UTSA men's basketball gets first win in conference play. UTSA women's basketball go 1-1 on Florida road trip.
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Both the UTSA men's and women's basketball teams have had more losses than victories in the month of January but both teams have also shown glimpses of squads that can compete and win games down the road.
In the case of the men's team it comes down to trying to find consistency. The Roadrunner men have used 10 different starting lineups in their last 13 games. The men's team was able to win their first conference game during the most recent homestand. UTSA's men's program has also dealt with the departure of Dhieu Deing and Cedric Alley, Jr. in the last few weeks. Deing did return to the program earlier this week and had an impact in Thursday's game.
The UTSA women's team has also had struggles in conference play under first year head coach Karen Aston but Aston has shown in the past an ability to turn programs around quickly. This might not be the year of contention for the Roadrunner women's team but those years are to come.
Both teams have had to deal with games being postponed due to the pandemic. The UTSA men had their conference opener at Middle Tennessee scheduled for Dec. 30 postponed. UTSA will now visit Murfreesboro on Feb. 7. The UTSA women had games at Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss postponed. The Roadrunner ladies made up the postponement at Louisiana Tech on Jan 17.
Finally, a conference win for the men's team
UTSA began a home stand last Sunday when they played the back-half of the home-and-home with UTEP last weekend.
The Roadrunners had lost to UTEP in El Paso on Jan. 20 by a score of 69-64. It was the Roadrunners fifth consecutive loss on the season and their sixth loss in a row to start conference play.
On Sunday the Roadrunners only led for one minute and 10 seconds of the game and that was early in the contest. The Miners led by 10 at halftime and as much as 15 points in the second half. UTSA was able to cut the deficit to single digits but ran out of time and ended up losing 59-54.
Darius McNeill was the only Roadrunner to score in double figures against UTEP on Sunday. McNeill scored 20 points in the loss.
In the days between the home game against UTEP and the visit from FIU, the Roadrunners welcomed Dhieu Deing back to the program. Deing played an important role in the Roadrunners getting their first conference win, 73-66, over FIU. The junior guard scored 19 points in the win. Jacob Germany had the biggest night for the Roadrunners with a double-double. Germany scored a team-high 23 points and had 11 rebounds. Jordan Ivy-Curry scored 17 points.
The Roadrunners led by as much as 14 against FIU on Thursday but it took a second half comeback by the Roadrunners to win their first conference game this season.
UTSA wrapped up the three-game homestand on Saturday against Florida Atlantic. The Roadrunners and Owls played a back-and-forth game with numerous lead changes. An inopportune scoring drought doomed the Roadrunners. UTSA went scoreless in the final 3:18 of the game. In that span the Owls went on an 8-0 run to leave San Antonio with a 73-64 win.
Ivy-Curry led the Roadrunners with 19 points in the loss against Florida Atlantic. Germany had another double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
UTSA will be on the road next weekend to Houston and Denton. The Roadrunners are at Rice on Thursday night for a 7 p.m. game. Next Saturday UTSA will visit North Texas for a 5 p.m. game. Next Monday UTSA will play the make up game with Middle Tennessee after the original game on Dec. 30 was postponed.
The Roadrunners next home game is scheduled for Saturday Feb. 12 when they host Western Kentucky at 3 p.m.
The women's team gets a win in Florida
The UTSA women's basketball team got a win in their second conference game back on New Years Day. After that the Roadrunner ladies lost three in a row leading up to the home and home series with UTEP last week.
UTSA hosted UTEP on Jan. 20th. The Roadrunners and Miners traded the lead back and forth in the first quarter. UTEP closed the quarter on a 10-1 run to take a 20-13 lead and they did not give the lead back on their way to a 69-52 win. LaPraisjah Johnson led the Roadrunners with 10 points.
Last Sunday the Roadrunners traveled to El Paso. As they did on Thursday the Miners took an early lead and never gave it away. UTEP beat UTSA 71-59. Jadyn Pimentel led the Roadrunners with 17 points. Johnson added 11 points for the Roadrunners efforts.
The Roadrunners traveled to Florida this weekend. On Thursday night UTSA visit Florida International. UTSA held a short lead early but the Panthers retook the lead. The Roadrunners fell to FIU 81-53. Deborah Nwakamma led the Roadrunners with 11 points in the loss at FIU.
UTSA closed out the road trip on Saturday at Florida Atlantic. The Roadrunners opened the game on an 8-0 run and did not give up the lead the rest of the afternoon. UTSA led by as much as 13 points and as low as one point but the Roadrunners took a 49-44 win with them when they left Boca Raton. Hailey Atwood led the Roadrunners with nine points.
The Roadrunner women will host Rice this coming Thursday night at 7 p.m. Next Saturday UTSA hosts North Texas at 2 p.m. UTSA will then travel to Southern Miss on Feb. 7 to make up the game that was postponed on Jan. 6.
FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way
