MBB: Mavs play at Tulsa Saturday
12/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 15, 2011
Arlington, Texas - UT Arlington Men's Basketball Game Preview
UT Arlington (4-3) at Tulsa (4-6)
Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011 - 6 pm CT
Reynolds Center - Tulsa, Okla.
Radio: KVCE-AM (1160)/kvceradio.com
Series: Tulsa leads 2-0
The UT Arlington men's basketball team takes to the court for the first time in 11 days, and for only the second time in the last 19 days, as they take on Tulsa Saturday night in Oklahoma.
The game is the first out of the state of Texas for the Mavs this season and, after that extended break for finals, starts a stretch of four games in six days. Following this game, the Mavericks travel to Utah State for a three-game tournament from Tuesday to Thursday.
"We have had a little time off for finals for games but we have had some good days of practice," UTA head coach Scott Cross said. "Sometimes it is good to have a little time to work on things you want or need to."
The Mavericks still remain one of the top scoring teams in the nation at just under 80 points per game also rank among the country's top rebounding teams.
"We will have to do well in both of these areas at Tulsa," Cross said. "It is always tough to win on the road and this will be another good test for us against a quality team."
These two schools, separated by just five hours, have met only twice before with Tulsa winning the last game 88-79 on Dec. 23, 2008.
Cross will look to his one-two punch of LaMarcus Reed and Kevin Butler who lead his team in scoring at 12.7 and 12.4 points per game respectively. Butler led the Mavs with 12 points at Texas and also added a team best six rebounds.
The Mavericks are holding opponents to just under 41% from the field and have accomplished that in a game five times this season. They have also outrebounded their opponents five times.
UTA's three-point shooting has picked up as the season has progressed as they tied their season-high with nine at Texas after making seven in the previous four games.
Jordan Clarkson leads the Golden Hurricane in scoring at 15.6 points per game.
As always the game can be heard in the Metroplex on KVCE (1160 AM) or kvceradio.com
