Final Stats | Photo Gallery

By Art Garcia | @ArtGarcia92

ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington couldn't overcome Louisiana's early 3-point barrage on top of poor shooting in Saturday night's 81-70 loss at College Park Center.

The Mavericks dropped to 15-11 overall and fifth in the Sun Belt Conference at 9-7. The Ragin' Cajuns (16-12) inched into fourth in Sun Belt at 10-7. The Mavs and Cajuns split the two-game season series.

"They were the more aggressive team," UT Arlington coach Scott Cross said. "Shawn Long was too much for us to handle. We couldn't block him out. He scored everything around the basket. The bottom line is they started out hitting shots and we didn't."

UTA could never find a rhythm in its worst shooting performance of the league season. The Mavericks made just 22 of 65 shots, a 33.8 percentage that topped only the 27.0-percent showing at Kentucky earlier this season.

Freshman guard Erick Neal tied a season high with 16 points. Senior guard Jamel Outler also scored 16, his highest scoring game since scoring 17 against Howard Payne on Dec. 20. Freshman guard Kaelon Wilson and senior forward Greg Gainey each scored 13.

Louisiana guard Hayward Register couldn't miss from deep and the Mavericks found themselves down big early. Register hit four consecutive 3-pointers to help put UTA in an 18-5 hole eight minutes into the game.

The Ragin' Cajuns kept a comfortable lead for the rest of the first half, as the Maverick continued to struggle from the floor. UTA did get within 33-25, but Louisiana closed with a 7-2 run to take a 40-27 lead into the locker room.

The Mavericks were just 5 of 29 (17.2 percent) from the floor in half, including 1 of 10 from beyond the arc. Neal and Outler each had nine points at the break, with the most of their damage coming from the line.

Register made five 3-pointers in the half for 15 points. The Ragin' Cajuns were shooting 58.3 percent (14-24) through 20 minutes.

Louisiana would lead by as many as 19 in the second half before the Mavericks made a push. UTA was down 12 (68-56) with 5 1/2 minutes remaining, but that's as close as the Mavs would get until the final minute.

Long paced Louisiana with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Register and Jay Wright each scored 15.

UP NEXT: At Arkansas State, Thursday, 5:05 p.m.