Reeling Broncs begin Great West play

The UTPA Broncs, with a record of 5-15 overall, are entering a portion of the season where they would like to think they could pick up a few more wins.

The Broncs open Great West Conference play against the Chicago State Cougars (1-16) at 7 tonight in Chicago.

For the Broncs, who have lost seven of their last eight, even in the Great West it is difficult to find what appear to be the sure victories. They are 6-18 the last two seasons against the so-called like teams in the Great West and have lost 25 straight on the road.

The Broncs are also coming off a disappointing 88-58 loss to TCU last week. Despite not being expected to win that game, Broncs coach Ryan Marks called it a frustrating end to a 0-3 road swing in which UTPA played three games in five days.

"In some ways, we have to throw (the TCU) game out of our mind and our evaluation of our team," Marks said. "… We just didn’t have any gas left in the tank that night."

Tired or not, it was another loss for the Broncs, who have only beaten one Division I school (Texas State) this season.

Marks, however, said he thought his team "did some good things" against California State Bakersfield and Air Force to begin the road trip, but the Broncs lost those contests by 15 and 17 points, respectively. The losses are coming off an uneven homestand in which the Broncs played with a lack of energy.

Throughout the season, Marks preaches numerous lessons, such as piecing together a full game, that haven’t seemed to sink in.

Against Bakersfield and Air Force, it was UTPA’s lulls that allowed its opponents to pull away.

"Sometimes we’ll play like a good half in the first half and then slack off in the second half, or have a great second half but the first half was terrible," Broncs guard Brandon Provost said. "In at least two of those games, we played close to a full good game of basketball than we have previously."

The mounting losses are a source of consternation for Provost, who is tied with Jared Maree in leading the team in scoring (13.0 points).

"I can’t really speak for the rest of the team, but I can speak for myself and a couple members of the team," Provost said. "Losing is frustrating, it definitely is. I don’t get frustrating in a sense to where I want to stop playing or anything like that.

"If I’m going to get frustrated, I’m going to get hungry and I’m going to go out and try to do more. We are obviously not doing enough to try and get a ‘W.’"

Tonight’s game might seem like the perfect opportunity for the Broncs to breakthrough, but Marks called the Cougars’ record "deceptive." The cougars have played against the 41st toughest schedule in the country.

"If they played a different kind of schedule, they would certainly be a team that has more wins at this point," Marks said. "There is no question, they are going to be a difficult team to beat at home."

FREE THROWS: The Great West does not have an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. … Jeremy Robinson leads the Cougars in scoring (14.5 points). Robinson was named the Great West Player of the Week on Tuesday. … The UTPA women open Great West play against Chicago State at 7 tonight at the Field House. ... The men will play a 1 p.m. game Saturday against NJIT in New Jersey while the women host NJIT at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Peter Rasmussen covers UTPA athletics for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448 or via email at prasmussen@themonitor.