Dec. 4, 2009
Final Stats
Des Moines, Iowa - Friday's game against North Dakota was a case of déjà vu for Mavericks head coach Scott Cross.
Earlier in the week his team came out and played with little intensity, fell behind on the road and had to scramble for a win at Houston Baptist.
The same thing happened against North Dakota in the first round of the Drake Hy-Vee Classic but the end result was the same as the Mavericks won 75-65.
"I was really disappointed with the way we played in the first half," Cross said. "We had no fire or passion and they really took us out of our game. But it was a much better result in the second half and I'm proud of the way the guys came out and battled to get the win."
The Mavericks shot just 33.3% in the first half as North Dakota used a 3-2 zone to slow the Mavericks down. They went to the locker room at halftime down by four at 34-30.
After that it was a story of a stifling defense in the second half as the Mavericks improved to 4-2 on the season.
North Dakota had a tough time even getting the ball across halftime as Cross instilled a full-court defense. As the Mavericks starting hitting 3's from Marquez Haynes and Armani Williams, the defense was holding the Sioux to just one field goal in the first 10 minutes of the half.
"Our defense in the second half was the difference," Cross said. "We made it difficult for them to get into their offense and we started hitting some shots."
Haynes finished the game with a team-high 22 which included 16 in the second half. Brandon Long who had 15 in the first half to keep the Mavericks in the game, finished with 18.
Armani Williams provided some much-needed help off the bench as he scored a career-high 14 points all of which came in the second half.
The defense help the Mavericks increase their lead throughout the second half getting up by as much as 13 with nine minutes to play as they opened the second 20 minutes with a 25-8 run. They held North Dakota to just four field goals in the first 16 minutes of the second half and just seven for the entire final half.
The three-point shot was important for the Mavs all game as 29 of their 63 field goals came from long range. UTA finished the game shooting 33.3% overall and 31% from beyond the arc. Free throw shooting kept the Mavs in the game as they made 17-of-19 in the second half and 24-of-31 overall.
UT Arlington will play SIU-Edwardsville for the tournament championship Saturday at 5 p.m. The Cougars pulled off a 60-58 upset over host Drake in Friday's second game.
