Jan. 19, 2011

Final Stats

Arlington, Tex. - UTA-Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Photo Gallery

UT Arlington put forth one of its best defensive efforts of the season to register a 70-49 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Wednesday.

The Mavericks (8-9, 2-2 Southland) trailed at halftime 30-27 but outscored the Islanders 43-19 in the second half, which included a 19-3 run to take command of the game.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (6-12, 1-3 Southland) led 44-43 with 13:31 to play when UT Arlington started to make their run. Cameron Catlett scored nine of his 13 points during this span and when it was over, UTA led 62-46.

Catlett scored seven of the Mavs next 10 points on three layups and a free throw, which ignited the offensive and propelled the team to its second conference victory against two defeats.

The Mavericks went on to finish the game on a 27-5 run over that last 13 minutes as they went one stretch of just over nine minutes of holding TAMU-CC without a field goal.

"Our defense was a lot better tonight than it was Saturday," UTA head coach Scott Cross said. "Anytime you can go on a run like that, especially in the second half, you have to like your chances in the game."

The Islanders made only two of their last 18 field goal attempts after starting the second half making 5-of-6. They finished the game shooting 32.1%. They also made just 4-of-10 from the line in the second half.

Meanwhile UTA finished the game shooting 48.1%, including 50% in the second half, and held a 37-34 rebounding advantage.

"We made rebounding a priority tonight," Cross said. "We worked hard on it in practice this week and that paid off with a positive margin tonight."

The Mavericks took better care of the basketball in the game as they had 11 turnovers for the game, which included only two in the second half.

"I'm proud of our point guards tonight," Cross said. "They did what we asked them and that helped us cut down on the turnovers."

UTA forced TAMU-CC into 16 turnovers and converted those into 19 points, a majority of which came in the latter stages of the second half.

Bo Ingram led UTA with 16 points. LaMarcus Reed and Armani Williams each had 11 to join Catlett in double figures.

Ingram was 7-of-9 from the field and added two rebounds and a steal. Jordan Reves led the Mavs in rebounding with eight.

Demond Watt was the only TAMU-CC player in double figures with 18 points and he added 12 rebounds. Justin Reynolds, the Islanders second-leading scorer, was held to just four points and he went 2-of-8 from the field.

The Mavericks started the game with a quick lead and when Ingram hit a jump shot with 9:17 to play in the first half and the Mavs led by six. UTA was outscored 18-9 from that point and wound up trailing by three at halftime.

UTA next plays at Stephen F. Austin on Saturday. Tipoff is 6 p.m. in Nacogdoches.