Halftime Report

UTSA is giving their home crowd exactly what they were hoping for. They have a bit of a cushion as they currently lead Wichita State 47-32.

UTSA entered the game with three straight defeats and they're well on their way to making it four. Can they turn things around, or will Wichita State hand them another loss? Only time will tell.

Who's Playing

Wichita State Shockers @ UTSA Roadrunners

Current Records: Wichita State 10-5, UTSA 6-8

How To Watch

What to Know

UTSA will be in front of their home fans on Saturday, but a look at the spread shows they might need that home-court advantage. They and the Wichita State Shockers will face off in an American Athletic battle at 4:00 p.m. ET at UTSA Convocation Center. Both of these teams will be coming in off a loss in a game they were expected to win.

UTSA is headed into Saturday's matchup looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Tuesday. They took an 82-77 hit to the loss column at the hands of Tulsa. The loss hurts even more since the Roadrunners were up 52-36 with 16:42 left in the second.

Despite the defeat, UTSA got top-tier performance from Primo Spears, who went 13 for 23 en route to 40 points plus five assists and three steals. With that strong performance, Spears is now averaging an impressive 21.7 points per game. Another player making a difference was Jonnivius Smith, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Wichita State has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. Things couldn't have gone much worse for them as they lost 91-72 to South Florida on Monday. The Shockers' season wasn't pretty last year but it's starting to look like struggles are in the rearview.

Despite their loss, Wichita State saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Corey Washington, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 11 rebounds, was perhaps the best of all. The team also got some help courtesy of Quincy Ballard, who almost dropped a double-double on 13 points and nine rebounds.

Wichita State struggled to work together and finished the game with only seven assists. They were destroyed by their opponents in that department as South Florida racked up 18.

UTSA's defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 6-8. As for Wichita State, their loss dropped their record down to 10-5.

Keep an eye on the arc in Saturday's game: UTSA has made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having averaged 9.3 threes per game. It's a different story for Wichita State, though, as they've been averaging only 5.6. Given UTSA's sizable advantage in that area, Wichita State will need to find a way to close that gap.

UTSA might still be hurting after the devastating 84-64 defeat they got from Wichita State in their previous meeting back in February of 2024. That match was pretty much over by halftime, at which point UTSA was down 44-24.

Odds

Wichita State is a solid 5.5-point favorite against UTSA, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 5.5-point spread, and stayed right there.


The oddsmakers are expecting fireworks from the offense and set the over/under at a high 160.5 points.

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Series History

Wichita State won the only game these two teams have played in the last year.

  • Feb 07, 2024 - Wichita State 84 vs. UTSA 64