By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
The UTSA men’s basketball team opens its home schedule today at 4 p.m. against the VMI Keydets, and the Roadrunners will have plenty of room for improvement after dropping a 95-74 decision Monday in a season opener at San Jose State.
They’ll need to re-emphasize their defensive philosophy of picking up in full-court pressure, and they’ll need to get organized on rotations in the halfcourt so that they don’t get beat so much at the rim.
San Jose State had a easy time of it offensively, hitting 58.9 percent from the field, with easy buckets coming on the end of plays with crisp ball movement. The Spartans also made an efficient 10 of 26 from three.
On the offensive end, UTSA appears to have the personnel to put up numbers, especially at home. While three of their starters struggled shooting the ball against the Spartans, the Roadrunners’ bench was good, especially Shey Eberwein and Isaiah Coleman.
Eberwein scored 15 points and Coleman 12 in their UTSA debut. Between them, they knocked down 10 of 11 from the field, including a five-for-five effort by Eberwein.
“He’s a Houston kid,” acting head coach Nick Bowman said. “So obviously there was some familiarity with him and his family. He went to South Dakota and played up there and I think he just really wanted to get back closer to home. So, I think we were a good fit for him and he was a good fit for us in terms of the kind of player that he is.
“So, it went pretty fast. There was interest on both sides when he came on his visit. You know, I think he was really excited about his opportunity, and we were excited about what he could do here. Obviously (at San Jose State) he played great. Came off the bench. Nineteen minutes. Five for five from the field. Really good game. Four assists and one turnover.
“It was good to see him play well. Gave us a chance late in the first half and in the second half he was part of that group that really competed and made a small run. We gotta do more. But we were really happy with Shey.”
Coming up
VMI at UTSA, today, 4 p.m.
UTSA at Seattle, Wednesday, 9 p.m.
Texas State at UTSA, Sunday, Nov. 15, 7 p.m.
Records
VMI (1-1)
UTSA (0-1)
Notable
San Antonio native Xavier Silas, the son of former Spurs guard James Silas, is an associate head coach under head coach Andrew Wilson at VMI.
A backcourt mate of George Gervin, James Silas was known as ‘Captain Late’ in San Antonio during the 1970s for his ability to make buckets at the end of close games.
He played with the Spurs from their inaugural season in 1973-74 to 1980-81. Eventually, the franchise retired his jersey No. 13.
Xavier Silas, 38, is in his fourth season on the VMI staff.
After a standout playing career in college at Colorado and Northern Illinois, Xavier Silas stints with the Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves, Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers before moving into coaching.
In the NBA, he worked with the 76ers in player development and later coached one year in Puerto Rico with the Guaynabo Mets. In college, Silas has been on staffs at the University of Missouri and VMI.