Road-weary ’Runners wake up in second half
The Roadrunners’ alarms started blaring at 5 a.m. Friday in Norman, Okla., only about eight hours removed from a lopsided loss to Oklahoma.
After two bus rides, two flights and a round of COVID-19 testing, UTSA was on the floor of the Convocation Center for a 6 p.m. tipoff against Division III Sul Ross State.
The disappointing night against the Sooners left Roadrunners coach Steve Henson imploring his team to play with more energy, toughness and fight — a tough ask on a tight turnaround. But after some lackluster moments early, UTSA began to find a spark.
When Sul Ross called timeout after UTSA cushioned its lead with six straight points to start the second half, Roadrunners junior Phoenix Ford led the charge in the huddle, smelling blood in the water and wanting to switch to a full-court press.
As Sul Ross prepared to throw the ensuing inbound pass, UTSA’s players slapped the court in unison. The Roadrunners used the wave of second-half energy, ignited in part by Ford’s first career start, to roll to a 91-62 win.
“He just came in and gave us that energy on defense that we wanted, that we needed, and everyone just bought in,” senior Jhivvan Jackson said. “We need to do that more.”
Sul Ross was within 49-39 at halftime before UTSA took control in the second half, winning the period 42-23.
At the break, Sul Ross was shooting 40.6 percent and had matched UTSA’s rebounding total. During the final 20 minutes, the Lobos were held to 29 percent shooting and were outrebounded 28-15.
UTSA’s coaches offered a few tactical changes at halftime, Henson said, but the greater shift was finding more life.
“We didn’t feel like we did a good enough job on the boards. We didn’t feel like we did a good enough job of hustle plays, energy plays, diving on the floor,” Henson said. “So, it’s a pretty simple message, but they responded.”
After the 5 a.m. wake-up call, the Roadrunners drove about 25 minutes to Oklahoma City, caught a 7:10 a.m. flight to Houston, waited through a 45-minute layover and then connected to San Antonio, landing around 10:40 a.m.
The Roadrunners next went to the Convocation Center to undergo COVID-19 testing, then had a short break before returning at 1 p.m. for a walk-through, film session and pregame meal. After another brief period of down time, the Roadrunners were back at the arena at 4:30 p.m. for their typical pregame routine.
Jackson said his only sleep was on the flights and a short afternoon nap, and senior Keaton Wallace said the trip “had us maybe a little sluggish.”
UTSA showed signs of road weariness out of the gate. Sul Ross, with no starter taller than 6foot-4, grabbed two offensive rebounds on its opening possession, then hit a 3 and a layup off a backdoor cut. After about four and a half minutes, Sul Ross led 11-6
Even after the Roadrunners scored nine unanswered points to claim the lead, Sul Ross remained competitive. When UTSA used a 15-2 run to take a 14-point advantage, Sul Ross scored eight straight to get the margin back down to six. A burst of seven unanswered late in the half allowed UTSA to take a 49-39 lead into halftime.
“We started off pretty slow,” Wallace said. “We came out the second half and tried to pick up the intensity, slapping the floor, trying to make an emphasis on defense.”
The 8-0 run to open the period gave UTSA a comfortable lead that was not threatened, and the Roadrunners used a stretch of 15 unanswered to help extend the advantage as large as 34 points.
Wallace and Jackson credited the energy from Ford, who pushed his teammates to slap the floor on defense. Henson said Ford, a junior transfer from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College who made his first start after playing just 23 minutes last season, is UTSA’s best defender in the frontcourt.
“He’s an unbelievable teammate,” Henson said. “He busts it every day in practice, and he earned the right to get that start, and I thought he did a good job setting the tone for us.”
Jackson described the UTSA’s usual defensive struggles as “the thing that’s holding us back right now” and said that area will remain a focus during the 11 days before the team’s next scheduled game, against Oregon State on Dec. 16.
Henson said the players will have a couple days off for finals, then a few practices to focus only on the team’s weaknesses. UTSA has lost both games against Division I opponents this year, falling 81-64 at UTRGV and 105-66 at Oklahoma.
“We didn’t fix everything in 24 hours. This is not the kind of game we’re going to be able to draw tons of conclusions,” Henson said. “The response was what we wanted. Have we solved our issues? Absolutely not. But we’re not going to solve them in 24 hours. We’re not going to solve them in a week. The challenge right now for us is to make progress.”