Published Nov 12, 2017
UTSA overpowers East Central in hoops season opener
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Stephen Whitaker  •  BirdsUp
Staff Writer/Editor
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Roadrunners ride the hot shooting of freshmen trio to 92-59 win over the Tigers at the Convocation Center

After one game of the UTSA Roadrunner men's basketball season one thing is certain. The future is bright for the boys in blue and orange. The present is also looking good after the Roadrunners had no problem taking care of the visiting East Central Tigers in a 92-59 win on Sunday afternoon.

Three freshmen made their debut on Saturday and all three showed they weren't afraid of the big stage as all three put up a double digit point total next to their names.

Keaton Wallace led the frosh crew as well as the whole team with 22 points, 18 of which came from behind the three-point arc. Wallace also had three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals in his Roadrunner debut.

"I knew I had to let the game come to me and not to force anything," Wallace said. "My teammates were getting me open looks and we were just executing."

Jhivvan Jackson scored 14 points, 12 of which came in the second half and Adrian Rodriguez was a force down low before an injury to his left knee took him out of the game in the second half when he was on 10 points scored.

"We're waiting to hear the final result on Adrian," UTSA Head Coach Steve Henson said. "He was playing so good. He gives us a totally different dimension that we didn't have last year. His feel and his instincts he's way more mature than a true freshman should be."

Two other Roadrunners finished the night with double figures for points. George Wilborn III finished the night with 14 points and Byron Frohnen tacked on 10 points of his own to help the Roadrunner effort. In all 12 of the 14 Roadrunners who saw action on Sunday afternoon ended up putting points on the board.

The early going did not reveal the blowout to come as East Central took advantage of some early fouls by UTSA to hang around with an 8-7 lead at the first media timeout four minutes into the game. In that first five minutes the Roadrunners were called for five fouls and East Central started 5-for-5 at the line.

"First half was kind of a grind," Henson said. "We fouled way too much early which kind of forced the game into a crawl."

UTSA overcame the sluggish start and took the lead for good at the 15:14 mark of the first half on a layup by Rodriguez. By the second media timeout the Roadrunners were speeding away with a nine point lead that kept growing.

UTSA opened a season 1-0 for the first time since the 2014-15 season. The last two seasons it wasn't until the fourth game of the season that the Roadrunners claimed their first victory. Even though the opponent was a member of the NCAA Division II the Roadrunners showed signs of potential for an improved season this year.

"There were a lot of positives today," Henson said. "This group knows we have a chance to be a good team. We know we're no where near where we need to be. We'll have to play so much better on Wednesday."

On Wednesday UTSA will hit the road to face longtime rival Texas State. The Roadrunners lead the all-time series 34-24 over the Bobcats.


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Closing Thoughts

--It will remain to be seen how long Adrian Rodriguez is out with his knee injury. It is a loss the Roadrunners will feel as he was doing things well beyond what is normal for a freshman player. The rest of the Roadrunner post players will have to do all they can to make the absence less noticeable.

--Keaton Wallace is the real deal. He put up 22 points in his college debut and was 6-for-12 on three point shots. UTSA has a player in Wallace that could bring back a buzz that the team hasn't had in a long time.

--Through two exhibition games and one regular season games the Roadrunners look miles ahead of where they were a year ago, let alone two years ago when they only won five games. It is possible they could spring an upset or two in the non-conference schedule and/or the conference schedule.