March 4, 2007

FRISCO, Texas - After winning eight of their final 11 regular-season games, the UT Arlington Mavericks enter the O'Reilly Auto Parts Southland Conference Basketball Tournament as the fifth seed, it was announced late Saturday.

UT Arlington (13-16, 8-8) will face McNeese State in the final quarterfinal game on Thursday, March 8 at 8:30 p.m. McNeese State captured the fourth seed after a 78-77 win over Nicholls State Saturday.

All games will be played at the Campbell Center (5,000) in Aldine, Texas. The championship game is slated for Sunday, March 11 at 1 p.m. on ESPN2.

It marks just the third time in the last 14 seasons the Mavs have been a fifth seed or higher. UTA was the top-seed in the tournament in 2003-04 and a three seed in 2002-03.

The Mavericks not only earned a berth in the tournament but grabbed a top-five seed after a 93-84 win over Texas State on Saturday. Five players scored in a double figured led by freshman Ro'ger Guignard's 19 points.

Junior center Jermaine Griffin has led the Mavs this season, scoring 13.1 points per game and grabbing 7.0 rebounds per game. He set the single-season record for blocked shots with 55 this season.

QUICK HITS: Guignard can join Willie Brand as the only Mavericks to make 70 or more 3-pointers in a season with one more 3-pointer field goal.

2007 O'Reilly Auto Parts Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
March 8-12, 2007, Campbell Center, Houston
March 8
Quarterfinals
No. 2 Sam Houston State vs. No.7 Lamar, noon
No. 3 Northwestern (La.) State vs. No. 6 Stephen F. Austin, 2:30 p.m.
No. 1 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. No. 8 Southeastern Louisiana, 6 p.m.
No. 4 McNeese State vs. No. 5 UT Arlington, 8:30 p.m.

2007 O'Reilly Auto Parts Southland Conference Women's Basketball Tournament,/b>
March 7-11, 2007, Campbell Center, Houston
March 7
Quarterfinals
No. 2 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 7 Lamar, noon
No. 3 Texas State vs. No. 6 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 2:30 p.m.
No. 1 UT Arlington vs. No. 8 Northwestern State, 6 p.m.
No. 4 Southeastern Louisiana vs. No. 5 Texas-San Antonio, 8:30 p.m.