SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men’s basketball team (7-8, 1-2 AAC) will look to maintain momentum with a quick turnaround from Saturday’s win over Wichita State, traveling to Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston to face the Rice Owls (11-6, 2-2 AAC) on Tuesday, Jan. 14. A long-standing series in its 25th edition, this Battle of the Birds will tip-off at 7 p.m. and is set for broadcast on UTSA Radio and streaming on ESPN+.
On the Air and on the Web
Tuesday’s matchup at Tudor Fieldhouse will stream live on ESPN+ with Gerald Sanchez (play-by-play), Brooke Kirchhofer (analyst) and Abby Christopherson (sideline) on the broadcast call.
The radio broadcast will appear on Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket with Andy Everett (play-by-play) covering the action. As always, the broadcast will feature a 30-minute pregame and 15-minute postgame show – available online at Ticket760.com or via the free iHeartRadio app.
Rice Athletics will also provide Live Stats.
About the UTSA Roadrunners
The Roadrunners came away with a split week for the first home set of the New Year, first coming up short in a rally against Tulsa, UTSA bounced back after starting hot and finishing off Wichita State in an 88-75 victory. The Roadrunners led by as many as 22 and never trailed the Shockers on Saturday, fed by point guard Marcus Millender, who tied his career high with 21 first-half points, hitting 8-of-14 overall and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc – in addition to five assists, three boards and two steals. Against the Shockers, Damari Monsanto and Raekwon Horton fired away from long range, Monsanto hitting 5-of-7 for 17 points, while Horton dropped 3-of-5 threes and registered his third double-double of the year on 19 points and 10 rebounds, with five assists. Primo Spears started off the week against Tulsa knocking out the eighth-most points in the NCAA this season on an AAC- and career-high 40 points. Stifled while others took the lead against Wichita State, Spears leaned into his role and tallied six assists against the Shockers.
Unrelenting on their fast-playing approach to the game, the Roadrunners are downing the eighth-most fast break points in the nation at 17.5 ppg, coming in second in the American Athletic Conference. The Roadrunners are 32nd nationally in game tempo, influenced by an NCAA 12th-best 10.0 steals per outing and 20th-best 15.9 turnovers forced – remaining steady atop The American in both categories. The Roadrunners average 79.6 ppg as a team and are shooting 42.7 percent from the floor.
Leading UTSA’s scorers is Spears at an NCAA sixth-ranked 21.4 ppg, followed by four additional double-digit scorers in Joseph (11.4), Millender (10.9), Horton (10.8) and Monsanto (10.8). Leading UTSA’s rebounding effort, Jonnivius Smith averages 8.2 boards and ranks second in the AAC, 64th nationally, while Horton is holding his own with 6.9 rpg. Horton also leads the Roadrunners and ranks third in the conference with 1.92 steals per contest.
About the Series
The Roadrunners are holding a slight edge in the series at 13-11 but are looking to even out the 7-6 advantage Rice has at home in Houston. Tuesday will mark the 25th meeting between these teams across the 41-year series that opened in 1984. The series kicked off with six early non-conference tilts but gained frequency in 2013-14 when UTSA joined Conference USA. Head Coach Austin Claunch has not faced Rice and Rice’s Rob Lanier dropped his only UTSA meeting last year while coaching SMU.
After winning on an unexpected alternate court at the University of St. Thomas due to water damage at the Owls’ court, the Roadrunners couldn’t hold home serve, as UTSA fought back from a 16-point deficit but came up shy in the 80-76 loss at the Convocation Center on February 3 of last season. UTSA trailed by 11 at the half and outscored Rice 48-40 in the second.
About the Rice Owls
Already seeing early success in his first season leading the Owls, former SMU coach Rob Lanier has Rice at 11-6 overall, despite being picked last in the preseason conference poll. The Owls are 2-2 in conference after downing mutual opponent Tulsa on the road and then toppling Charlotte. Since then, the Owls have seen a two-game losing skid while falling to North Texas and Temple.
Physicality should be expected from a Lanier-coached team and the Owls show up notably in the defensive column, holding opponents to an average of 66.2 – the second-best in the AAC, but only scoring 69.4 ppg of their own. Also second in the AAC, Rice has held the opposition to just 39.5 percent shooting and 30.7 percent from long range. Despite that, the Owls rank 12th in both steals per game (12.0) and turnovers forced (10.7) – while also giving up 12.6 turnovers of their own.
The Owls spread the scoring around, but graduate student Trae Broadnax has separated himself with a 13.7 ppg average as Rice’s heaviest shooter, hitting 43.9 percent and also dishing the ball out with a team-high 71 assists (4.2 apg) since coming over from USC Upstate. Kellen Amos (9.5), Caden Powell (9.2), Alem Huseinovic (8.9) and Denver Anglin (8.4) are steady in their scoring support. Holding 6.8 and 6.1 rpg averages, Powell and Broadnax are topping the Owls on the boards, where Rice ranks third in the AAC at 39.3 rpg.
Up Next
The Roadrunners will be back at home in the Convocation Center for the third time this month, hosting North Texas on Saturday, Jan. 18, with a 3 p.m. tipoff.
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