Jan. 10, 2011

Arlington, Tex. - UT Arlington Men's Basketball Game Preview

UT Arlington at Sam Houston State

Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011 - 7 pm CT

Johnson Coliseum - Huntsville, Texas

Radio: KVCE-AM (1160)/kvceradio.com

Series: Sam Houston State leads 33-20

UTA Game Notes vs. Sam Houston State

The UT Arlington men's basketball team looks to get its first Southland Conference win of the season Wednesday as they play at Sam Houston State.

The Mavericks began league play with a 66-48 loss at Nicholls Saturday which was the seventh loss in the last eight games as UTA enters the game 6-8 overall and 0-1 in SLC play.

Wednesday's game is the final one in a stretch where the team has played eight of nine games on the road since the end of November. Following this game, the Mavericks open the home portion on the league schedule Saturday against Lamar.

UTA's offense struggled at Nicholls as the team scored a season-low 48 points and committed a season-high 31 turnovers.

"We have to take better care of the ball," UTA head coach Scott Cross said. "All the turnovers did not allow us to get into any kind of offensive rhythm. We will work on that in practice this week and get ready to play a good Sam Houston team."

LaMarcus Reed leads the Mavs in scoring at 13.8 per game and had a game-high 15 at Nicholls which was his highest total in the last five games.

Gilberto Clavell leads the Bearkats in scoring at 19.6 points per game and with 7.4 rebounds per game. He scored 26 in their win at UTSA Saturday.

Sam Houston State leads the all-time series 33-20 which includes a 20-5 mark in games played in Huntsville. The Bearkats have also won the last 11 meetings played at Johnson Coliseum with the last UTA win coming there in 1998.