Nov. 13, 2007
What started out as a neck and neck, back and forth scoring affair for the University of Texas-Pan American (2-0) quickly turned into a 101-77 blowout victory over visiting Texas A&M-International University.
"We weren't trying to run the score up but Texas A&M-International plays very fast and has a lot of athletes and we were able to get our running game going. They had a lot of threes, but that's what the early stages are for, to learn and to get better as a ball club. Anytime you can learn and win, it's a double-edged sword for them," UTPA second-year head coach Tom Schuberth said. However he also emphasized the need to improve his team's deficiencies on the defensive end.
Zach Trader (LaPorte, TX/LaPorte H.S.) had another huge outing donning the Green and Orange and led all scorers with 25, going 9 for 14 from the field including a perfect 7 for 7 from the charity stripe.
The senior forward hustled his way into a double-double with 10 rebounds and added two assists and one steal.
Alongside Trader, the usual suspects came through for UTPA; Brian Burrell (Nacogdoches, TX/Paris J.C.) dropped 17 points, dished out five assists and hit the glass successfully four times while Paul Stoll was one point and two assists shy of a double-double with nine points and eight dimes.
"I obviously don't even know who scores; I have to ask the staff a lot of times on who's making the baskets. We just look at the entire picture and hope that the team does well and I'm proud for him," Schuberth said of Trader's new career high.
UTPA took care of the ball, sharing the wealth and dishing out 26 assists while committing only 12 turnovers. On defense they roamed free and created plenty of havoc forcing 21 TAMIU turnovers and holding them to 16 assists.
UTPA newcomers Emmanuel Jones (Washington, DC/Riverside City College) and Nathan Hawkins (San Antonio, TX/Moberly Area C.C.) continued to prove their worth in the low blocks of Sam Williams court with 14 and 12 points, respectively.
Jones looked comfortable shooting 6-of-9 from the floor and had two vicious slams in the second half. The latter came on a fast break opportunity where he beat his man down court, Stoll found him for the break away slam and gave UTPA an 84-61 lead with six minutes left in the second half.
With the game well in favor of the Broncs, Schuberth decided to reward his bench with playing time as 11 different Broncs scored.
"The young guys work their tails off in practice, they deserve playing time. It was just a great team effort. Unselfish team, that's what I love about these guys. They like to be on the end of an assist rather than scoring and they're always looking to get their teammates involved," Schuberth said.
As a team they torched the nets shooting 51.6 percent from the field while holding TAMIU to 44.8 percent.
UTPA also shot better from the free throw line, 72.2 percent, connecting on 26 of 36 attempts. The Dustdevils on the other end of the spectrum struggled, to say the least, connecting 59.1 percent of their attempts.
UTPA shot significantly better from three-point land in the second half connecting on 7-of-11 attempts from downtown compared to their 2-of-12 effort in the first 20 minutes.
"I'm very confident in our guys shooting the three, they know it's not a fluke when they go in, trust me," Schuberth said. "In transition we give our guys the green light because we make them and if we don't make them, we actually have a better chance statistically of rebounding the ball than the defense does."
TAMIU came out with a 1-2-1-1 press for most of the second half but UTPA's reserves Danny Puente (McAllen, TX/McAllen Memorial H.S.) and Nick Weiermiller (Elmira, NY/IMG Academy) broke it down with ease.
Weirmiller took over the point duties while Stoll got breathers here and there, he finished with three points and two assists and zero turnovers.
Puente finished with five points and three assists. Two of those assists were back door ally oops to newcomer Damon Franklin (Flint, MI /Flint Northwestern H.S.) who finished both well above the rim. The latter came as UTPA successfully broke down the Dustdevils' press. Puente lobbed it; Jones clutched the ball at its highest peak and threw it down as time expired to crack the 101 point barrier for the first time in the young season.
Valley native reserves Ben Smith (Pharr, TX/ PSJA North) and Steve Silva (Mission, TX/Sharyland H.S.)also saw playing time and made the most of it. Smith played cool and under control while adding 5 points to the stat line on a three pointer and two made free throws. Silva got his first two points of his collegiate career on a wide open lay up with: 56 seconds left, giving UTPA a 96-75 lead.
Up next for the Broncs is the Missouri State University Tournament where they have a date with University of North Carolina-Greensboro (1-0) in Sprinfield, MO. Tip off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
UNCG won at Georgia Tech, 83-74 Friday night and was led by Kyle Hines who was named National Player of the Week by ESPN's Dick Vitale for his 25 point, nine rebound effort.
UTPA Sports Information
