Dec. 15, 2004
Box Score
AUSTIN, Texas - What looked like a cake walk in the first half for the 14th-ranked Texas Longhorns turned into a fight for a bone between two hungry dogs as the Longhorns held off a the stubborn UTA Mavericks, 85-70 at the Frank J. Erwin Center here Wednesday.
Junior guard Jarrett Howell came off the bench to score a career-high 24 points. Steven Thomas, ranked fifth nationally in field goal percentage, was held to 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field. Freshman forward Jermaine Griffin added 10.
Texas (7-1) won for the 34th time in the past 35 games at home. Four players scored in double figures - P.J. Tucker (17), Jason Klotz (14), LaMarcus Aldridge (14) and Brad Buckman (13).
"I was proud of the way we fought in the second half," said head coach Eddie McCarter of the Mavs who outscored Texas 41-33 in the second half.
"Every time we go out we learn a lot more about them. We are still growing because we have so many young kids. I am learning we can be a pretty decent team in the Southland Conference when we maintain some kind of consistent play from night to night. Not just from the offensive end, but where we can defend consistently, rebound consistently and take care of the basketball a little bit better."
Texas used a 33-14 run the final 10:51 of the first half to stake a 52-29 halftime lead. Texas turned 10 UTA turnovers into 15 first-half points. The Longhorn bench scored 28 points in the first half, including 10 from Klotz.
UTA trimmed the 23-point halftime lead to 15, 60-45 after a Howell layup and free throw to complete a three-point play and a 9-0 run for the Mavericks with 11:41 to play. Klotz stopped the run with a layup with 10:41 to play to make it 62-45.
Brady Dawkins' three-pointer with 10:15 to play trimmed the lead to 62-48. The Mavs whittled the lead to 13, 65-52, after a three-point play by Steven Thomas with 8:02 to play.
After Texas ballooned the lead back to 21, 82-61, UTA scored seven straight to trim it to 82-68 after a three-pointer by Howell with 1:08 to play.
UTA returns to action Wednesday when they host Texas-Tyler at Texas Hall at 7 p.m.
Stats will be available on www.utamavs.com.
NOTES: Assistant coach Scott Cross did not travel with the team. He and wife Jennifer had their first child, Austin, on Tuesday afternoon... UTA falls to 0-14 against ranked opponents.
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