Broncs searching for road win

EDINBURG -- The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball team is back on the road, and coach Tom Schuberth is fine with that.

As much as the 5-10 Broncs have to play on the road, one would think Schuberth would be rolling his eyes at another road trip. But after the way his team performed in consecutive games last week at home, Schuberth wants to see how well his team responds on the road.

UTPA travels to take on North Carolina Central at 6:30 tonight in North Carolina. It is the second of three meetings between the teams this season.

"We probably play better and more focused on the road for whatever reason," Schuberth said. "Maybe there is less distractions on the road because you are away from it."

The numbers, however, don't readily suggest that. The Broncs are 3-1 at home and 2-9 on the road. But the Broncs have lost a lot of close games away from the UTPA Field House, and Schuberth said there is a different kind of energy when the team is on the road.

Judging by the team's listless play at home last week, the road will be a nice change of pace. The team struggled in an 88-84 win over NAIA Huston-Tillotson on Jan. 5 and in a 76-51 loss to the University of Texas-Arlington last Wednesday.

"I'm not happy with 5-10, but I'm most disappointed because we lost that fire we had in us during the (University of Texas-San Antonio) game a couple of weeks ago," Schuberth said. "That has been concern. Maybe that has to do with the long layoff and lack of depth, I don't know. I think it is more of a mental thing than it is a physical thing at this point."

The team is yet to win consecutive games this season, and the Broncs' last road win was against North Carolina Central in the Drake Tournament on Dec. 7 in Iowa.

"It is just something where we need to find a moment when we finally click and get on a roll and start a winning streak," Broncs sophomore point guard Nick Weiermiller said. "If we could just start by winning back-to-back games, we could really get the feel of things."

The Broncs had an opportunity to win back-to-back games for the first time this year last week after squeaking by Huston-Tillotson but fell flat against UTA.

"We try not to think about it," Broncs junior forward Nate Hawkins said about the loss to UTA. "We just try and go out there and play hard. We just try and concentrate and do what we have to do."

OVERTIME: North Carolina is in only its second season as a Division I program. ... The Broncs rallied to beat the Eagles, 56-50, in December. ... The teams meet again at the Field House on Feb. 21.

Peter Rasmussen covers UTPA athletics for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448. For this and more local stories, visit www.themonitor.com.