MAVS FACE 14TH-RANKED TEXAS
12/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 14, 2004
AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas-Arlington men's basketball team will face its first ranked team of the season when they travel to Austin to meet nationally-ranked Texas (14th in AP, 12th in USA Today/ESPN) at the Frank Erwin Center. Tipoff is at 7:05 p.m.
CATCHING THE GAME: For the first time this season, UTA basketball will be televised when the Mavericks meet Texas. The game is part of the Longhorn Sports Network package and will be aired on FOX Sports Net. Bill Land will provide play-by-play and Jim Haller the color commentary.
In Dallas, the game will be aired on KSKY (AM 660) in Dallas. The UT-UTA game can also be found on the World Wide Web at www.utamavs. collegesports.com. John Nelson will provide the play-by-play and UTA Radio sports announcer, Bobby Anderson, will provide color commentary.
THE SERIES: Texas leads the overall series, 3-0, including last season's 99-79 win.
ABOUT THE SAN DIEGO GAME: UTA jumped out to a 17-point lead in the first six minutes of the game and then withstood a furious rally to defeated San Diego 92-83 at Texas Hall Dec. 4.
The Mavericks got 86 of its 92 points from the starting five - Steven Thomas (26), Jarrett Howell (20), Stephen Floyd (18), Jermaine Griffin (12) and Brady Dawkins (10).
UTA scored the game's first 10 points and made 10 of 11 field goals to 24-7 lead in the first 6:13 of the game. The lead swelled to 25, 53-28, after two Thomas free throws with 1:33 to play in the half.
USD went on a 14-3 run to open the second half to cut the 54-32 halftime deficit to 57-46 after a Vounang jumper with 15:40 to play.
A pesky trapping press converted 14 second-half turnovers into 17 points. USD used an 8-0 run in the final 4:00 to pull within two, 85-83, after a Melton three-pointer with 2:54 to play. But the Toreros missed its final six field goals and final four free throws down the stretch.
UTA made 38-of-47 free throws in the game (80.9 percent) and shot 60.0 percent from the field for the second time in four games.
COACH MCCARTER'S COMMENTS: "I thought our first half defense was the e to our early success. We were able to create some easy shots and we were able to counter their size by attacking the basket.
"We have to do a better job of protecting the basketball. We did not handle their pressure well at all. We will spend a lot of time working on our press offense over the next week."
LAST TIME VERSUS TEXAS:In Austin, Texas had five players score in double figures and shot 56.5 percent from the field (35 of 62) to cruise past UTA in front of 6,574 at the Frank Erwin Center. UTA dropped its fourth straight game despite senior forward Derrick Obasohan scoring a career-high 25 points and freshman Stephen Floyd had a personal-best 21 points.
The Longhorns used a 10-0 run late in the first half to break away from UTA. UTA trimmed to lead to 30-24 after a Brady Dawkins' 3-pointer with 6;19 to play in the half before the run. Kenny Taylor's 3-pointer capped the spurt with 3:56 to play to make it 40-24.
The Texas bench outscored UTA 48-10 in the game.
SHARING THE `ROCK': Junior guard Brady Dawkins, who led the Mavs with 65 assists in 28 games a year ago, is tied for 20th nationally at 6.5 assists per game.
Dawkins made a few fans in Wyoming with his long-range 3-pointers. The 5-foot-10 Dawkins left the crowd "ooohing and aaahing" with a shooting clinic, nailing a career-best five treys and a career-high 15 points in an 86-79 loss to Wyoming on Nov. Nov. 27.
The Mavs have handed out 14 or more assists in every game this season. UTA dished out a season-high 21 assists in the 77-72 win against Texas Wesleyan on Nov. 30.
5 WILL GET YOU 10: It has been balance that has UTA coaches smiling. The Mavericks had five players score in double figures in three of the past four games.
In the 92-83 win over San Diego on Dec. 4, Steven Thomas led the game with 26 points. Jarrett Howell (20), Stephen Floyd (18), Jermaine Griffin (12) and Brady Dawkins (10) combined for 86 of the team's 92 points.
In an 88-67 win over New Mexico State, Thomas and Howell had 12 points each by halftime. Thomas finished with 16 and Howell with 14. Larry Posey scored 13 of his career-high 15 in the second half. Fellow freshman Griffin had 11 and sophomore Floyd added 10.
