Box Score Nov. 19, 2013
Final Stats | USATSI Gallery 
Photo Gallery
LEXINGTON, Kentucky - UT Arlington wasn't intimated by the setting or the opponent in the program's first trip to historic Rupp Arena.
The Mavericks hung tough for the country's fourth-ranked team for much of the first half Tuesday night, but the Kentucky Wildcats showed why they're expected to contend for a national title with a 105-76 victory over UT Arlington.
"Thought our guys competed and played pretty hard tonight," UT Arlington coach Scott Cross said. "I was proud of them. Obviously, we are well aware of the talent level that Kentucky has. The first half I thought we did a great job to be able to outrebound them. It was definitely a positive for us.
"Of course, Kentucky responded really well in the second half and absolutely mashed us on the boards. I thought that was the difference in the second half. I saw a lot of great things out of our guys. We were able to score at times. We shot the basketball pretty well, we were able to create some easy looks by driving and kicking."
The Mavericks (2-3) continue their road trip with Thursday's visit to Robert Morris followed by Saturday at Eastern Michigan. UT Arlington is 0-2 on the road this season.
Senior forward Brandon Edwards had his third double-double of the season with a career-high 24 points and 11 rebounds. Senior guard Reger Dowell, the country's ninth-leading scorer coming into the week, had 20 points. Junior forward Vincent Dillard scored 13. The Mavericks also got a boost of energy from freshman forward Jorge Bilbao, who made his first career start.
The Mavericks were in danger of Kentucky (4-1) running away with the game early. The Wildcats reeled off a 15-1 run to lead 19-5 before UT Arlington began to find its rhythm.
Back-to-back layups from Edwards and Bilbao cut the Wildcats' edge to 21-17 and forced UK coach John Calipari to call timeout. Calipari stopped play again after Edwards and Dowell drilled consecutive 3-pointers to pull UTA within 28-25.
The Wildcats ripped off another 10-0 run, but the Mavericks refused to go quietly and went into the locker room down just 42-33. UT Arlington shot just 40.6 percent in the first half, but kept it close by outrebounding UK 21-17.
"In the first half we came out with a lot of energy and ready to play," Edwards said.
Edwards had 12 points and five boards at the break. Dowell scored eight, Dillard had five points and junior guard Lonnie McClanahan dished out three assists.
The Wildcats scored the first seven points of the second to go up 16 (49-33) and held a double-digit lead from there. Kentucky had five players score in double figures, led by 26 points from James Young.
