Update: Groundbreaking for UTSA’s 53,000-square foot basketball and volleyball practice facility is scheduled for Dec. 18, according to a news release from the athletic department. The $35 million structure will be located next to the Roadrunner Athletics Center of Excellence on Barshop Blvd. It will house the daily operations of the UTSA men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball programs.
Austin Claunch’s UTSA Roadrunners moved up about 60 places in the NCAA NET rankings over the past week. The Roadrunners were ranked at No. 234 on Monday. – File photo by Joe Alexander
By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Last Tuesday night, UTSA men’s basketball coach Austin Claunch lamented lost chances to win on the home court of the Saint Mary’s Gaels, the defending champions in the West Coast Conference.
The Gaels won the ball game, 82-74 in overtime, but the Roadrunners made a statement, rallying from a 23-point deficit to tie the score after 40 minutes of regulation play.
“This is one we can watch and say, ‘We got something here, it’s coming,’ ” Claunch told the team’s radio broadcast. “You know, whether it’s next game or down the line or three months, UTSA is coming.”
By Saturday afternoon, the Roadrunners were doing their thing again, surging into a 32-27 intermission lead in the home arena of the Arkansas Razorbacks.
As the first half against John Calipari’s Razorbacks showed, UTSA has made substantial progress in some areas since it suffered three straight double-digit losses in November.
Then again, the second half at Arkansas was a different ball game, altogether. It was humbling. Getting walloped 48-28 after intermission in an eventual 75-60 loss exposed some of UTSA’s deficiencies that need to be addressed moving forward.
By Monday morning, Claunch made it clear that two hard-fought battles in losses against quality opponents can’t be considered a step forward for the program at this juncture of the season.
“Certainly step forward is hard to say when you go 0-2,” the coach said. “But at the same time, did we find things that we think are going to help us moving into conference? Yeah, absolutely. We’ve got to learn how to finish close games. And credit (to) Arkansas and Saint Mary’s. They’re obviously two good teams that have been there and have won a lot of games. Great programs. Two Hall of Fame coaches.
“For us to put ourselves in those situations, that’s encouraging. To be up at half against Arkansas. To take Saint Mary’s to overtime at a place they don’t lose very often, that’s really encouraging. Now we got to figure out how to win those type of games in overtime and to withstand the second-half comeback from a really good team, because we’ll be in that position again this season.”
In the wake of the losses at Saint Mary’s and Arkansas, UTSA has moved up about 60 places in the NET computer rankings. The Roadrunners have risen to No. 234 as of Monday, up from a ranking in the 290s early last week. The NET ranks 364 teams in NCAA Division I men’s college basketball on a daily basis.
UTSA’s next opponent, the North Dakota Fighting Hawks, are 294th.
Coming up
North Dakota at UTSA, Friday, 7 p.m.
UTSA at North Dakota, Sunday, 2 p.m.
Records
North Dakota 4-5
UTSA 3-5
Notable
Groundbreaking for UTSA’s basketball and volleyball practice facility is expected this month.
Claunch joked that the two-games-in-three-days situation against North Dakota is “kind of like an NBA back-to-back.” North Dakota was originally scheduled to play in San Antonio on Nov. 9. That game had to be postponed because of weather-related travel issues that the visitors faced on one of their connecting flights.
Last week, the game was re-set officially for Dec. 13. Which means, the Roadrunners will play on their home floor Friday night, and travel most of the day Saturday to Grand Forks, N.D., where they’ll meet the Hawks again on Sunday afternoon.
The new schedule will be even more challenging for the Hawks, who will play three games in five days in three different cities this week.
They will start their sojourn Wednesday night with a road game at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Subsequently they’ll travel to San Antonio and play UTSA Friday night. Finally, the Hawks will return home to Grand Forks for the Sunday matinee.