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Tip: 7:00 PM
Location: Lloyd Noble Center
TV: Bally Sports Oklahoma+
Notes & Storylines
- All 10 newcomers to the 2021-22 squad appeared Tuesday night against the NSU Demons. Tanner Groves and Jordan Goldwire each started. Groves and Jalen Hill led the OU offense with 15 points, while the duo grabbed nine and eight rebounds, respectively.
- Tonight Oklahoma and UTSA will meet for the fifth consecutive season when the two teams clash Friday. OU is 6-0 against the Roadrunners and opened the 2020-21 campaign with a 105-66 victory.
- The 2021-22 Oklahoma team features only five returners – Elijah Harkless, Umoja Gibson, Jalen Hill, Rick Issanza and Blake Seacat. The Sooners return just 27.1% of their scoring and 33.8% of their minutes played from last season.
- UTSA returns five players who earned starts last year, including junior center Jacob Germany, senior forward Cedrick Alley Jr., sophomore guard Jordan IvyCurry junior guard Erik Czumbel and senior forward Phoenix Ford.
- The Roadrunners opened the 2021-22 schedule with a 97-66 victory over Trinity (Texas). The Roadrunners had four players reach double figures and were led by junior center Jacob Germany (24 points). Jordan Ivy-Curry (19), Dhieu Deing (13) and Darius McNeil (11) each reached double-digit points.
- Germany, Ivy-Curry, Deing, McNeill and Cedrick Alley Jr. all started in the season opener. UTSA shot 47.4% (36-76) from the field and 30.4% (7-23) from beyond the arc. The Roadrunners forced 20 turnovers which resulted in 29 points.
- UTSA must replace the two top scorers in program history in 2021-22, in guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace. The pair rank 1-2 in the UTSA record books in career scoring, with Jackson totaling the 52nd most points in college basketball history and Wallace chipping in 2,080 points, the 458th most in NCAA records.
- The Roadrunners are under the direction of sixth-year head coach Steve Henson, a member of the Kansas State Athletics Hall of Fame and the 2017-18 C-USA Coach of the Year. A former Oklahoma assistant under Lon Kruger, Henson played seven seasons in the NBA and is one of 24 current head coaches in the NCAA who played in the NBA.
UTSA’s Projected Starters
F – Cedrick Alley (Redshirt Senior)
G – Darius McNeill (Senior)
G – Dhieu Deing (Junior)
G – Jordan Ivy-Curry (Sophomore)
C – Jacob Germany (Junior)
Oklahoma’s Projected Starters
G – Jordan Goldwire (Super Senior)
G – Mo Gibson (Senior)
G – Elijah Harkless (Senior)
F – Jalen Hill (Junior)
F – Tanner Groves (Senior)
Series History
- OU holds a 6-0 advantage over UTSA and a 4-0 record against the Roadrunners in Norman. The two teams will meet for the fifth consecutive season on tonight.
- The Sooners opened the unusual non-conference slate last season with UTSA after games at UCF and against Florida
were canceled. OU dominated the Roadrunners 105-66 Dec. 3, 2020. - The win last season marked the third game in the series that the Sooners topped 100-plus points. OU opened the series with a 112-72 win (1983) and followed it up in the second series appearance with a 107-75 win (1995) in Norman.
- UTSA head men’s basketball coach Steve Henson served five years (2011-16) as an assistant coach under former OU head coach Lon Kruger. Henson also spent seven seasons with Kruger at UNLV (2004-11) and one season at Illinois (1999-2000).
- He also played for Kruger at Kansas State (1986-90).
Predictions
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