Final Stats

By Art Garcia | @ArtGarcia92

MONROE, Louisiana - Erick Neal's historic performance carried UT Arlington in the second half Thursday night at Fant-Ewing Center, but the Mavericks came up short in a 99-88 loss to ULM.

UTA dropped to 14-5 overall and 5-3 in the Sun Belt after its second loss in a row. The Warhawks (9-11, 5-4) remained undefeated at home at 8-0.

Neal etched his name in UTA's record books with the program's first triple-double. The sophomore point guard from Dallas Lincoln did the majority of his damage after halftime, and finished with a career-highs in points (27), rebounds (10) and assists (12).

Neal's exploits were overshadowed by ULM forward Majok Deng, who also awoke after the break. The 6-foot-10 senior scored 25 of his 29 points in the second half. After missing all four of his 3-point tries in the first half, Deng hit 7 of 8 from beyond the arc over the last 20 minutes.

Neal shot 10-14 from the floor, including 5-7 on 3-point attempts. Jalen Jones scored 18 for UTA, Kennedy Eubanks had 17 points and Kaelon Wilson had 10 points off the bench. Jorge Bilbao grabbed nine rebounds despite suffering from a stomach virus earlier in the day.

UTA played from behind for most of the game, but made several runs in the second half to close the gap. The Mavs pulled with two points on three occasions, the last with about four minutes to play.

Behind Deng's long-range touch and Justin Roberson (24 points), ULM was able to withstand every UTA surge.

The Mavericks opened the game hot from deep, nailing their first four 3-pointers on their way to a 19-10 lead. Neal had six points during the early spurt on a 3-pointer and three-point play.

ULM would warm up as UTA went cold. The Warhawks surged ahead with a 10-0 run and would take as much as a nine-point lead late in the first half.

The Mavs would go into halftime down 43-36. Eubanks had 13 points at the half.

Turning Point
The Mavericks had just cut ULM's lead to 52-50 early in the second half on Jones' second of two consecutive 3-pointers. Deng would steal the momentum right back with a personal 9-0 run built on three 3-pointers in a row to put the Warhawks up 61-50. ULM would lead for the entire second half.

Key Stats
UTA, the top rebounding team in the nation, won the battle of the boards 42-33. ... ULM shot 54 percent (34-63) for the game, including 50 percent (15-30) on 3-pointers. ... ULM had a 16-9 advantage in points at the free throw line.

Notable
UTA trailed at halftime for the fifth time this season. ... Neal had a double-double earlier this season. ... UTA has lost consecutive games for the first time this season. ... UTA and ULM meet again on Feb. 20 at College Park Center. ... UTA is 4-2 against ULM as Sun Belt foes. ... The 99 points allowed were the most by UTA this season.

Up Next
The Mavericks finish off this week's road trip Saturday afternoon at Louisiana.

Quotable
Scott Cross opening statement:
"Defensively we couldn't find anything or get any stops. They shot the ball well and Deng was unbelievable shooting the ball. We kept losing him in our defenses and the guys weren't talking the way they normally do. You can't give a good team open looks. We couldn't turn them over with our pressure."

Cross on Neal's triple-double:
"That's an awesome game. To have a triple-double speaks volumes to what he did out there on the floor. We need some more guys to step up. We didn't lose the game on the offensive end tonight, we lost it on the defensive end. We've got to do better. We let them shoot 54 percent and that's not UT Arlington basketball."