Recap | Final Stats | Notes

2016-17 UT Arlington Basketball
UTA vs. Mount St. Mary's
Nov. 23, 2016
Arlington, Texas -- College Park Center
Post-Game Quotes

UT Arlington Head Coach Scott Cross

Opening statement …
"I am proud of our guys. We played, defensively, the right way, with the toughness and grit that we are looking for. Our guys were locked in defensively. We made quite a few mental mistakes. It's still early in the season and I think the guys are learning how to play with different guys out on the floor. Once we clean those things up, great things are headed for this basketball team. It was definitely a step in the right direction. I felt like at Arkansas, we made a step in the right direction. Against St. Francis, not so much. Tonight, at least in the things that our guys can control, they did a good job of controlling those controllables. It is a tough team to play, their style with the way they press, they trap and it's hard to get into a flow offensively because they trap everywhere. But our guys did a good job of throwing out of the traps and executing. Luckily we hung on and got the result we wanted."

On coming out in the second half stronger then in previous games …
"The energy level changed. Our Achilles heel in the previous four games, in the second half we've come out flat and that was one thing in the locker room I just asked the guys to bring energy out there. The rest will take care of itself. The guys were down there on the defensive end slapping the floor. In the second half, I think the first four shots they had they missed and we got the rebound. That set the tone for the rest of the half. From then on out we led and had control of the game. It is a credit to these guys for playing the right way and playing hard."

On Erick Neal's double-double …
"When you get 10 assists, that is what I am looking for. We want him to have 3:1 assist:turnover. He had 2:1. Of course you can say that I'm just being hard on him as a coach but I think Erick can be, and should be, the best point guard in the league. Ten assists is phenomenal. There were a couple of shots that maybe he should've passed but sometimes with a guy that is a pass-first guy, you have to give him a little bit of rope. As long as he is playing the right way defensively, and I felt like he was, I can allow one shot a half. The key is, we can't have it when it is back-to-back. They score on us and then we take a bad shot, then they score on us and we take another one. And that happened during that stretch late in the second half. We can't have those. Those are the ones we have to cut out. If we are playing in the flow, I know one of his, we got a stop and he was open and he took a quick one. That is part of it. He is going to hit those too and I want to give him a little bit of freedom. I don't want him playing, looking over his shoulder thinking that coach is going to yank him out there. He knows. We talk to him all the time, when we watch film, he knows what are good shots and bad shots. The good thing about tonight is he said that it was probably a bad one. He knows. That is half the battle. He realizes that he has to get these guys the ball and he has to move it around. Overall, he played really well and he played the right way. To have a double-double in points and assists is phenomenal."

On Nathan Hawkins confidence the last two games …
"To be honest, he has probably been our best all around guy, if you are looking at everything. It is nice to have a guy like him, a guy like Kaelon, that are really talented guys. Now he is playing at a high level and it makes us so much better. I am so confident when he is on the floor. Nate is a guy that has great vision, he's a great passer, he's a ball mover. When he is in the game that ball is moving around. Now he's shot faking, driving and finishing. After the Arkansas game, I talked to him at the airport about how if he just would get in the gym an hour a day that I promise good things was going to happen. Saturday, Sunday, yesterday, not Monday because we played, but he's been in the gym shooting extra shots. It pays off. There is no secret to success on shooting good in the games. You have to do it first in practice. He's been putting in the time. Like I said he has things that I can't really teach with basketball intelligence and some of those gifts that he has."

On Mount St. Mary's …
"They are extremely well coached. They run great stuff. They keep you off balance defensively. Their offense, pick and roll, they move their players and they move the ball before they set the pick and roll. It's not easy to defend. Our guys did about as good of a job as you could. One guy had 27 and one guy had 26 but the only thing that matters at the end of the game is which team has the most. Sometimes its hard for our guys to look past that but that is the only thing that matters. How many points do we have and how many do they have? They made it tough for us. They didn't quit. There were a lot of times when we had big leads and the crowd got involved and it could have been easy for them to quit fighting. They are going to have a great season. You look at the teams they've played: they've had a more difficult schedule then we have and we've had a brutal schedule. They are going to have a very good season in their league this year.

UT Arlington Student-Athlete Quotes

#10, G, Jalen Jones

On attacking the basket successfully …
"I knew things would open up because of how they press. Once they trap and we throw out there is an open lane and a chance for me to be aggressive and put points on the board."

#5, G, Kaelon Wilson

On coming off the bench as a key player …
"Just staying ready. We had a talk after the last game about coming off the bench and bringing that energy, no matter who is having an off night. We are all a team and we have to pick each other up. It's just our role on the team."