Capsule look at Saturday's UTSA-FIU game

UTSA coach Steve Henson watches his team play against Florida Atlantic at the Convocation Center on Jan. 12, 2017. UTSA coach Steve Henson watches his team play against Florida Atlantic at the Convocation Center on Jan. 12, 2017. Photo: Billy Calzada /San Antonio Express-News Photo: Billy Calzada /San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Capsule look at Saturday's UTSA-FIU game 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

FIU (4-13, 0-4) @ UTSA (8-9, 3-1)

Site – Convocation Center.

Time – 3 p.m. Saturday.

Radio/TV – KTKR (760), Spectrum Sports.

Sagarin ratings – FAU 316, UTSA 293.

Point spread – UTSA favored by 4.

Series - FIU leads 4-2, including both previous matchups in San Antonio.

FIU projected starting lineup – F Michael Kessens 6-9 sr. (14.2 ppg, 9.8 rpg), F Elmo Stephen 6-7 sr. (7.4 ppg, 1.9 rpg), G Kimar Williams 6-1 soph. (6.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.7 apg), G Anthony Boswell 6-6 sr. (3.1 ppg, 1.6 rpg), G Eric Nottage 6-2 sr. (10 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.2 apg).

UTSA projected starting lineup – F Nick Allen 6-8 soph.(5.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg), F Jeff Beverly 6-6 jr. (15.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg), G Giovanni DeNicolao 6-3, fr. (8.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.8 apg), G Gino Littles 6-0 jr. (6.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.5 apg), G Byron Frohnen 6-5 fr. (7.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg).

Recommended Video:

FIU factoids - The Panthers come into Saturday’s game with a four-game losing streak and nine losses in their last 10 games, including an 88-87 double-overtime loss at UTEP Thursday night … FIU rallied from a 14-point deficit with 7:08 left in regulation and led by four with 46 seconds in the second overtime before UTEP’s Dominic Artis hit a game winning shot as time expired for the victory … The Panthers played without two starters against UTEP as leading scorer Donte McGill and Cameron Smith both missed the game. In their place, Coach Anthony Evans’ team had six players in double figures … FIU is 70th in free-throw percentage (73.5%) and 72nd in rebound margin (plus-4.4) but are 316th in 3-pointers per game (5.5), 321st in assists (10.9 apg) and 322nd in assist/turnover margin (0.77).

UTSA factoids - The Roadrunners will be looking to extend an eight-game home winning streak that extends to last season. Steve Henson is 7-0 in home games since taking over the job in April … Beverly has notched back-to-back career-high efforts in scoring, producing an average of 28.5 ppg in his last two games … After sputtering offensively most of the game Thursday against FAU, the Roadrunners hit their final four shots and ended the game on a 12-4 run in the final 3:36 to claim a 68-63 victory. The final margin was UTSA’s greatest in a game they led for only 2 minutes, 54 seconds … The Roadrunners played without senior guard Nick Billingsley, who was ruled academically ineligible and removed from the team for the rest of his career … UTSA’s improving defense kicked into gear Thursday night as the Roadrunners allowed a season-low zero fast-break points and outscored FAU in points off turnovers, 16-5.

They said it:

UTSA coach Steve Henson on his team’s emerging homecourt success: “We play with a little more confidence. I don’t know if it’s different than anyone else. Right now it’s very extreme with our record the way it is. Our guys feel very good and still have some incredible performances so we’re trying to not get too carried away. But to this point, we’ve handled our business and played the right way at home.”

UTSA guard Giovanni De Nicolao on where he learned his behind-the-back pass he used against FAU: “Rondo and Jason Williams ... I love watching video on You Tube. I had the opportunity to do it in the game, so I tried.”

UTSA guard Gino Littles on his team’s gritty victory over FAU: “It wasn’t the prettiest game, but a win is a win. Nobody will look at how we did it, but just look at the win column. And this was good for us.”

Tgriffin@express-news.net

Twitter: @TimGriffinBig12