Nov. 23, 2013

Final Stats

YPSILANTI, Michigan - UT Arlington finished its three-game road trip with a hard-fought 74-69 loss Saturday night to Eastern Michigan at the Convocation Center.

The Mavericks (2-5) also completed the Keightley Classic with a winless 0-4 record, including losses to Kentucky, Cleveland State and Robert Morris. After a busy week, UT Arlington is off until Friday's trip to Texas.

Seniors Brandon Edwards and Reger Dowell once again led the way for the Mavericks. Edward had his fourth consecutive double-double and fifth of the season with a career-high 30 points and 13 rebounds. Dowell, the 12th leading scorer in the country, hit 20 points for the seventh straight game with 22.

"It was a very tough game," UT Arlington coach Scott Cross said. "I thought our guys did an outstanding job of attacking their zone. Their zone was really good.

"We shot 48 percent against them; that's good enough to win the game. We out-rebounded them. We had the same amount of blocks as them. The difference in the game was turnovers."

The Mavericks did shoot and rebound better than Eastern Michigan (5-0), but carelessness on offense was an issue throughout the game. UT Arlington gave the ball away 15 times to the Eagles' six, leading to a 13-8 difference in points off turnovers.

Edwards was active down low early with eight of UTA's first 11 points, but the Mavericks trailed throughout the first half despite playing stellar defense. EMU shot only 40 percent (12-30) over the first 20 minutes, though the Eagles made 5-of-10 3-point attempts.

UT Arlington was down as many as 10 (36-26) before making a push late in the first half to trail 42-35. The Mavericks cut the deficit to 40-35 after a four-point possession by Dowell, who hit a technical free throw and an ensuing 3-pointer.

Edwards had 14 points and six rebounds at the break, with Dowell scoring 13. Junior guard Jamel Outler scored six on two 3-pointers. Raven Lee and Darell Combs combined for 29 points for EMU.

The Eagles pushed their lead to 50-39 early in the second half before the Mavericks responded with a 5-0 run. UT Arlington closed within 67-64 with less than 2:22 left on Edwards' tip-in.

Outer (12 points) drilled a 3-pointer with 1:00 left to make it 70-67. Two free throws from Lonnie McClanahan also made it a 3-point game again (72-69) with 19.2 seconds left. That's as close as the Mavericks would get. EMU would close out the victory at the foul line.