SAN ANTONIO – Presented by Cowboy's Air Conditioning & Heating, the UTSA men’s basketball team (11-17, 5-11 AAC) if working through the second of two games in three days at the Convocation Center, as 16th-ranked Memphis (24-5, 14-2 AAC) comes to San Antonio for the first time in program history on Tuesday, March 4. The current American Athletic Conference frontrunner, the visiting Tigers are also playing on short rest, with their finale slated for Friday at home. Tuesday’s game is set for a 6 p.m. tipoff and a Fat Tuesday theme, as well as Faculty, Student and Staff Appreciation. The game will air on UTSA radio and be streamed live on ESPN+.
Ticket Information
Single Game Tickets
Direct Link: am.ticketmaster.com/utxsanant/buy
Adults: $15
Juniors (ages 3-18): $13
Seniors (ages 65+): $13
Military (with ID): $13
Students: Free Admission with UTSA ID, download tickets at goUTSA.com/studentlogin.
Whataburger Giveaway
The first 800 fans to this Wednesday’s game will receive a coupon for a free Whataburger Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit!
On the Air and on the Web
Tuesday’s 6 p.m. matchup with the Tigers at the Convocation Center will be streamed on ESPN+, with Karl Schoening (play-by-play), UTSA and San Antonio Hall-of-Famer Devin Brown (analyst) and Taylor Guajardo (reporter) on the call.
The radio broadcast will appear on Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket with Andy Everett (play-by-play) and former coach Tim Carter (analyst) covering the action live from the Convo. 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.
UTSA Athletics will also provide Live Stats.
About the Roadrunners
UTSA snapped a six-game skid that covered most of February and started the new month strong, running away from Rice in the second half with a flurry of perimeter shots from the Roadrunners. Leading the charge, AAC weekly Honorable Mention Marcus Millender and Primo Spears each scored 25. Millender went 9-for-10 from the field and 3-for-4 from the arc, in addition to seven assists to match his season high. Spears was 9-for-16 but registered a 6-for-9 spot from three. The sophomore-senior duo has been UTSA’s top scorers throughout the season, with Spears ranking 18th nationally and third in the AAC at 20.0 ppg, while Millender sits at 14.3 ppg with a 16.8 ppg average against conference opposition. The pair also pace the Roadrunners in assists, with Spears leading via 3.8 apg to Millender’s 3.4 apg. Meanwhile, Damari Monsanto has 14 games with at least three triples, averages 10.9 ppg and leads the AAC at an NCAA ninth-best 3.3 threes per game on an AAC-high 42.2 percent average. Seeing a rare quiet game against Rice, Raekwon Horton averages 12.2 ppg and 5.9 rpg, while rebounding and blocks leader Jonnivius Smith puts up 7.0 ppg, 7.6 rpg and 1.5 bpg.
Showing off their perimeter looks with double-figure triples for the fourth consecutive game, the Roadrunners have hit that standard in 15 outings this season, leading the conference and ranking 25th nationally with 10.0 threes per game on 35.9 percent shooting. UTSA is also bound to get out and run, featuring the conference’s second-best fast break average at 15.8 ppg – listing at eighth in the NCAA. The fuel for that effort remains steady as the Roadrunners average an AAC-best, NCAA-10th 9.6 steals per contest, forcing a league-high 15.2 turnovers. The Roadrunners average 77.1 ppg as a team for fifth in the AAC.
About the Series
Tuesday will mark only the third meeting between these programs; 1993 in Memphis’ Pyramid, last season at the FedEx Forum and now the first edition in San Antonio. Memphis leads 2-0 after the Roadrunners were in front for 20 minutes of regulation and saw 13th-ranked Memphis knot things up at 94 to end regulation – the Tigers pulling away for a 107-101 overtime win on Jan. 11, 2024. This will be the first meeting between UTSA coach Austin Claunch and Memphis’ Penny Hardaway
About the Memphis Tigers
There’s plenty to back up the Tigers’ ranking from the beginning of the year, especially after they downed the defending NCAA Champ last fall in Hawaii and have only seen five defeats on the year. The Tigers lead the AAC in field goal percentage (42.2) toward their second-ranked 80.0 ppg scoring offense. Helping those numbers, UM tops the AAC in three-point percentage with 38.7 percent shooting. However, the Tigers only grab a league eighth-best 36.2 rebounds and surrender a league-worst 13.6 turnovers per game. Defensively, the Tigers are fifth with 73.2 ppg to opponents, but their defensive strength on holding down long-range shots (32.4 percent) will be tested against UTSA’s free-firing perimeter approach.
PJ Haggerty has taken the load since coming over from an AAC Freshman of the Year title at Tulsa, and is the AAC’s No. 2 scorer at 21.4 ppg, while also chipping in 3.8 apg, an AAC-second 1.9 spg and shooting 49.5 percent. Since arriving from Illinois, Dain Dainja is shooting 60 percent from the floor and leading Memphis with 7.0 rpg, in addition to the 13.3 ppg he brings to the offensive table. Sharing the three-point weight with Colby Rogers (38.4 percent, 10.9 ppg), Tyrese Hunter is shooting 40.1 percent from the perimeter and averaging 14.2 ppg, along with a 3.4 apg average. The Tigers have the sixth most-experienced roster in the NCAA, but do not have the height UTSA has seen in numerous AAC encounters this year.
Up Next
One more regular season game remains on the schedule, as UTSA travels Sunday to Charlotte, facing off with the 49ers at Halton Arena in a 3 p.m. CST (4 p.m.) tipoff. Upon returning to the Lone Star State, UTSA will begin its postseason journey in the American Athletic Conference Basketball Championships, running March 12-16, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.
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