Against UW, Griffin (16), Dawkins (15), Howell (12), Thomas (11) and Posey (11) all scored double figures.
LAYING IT ON THE LINE: After beginning the season shooting 63.6 percent from the free throw line, UTA is shooting 78.4 percent (73-of-93) over the past four games. UTA made 38-of-47 in the 92-83 win over San Diego.
HEATING UP FROM THE OUTSIDE: UTA is ranked 34th nationally in three-point field goal percentage at 41.7% (40-of-96). The UTA guards are hitting 47.4 percent (37-of-78) from long range over the past five games.
YOUNG GUNS:Prior to the start of the 2004-05 season, recruiting services proclaimed the UTA Class of 2004 as one of the best in school history.
Maybe they were right.
Through six games, the UTA version of the "Fab Five" group of freshmen Larry Posey, Baron Sauls, Rodrick Epps, Jermaine Griffin and Myles Guidry have combined to average 31.0 points, 12.8 rebounds 3.7 assists and 2.0 steals for the Mavericks.
Posey became the first true freshman during Eddie McCarter's tenure to score double figures in his college debut with 10 points at TCU. One night later, Griffin recorded his first double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds in a 13-point win over UT-Permian Basin.
THOMAS TAKES LEADERSHIP ROLE: Junior Steven Thomas has gotten off to a quick start for his claim to be the Southland Conference Player of the Year this season.
He is ranked fifth nationally in field goal percentage at 72.0 percent (36-of-70) and is ranked in the top 10 in four Southland Conference categories -- scoring (18.8/second), field-goal percentage (72.0/second), rebounding (8.3/second) and free-throw percentage (80.4/10th).
Thomas' 16 made free throws against San Diego matches his own personal best and is tied for fifth on the all-time single mark at UTA. He needs 20 made free throws to move into eighth place on the career free throws made list and needs just 66 free throws to move into second place on the all-time list with 297 made, tying Eddie Stallings (1967-69). Thomas is also 223 points from 25th on the career-scoring list. Sherman Evans (1969-71) has 884 career points.
Thomas has been a steady force, scoring in double figures every game and posting two double-doubles this season, including an 11-point, 10-rebound effort at Wyoming.
FLOYD SHOWS SIGNS OF 03-04: Sophomore guard Stephen Floyd scored a season-high 18 points in the 92-83 win over San Diego. He also grabbed a career-high six rebounds and a personal-best 36 minutes in the game.
It was the fourth time in his last 20 games played to score in double figures and the most points since his 21-point effort in last season's loss at Texas on Jan. 2.
Prior to the game, Floyd was shooting 30.0 percent from the field (12-of-40) and 21.4 percent from 3-point range (3-of-14) and had not attempted a free throw in the first five games.
MAKING THE MID-MAJOR POLL:For the first time since the inception of the collegesinsider.com mid-major poll, UTA received votes in the weekly polls of mid-major school coaches. UTA, who received three votes, joins Southland Conference member Southeastern Louisiana in the receiving votes category.
UTA HEAD COACH Eddie McCarter: The holder of the most wins by a coach in UTA history, McCarter is in his 13th season as the head coach of the Mavericks.
McCarter has recorded the fourth most wins by a coach in Southland Conference history with 155 wins at UTA. He needs five victories to become the second winningest coach in league history. The sixth coach in UTA's 43-year, four-year history, McCarter led the Mavericks to their first 17-win season since 1990-91 by leading the Mavericks to a share of the 2004 SLC Championship with a 17-12 mark. The 33 wins over the past two seasons are the most since 36 wins between 1990-92 and the first time in McCarter's tenure to post back-to-back 15-win seasons.
McCarter has been a model of consistency during his tenure, posting double-digit wins in 11 of his 12 seasons as the head coach of the Mavericks.
MAVERICK MEMOS: • The Mavericks are celebrating their 41th season in the Southland Conference. UTA is a charter member of the conference. Then known as Arlington State College, the SLC was comprised of Abilene Christian College, Arkansas State College, Lamar State College of Technology and Trinity University.
• The roster with eight true freshman ranks as one of the youngest teams in the nation. It is the youngest squad in school history.
