Seniors hope C-USA tourney kicks off deep postseason run
Despite the many times his name has been etched into the program’s record book, UTSA senior Jhivvan Jackson has never been on the court for a win in the Conference USA tournament.
The Roadrunners have dropped their opening game the past two years, and though the team advanced to the second round during Jackson’s freshman season in 2018, he sat out that night after suffering a torn ACL two weeks earlier.
Having already set the program’s career scoring mark in just three years, Jackson decided from the Roadrunners’ first practices this season that his main ambition was finally accomplishing his annual aim: winning the CUSA championship and advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
“Everybody wants to experience that, especially me,” Jackson said in October. “I’ve been wanting to experience it the past three years, and I haven’t. I can’t go out sad for four years. I just can’t.”
For Jackson and fellow senior Keaton Wallace — No. 2 on UTSA’S career scoring list — this week marks the last chance to accomplish the measure of success that has been most elusive through their record-breaking run together.
UTSA, the No. 4 seed in the
West, opens play in the Conference USA tournament against Charlotte, the No. 5 seed from the East, at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in Frisco. The Roadrunners hope their stretch of strong play in recent weeks can spark a run of four wins in four days to punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
“We talked about it pretty often,” Wallace said. “This is supposed to be our year. Expectations are high. Confidence is high. We’re just here to try to get the job done.”
UTSA coach Steve Henson said emotions and pressure can be elevated in a tournament environment, especially against an opponent like Charlotte. The 49ers aim to play at a methodical pace, making slight leads feel constricting and forcing the Roadrunners to dwell on early misses or mistakes.
But Henson also knows Jackson and Wallace have faced almost every possible situation through their four years, learning the value of patience.
Jackson this week was named to the All-conference USA first team for the third consecutive season, while Wallace earned his third straight second-team nod. After ranking as the nation’s highestscoring backcourt duo in 2018-19 and 2019-20, Jackson and Wallace average a combined 36.8 points per game this season.
“Those two guys aren’t going to be nervous,” Henson said. “They’re never nervous. They expect
to win every time we play. But there is a different element there. You hope that panic doesn’t set in if you get down six or eight. If the first couple shots don’t fall, you hope they don’t start pressing. You just have to relax and trust that what we’ve been doing the past five or six weeks is good enough to win.”
UTSA has won nine of its past 11 games, finishing 9-7 in Conference USA after a 1-5 start. Charlotte enters with eight consecutive defeats, skidding to a 5-11 league record for the year.
Even when the Roadrunners were lurking near the bottom of the conference standings in January, Henson said he felt the team wasn’t “that far off.” When UTSA climbed to 4-6 in the conference, Henson said he saw the potential to “really get on a roll.”
And as the Roadrunners closed the season with wins in five of their last six C-USA games, Henson said he saw a team playing with increased confidence and trust. Ball movement improved, sparking cleaner and more patient offensive possessions, which also energized UTSA’S defense.
Individuals began stepping up, Henson said. That included forward Cedrick Alley returning to full health and center Jacob Germany developing into a scoring threat to create spacing challenges for defenses.
“In a perfect world, you need to be healthy, you need to be fresh and your guys still need to enjoy being around each other, and we’ve felt that,” Henson said. “Our confidence is high. Our spirits are high. Our expectations are high. So that’s really what you want when you head into conference tournament play.”
The 2021 tournament presents unusual dynamics. Conference USA shifted away from round-robin scheduling during the regular season to limit travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic, so UTSA has yet to face both Charlotte and potential second-round opponent Western Kentucky, the No. 1 seed in the East.
With 10 days between UTSA’S final regular-season conference game and the start of the tournament, Henson said the Roadrunners
early last week focused on zone offense and post defense — facets that aren’t likely to be needed against Charlotte but would be critical against Western Kentucky and center Charles Bassey, the conference’s player of the year.
During the past few days, UTSA has locked in on the matchup against Charlotte — the first step in what the Roadrunners hope will be an extended run.
“I just want to make this the best year I’ve ever had here,” Wallace said Monday before his final practice in the Convocation Center. “I just came off my last lift of the year, so everything is coming to an end. It’s just time, so I plan on enjoying it and giving it my all.”