Dec. 31, 2010

Final Stats UT Arlington at Arkansas Photo Gallery

Fayetteville, Ark. - Arkansas used a combination of good three-point shooting and took advantage of 39 foul shots to hold off a spirited Mavericks men's basketball squad 87-74 Friday.

Things looked good for UT Arlington as its game at Arkansas was nearing halftime.

The Mavericks had staked themselves a 33-25 lead with 2:47 to play and appeared to be gaining the upper-hand and quieting the partial Arkansas crowd at Bud Walton Arena.

From that point, however, the Razorbacks' Jeff Peterson scored eight consecutive points to tie the game before Shaquille White-Miller made a free throw to stop the run and retake the lead at 34-33.

UTA appeared to be heading into the break with the lead after a defensive stop, but then a quick shot before the half led to a three-pointer by Julysses Nobles at the buzzer gave Arkansas a 37-34 lead that it would never give up the rest of the game.

"That period of time changed the entire game," UTA head coach Scott Cross said. "We were playing with good intensity but after that it just wasn't the same."

The start of the second half proved to be more of the same for Arkansas as they extended their lead and when the Mavericks finally stemmed the tide, they were down 51-39 and the Razorbacks had gone on a 23-4 run.

"We did a lot of things right in that first half," Cross added. "But we just couldn't seem to put it all together in the second half to get back into the ballgame."

Marcus Britt led Arkansas with 16 points while Nobles and Peterson each had 15 points. Delvon Johnson registered 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Arkansas (10-2) went on to lead by as much as 20 in the second half and as the Mavericks could get no closer than 13 during the final 20 minutes as the Mavs lost for the sixth consecutive outing.

UTA was able to hold Arkansas's leading scorer Rotnei Clarke to just two points but Britt made 4-of-6 from 3-point range and Nobles was 4-of-5 from long range.

Cameron Catlett led UTA with career-highs of 17 points and seven rebounds to go along with six assists while Darius Richardson added 10 points.

Arkansas outshot 49.1% for the game while the Mavericks shot 45.8%. The Razorbacks had a decided advantage from the foul line as they made 23-of-39 as UTA made 15-of-20. Arkansas also made 10-of-22 from 3-point range.

"We sent them to the line too many times," Cross said. "We cannot commit as many fouls as we did tonight and have the chance to get back in the game."

UT Arlington committed 16 turnovers which Arkansas turned into 23 points and the Razorbacks also had an 11-3 edge in fast break points.

UTA will play its first home game since Nov. 27 on Wednesday, Jan. 5 against Houston Baptist at Texas Hall. Tickets are available at utatickets.com or at the Texas Hall box office on game night.