced 12 points and a school- and conference-record tying 14 assists UTSA rolled as past Tulsa, 89-73. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Don’t look now, but with the postseason in men’s college basketball looming in only a few weeks, a UTSA Roadrunners team plagued for months by poor defense, erratic offense and bad vibes in general has started to find a rhythm.

Humming to the beat of record-tying point guard Christian Tucker, they’re even starting to show a little bit of swagger.

To some around the American Athletic Conference, this may come as quite a surprise. Not too long ago, the Roadrunners dropped four straight games. Then seven straight. All the while, they were sinking fast in the standings.

But after claiming a two-point road win at North Texas last weekend, they followed it up on Wednesday night at home by trouncing the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, 89-73. “Two in a row and we’re not done yet,” Tucker told the team’s radio broadcast.

Coach Steve Henson’s Roadrunners will take a two-game winning streak into Dallas for a meeting with SMU on Saturday. – Photo by Joe Alexander

As UTSA avenged its worst loss of the season, Tucker emerged as the spark that ignited the offense, passing for a conference and school-record tying 14 assists.

His artistry in driving into the teeth of the defense and then whipping passes to the perimeter led, in large part, to the Roadrunners hitting 14 three-point baskets.

“All credit to my coaches and teammates for putting me in that position,” he told broadcaster Andy Everett on The Ticket, AM-760. “I give all the credit to them. They make me look good when I’m giving them the ball and they’re making shots.”

On Jan. 17, the Roadrunners met the Golden Hurricane for the first time as members of the American. For UTSA, its trip to Oklahoma wasn’t a pleasant experience. Tulsa revved its offense after intermission and routed UTSA 54-30 in the second half, en route to a 107-78 victory.

But that was then, and this is now, with UTSA using every day at practice to improve, and then applying it on the court.

The Roadrunners have actually played well in their last three games. A week ago, with AAC-leading South Florida coming into San Antonio, they showed up and played one of their best defensive games, collapsing late in a 66-61 loss. Last weekend, the defense held up again. This time, the Roadrunners won 64-62 as they bottled up North Texas for the team’s first road win in Denton since 2015.

Tucker blocked a shot in the final seconds as UTSA players celebrated the end of the seven-game skid. Now, they’ve done it again. While the game against Tulsa wasn’t a defensive masterpiece, it was a good showing nonetheless against a team that likes to push the pace faster than most.

Jordan Ivy-Curry scored 20 points to lead the Roadrunners, his third game in the last four with 20 or more. – Photo by Joe Alexander

“Pretty good on the defensive end,” UTSA coach Steve Henson said. “Obviously, offensively, we were really clicking. Got back to what we were doing earlier in the year with Tuck just serving it up to people. He was terrific.”

Six players scored in double figures, led by Jordan Ivy-Curry with 20 points. Chandler Cuthrell had 14. Tucker and Dre Fuller Jr. added 12 apiece. Tre Edmonds had 11 and PJ Carter 10 for the Roadrunners, who made 44 percent from the field and 42 percent from three.

Eleven of UTSA’s 14 triples came in the first half.

For Tulsa, redshirt freshman PJ Haggerty showed why he has been billed as an honors candidate nationally, as he scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in 35 minutes.

Haggerty, a TCU transfer, deftly scored from all three levels. Either the native of Crosby, Tex., was pulling up from 22 feet, or he was driving it, drawing fouls. He went to the line 18 times and made 12 of them.

At the same time, many of the players who hurt the Roadrunners earlier in the season weren’t quite as proficient this time around. Isaiah Barnes, Cobe Williams and Tyshawn Archie all scored 17 points apiece against UTSA at Tulsa. In San Antonio, none of them reached double figures.

“Defensively, that’s three games in a row,” Henson said. “I don’t know if our points per possession will be quite as good as the last two ball games. But it was pretty good. They didn’t have a whole lot of rhythm. They didn’t do what they typically do.”

First half

The UTSA Roadrunners played one of their better halves of the season, knocking down 11 three-point baskets en route to a 53-34 halftime lead.

Chandler Cuthrell, shown here in a file photo, came off the bench to sink four three-point shots. He scored 14. – File photo by Joe Alexander

After missing their first eight shots in the game, the Roadrunners surged, hitting 16 of 35 from the field and 11 of 21 from three in the half. Ivy-Curry paced UTSA with 12 points, while Cuthrell had 10 and Dre Fuller Jr. nine. The three of them combined for eight field goals from behind the three-point arc, including three each by Cuthrell and Fuller.

Tucker had seven points and 10 assists for the Roadrunners, who were attempting to win a second consecutive game this season for the first time since December.

Records

Tulsa 14-14, 5-11
UTSA 10-19, 4-12

Coming up

UTSA at SMU, Saturday, 2 p.m.

Notable

With games against SMU and Temple remaining on the regular-season schedule, the Roadrunners remain tied for last in the AAC with Wichita State. They’re one game in the loss column behind Tulsa, Tulane and Temple. The Roadrunners last won consecutive games in November and December, in the opening weeks of the season, when they won three in a row. In that stretch, they beat UIW on Nov. 25 before downing Lamar on Nov. 30 and then Arkansas-Fort Smith on Dec. 10.

Originally, Issy Washington set the UTSA single-game school and Convocation Center records for assists with 14 on Nov. 29, 1986. Playing for Coach Ken Burmeister in only the sixth season of basketball at the school, Washington established the standard in a 113-67 victory over Jarvis Christian College. SMU’s Kendric Davis set the AAC single-game record of 14 on Jan. 7, 2021. Davis set the mark at home, at Moody Coliseum in Dallas, in a 76-69 loss to Cincinnati.

Women’s basketball

In Memphis, Tenn., the UTSA women ran into a team that seems to be peaking for the AAC tournament. The Memphis Tigers won their fourth in a row by muscling past the Roadrunners, 60-53, at the Ella Roane Fieldhouse. Guard Alasia Smith led the Tigers with 12 points and 17 rebounds. For UTSA, Jordyn Jenkins paced the Roadrunners with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Three UTSA standouts — Jenkins, Elyssa Coleman and Idara Udo — all fouled out of the game. Despite mounting foul problems, UTSA made a run to lead by one point at the end of three periods, but Memphis wouldn’t fold. The Tigers outscored the Roadrunners 18-10 in the final quarter with forward Hannah Riddick notching six of those points.

Records

UTSA 14-13, 8-8
Memphis 12-15, 8-8

Coming up

UTSA at Wichita State, Saturday, 2 p.m.

Notable

UTSA will be investing $57 million in new facilities and capital projects over the next five years, it was announced Wednesday afternoon. The investment includes funding secured for a volleyball and basketball training center and also for upgrades to baseball and softball facilities. Baseball and softball are slated to get player development centers. In addition, the university is planning to add a nutrition performance center for all student-athletes. Football will get a covered football pavilion.

Christian Tucker leads the American Athletic Conference with an 88.6 free-throw percentage and also ranks tied for second with 5.15 assists per game. — Photo by Joe Alexander