Nov. 24, 2009
UTA 70 - UT PERMIAN BASIN 47 BOX SCORE
By Josh Bowe for utamavs.com
ARLINGTON, Texas - Three games in, UT Arlington has played in its fair share of close games and heartbreakers for this early of a season.
When the buzzer sounded Tuesday night in Texas Hall and the score read 70-47 in favor of the Mavericks over the UT Permian-Basin Falcons, the most relieved person in the gym had to be coach Scott Cross.
"To have a cushion and have my blood pressure at a reasonable level for the majority of the game, that's nice," Cross said.
The Mavericks won their second game of the young season in a relatively comfortable fashion. After losing to North Texas in double overtime less than a week ago, the big lead was a welcome change of pace.
This was especially true for senior guard Marquez Haynes, whose 19 points actually lowered his scoring average of 30.3 going into tonight. With UT Permian-Basin a lower echelon team, Haynes was glad to see his squad put them down for the count.
"You always want to put a team away, especially a team on paper you're supposed to beat," Haynes said. "If you let them hang around and get their confidence going, anything can happen. They play college basketball just like we do."
The big lead was formed with a big run midway through the second half. The Falcons were actually hanging around, with the Mavs only leading 16-10 with 12:09 to play in the first half.
An 11-2 run gave the Mavericks a 27-12 lead as the closed out the first half with a comfortable 14-point at 38-24, and never looked back in the second half. A new wrinkle of the Mavs defense, a one-three-one zone, gave the Falcons fits on offense.
"I needed something where I could use our shot blockers," Cross said. "This zone allows me to play two shot blockers at the same time."
With UTA sitting back in this defense, UTPB only shot 27.6 percent in the second half after shooting 53.3 percent in the first.
While the new zone allowed Cross to play his shot blockers, he felt senior guard Brandon Long had one of his best defensive games of the season.
Long recorded three steals as he pestered the Falcon's guards all game long.
"We were denying the wing shooters and forcing the point guard or whoever was at the top make a play," Long said.
Offensively, UTA had to make adjustments as UTPB refused to let UTA have anything off the dribble drive. The Mavericks only scored 28 points in the paint. The refusal to let the Mavs do work in the lane did allow the permiter shooting to open up. UTA went 8-for-20 from downtown with Haynes hitting five of seven from three-point range.
"I could tell they were concentrating on getting back on me in transition," Haynes said. "I could see when I was pushing it they would have three guys in the paint waiting on me."
It might not have been the most beautiful win, with Cross saying it wasn't a particularly great game, but it's a stepping stone. One that didn't involve any high blood pressure.
"Obviously I wouldn't say it was a great game but we did make a step in the right direction from last Saturday," Cross said.
MAVERICK NOTES:
Line-up Change
Coach Cross has changed his line-up for the game tonight. Ishmael Awange is now starting in place of Jordan Reves. Jordan has started the first 2 games of the season.
"Ishmael had been good in practice, playing really physical," Coach Cross said. "I had thrown Jordan out there in his first two college games in the starting line-up. That is a tough thing to do. Jordan hasn't done anything wrong, I just wanted to give him a change of pace."
Pressure D Early
The Mavs are putting some pressure up the court on defense. They are running much more 1-3-1 than they have in the previous games. UTPB had 23 turnovers in their first game of the season and have 7 already with 7:30 left in the first half. LaMarcus Reed plays the point in the 1-3-1. His length and quickness puts a lot of pressure on the opposing point guards.
"We wanted to stop the shooters they have in the corners, they hit a few three's," Brandon Long said.
First Injury of the Year
Trey Parker went down midway through the first half when he twisted his knee. He has already returned in the second half wearing a new knee brace. Hopefully there will not be any lasting effect from this. Parker has added some size and athleticism coming off the bench.
Diverse Scoring
Seven Mavs scored in the first half with three players scoring eight or more. Believe it or not, your leading scorer at half time was not Marquez Haynes, but Brandon Long with 11.
Make it Rain
The Mavs had a great night shooting from the field. They shot 50% from the field in the first half and shot 47.2% for the game. This was the highest percentage so far this year. They also shot 40% from behind the arc.
Stat O' the Night
19. Marquez Haynes scored a season low 19 points tonight on 6 of 10 shooting. It might not seem like a big deal, but Haynes had averaged 30.3 points per game on the season and those points will be needed when conference play starts up. Haynes still shot 54.5% from the field and 71.4% from behind the arc. Marquez is now averaging 27.5 points per game.
"I didn't turn the ball over like I did. That's always a much better job and I am happy about that," said Marquez Haynes, in reference to his 9 turnover game against EWU. "As long as I shoot with confidence I feel like I can make every shot I take."
