Jan. 12, 2006
Final Stats
ARLINGTON, Texas - Senior Jarrett Howell continued his hot streak, leading the Mavericks with 20 points as they defeated Texas State, 83-64, Thursday evening at Texas Hall.
It was the second straight game that Howell has scored 20 points and his seventh straight game to reach double-figure scoring.
Down 59-46, with 7:15 remaining, Texas State (2-10, 0-2 SLC) used a trey from Jason Rogers and a jumper from Jushay Rockett to cut the lead to 59-51, with 6:28 left in the game.
Texas-Arlington (8-7, 1-1 SLC) responded by hitting a three-pointer in each of the next four trips down the court. Freshman Brandon Long nailed two of the treys coming off of the bench to help push the lead to 71-57, with just over four minutes remaining. The Mavericks cruised down the stretch to take the victory and end their two-game losing streak.
"We haven't been shooting the ball well from outside the last few games," head coach Eddie McCarter said. "I think our passing tonight solved that problem. It was good because we found the open man and knocked down wide-open shots."
Howell's game-high 20 points came on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Senior Steven Thomas had a solid all-around game, going for 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Freshman Anthony Vereen and sophomore Larry Posey had great games off of the bench with 10 and 12 points respectively.
Charles Dotson led the Bobcats with 14 points and three blocks, while Jushay Rockett chipped in with 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Texas-Arlington outrebounded the Bobcats, 33-29, and forced them into 18 turnovers. The Mavericks also shot 54 percent (27-50) from the floor and a scorching 50 percent (8-16) from behind the arc.
"This was a big game for us because we had lost two straight coming into tonight," senior forward Steven Thomas said. "We knew exactly what they were going to try and do. We just had to keep them from executing it."
After Texas State's Dotson opened the game with a layup, Texas-Arlington went on a 7-0 run to take a 7-2 lead at the 17:29 left in the first half. Thomas scored four points during the mini-run.
Texas State fought back by scoring the next five points to knot the score at 7-7. Lance Burroughs nailed a three-pointer and Rockett ended the run with a dunk to tie the score with 16:08 remaining in the half.
Ahead 18-17, with 10:31 left in the first frame, the Mavericks outscored the Bobcats, 11-0 over the next three minutes to build a 29-17 lead with 7:37 left in the first half. Howell registered seven points, while sophomore Larry Posey added four points off of the bench to spark Texas-Arlington.
The Mavericks increased their lead to as many as 16 points, before the Bobcats scored the last three points of the first half to cut the lead to 40-27.
Howell led Texas-Arlington with 12 first-half points, while Dotson did the same for Texas State with 12 points.
The Mavericks will be back in action Saturday when they travel to take on SLC-foe Lamar. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Montagne Center. The Cardinals defeated Texas-Arlington last season in their only meeting. Lamar took the game, 85-66, at Texas Hall.
