Dec. 2, 2016
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ARLINGTON, Texas - The UTA men's basketball team remains on the road for a second straight rivalry game Saturday when it travels to Denton for an afternoon contest at North Texas.
Scheduled for a 2 p.m. tipoff in The Super Pit, tickets are available by visiting MeanGreenSports.com or by calling the North Texas Athletics Ticket Office during weekday business hours at (800) 868-2366. Tickets are priced as low as $5 for general admission and $10 for reserved seats.
Links to a live video stream of the game and live statistics are available on UTAMavs.com. A live radio broadcast from UTA's Josh Sours will be available throughout the DFW Metroplex on KEXB 620 AM and online at TuneIn.com.
UTA enters Saturday's game with a 5-3 overall record and a 4-game win streak following a 72-61 victory Tuesday at the University of Texas. Junior forward Kevin Hervey registered a double-double with team-highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds, while the Mavericks' defense limited the Longhorns to just 13 percent shooting from outside the 3-point arc.
The win marked the program's first-ever over the Longhorns after 11 consecutive losses. All 12 games in the series have been played in Austin.
"Tuesday's win was a big one for this program, but soon after it was over we became completely focused on North Texas," said UTA head coach Scott Cross. "The Texas win means nothing if we can't continue to make progress, play like we expect to play and win games.
"We have to focus on playing the right way. In the end, it comes back to taking things possession-by-possession and doing the little things. That's why we've been successful over the last couple of games - rebounding, playing defense, ball movement, player movement... just being selfless as a basketball team. That is what it takes for us to be successful."
Arlington native Hervey averages 12.6 points and a team-leading 6.0 rebounds in just 23.6 minutes per game. After missing the final 19 games of last season due to a knee injury, he appears to be continuing to progress into the form that saw league coaches vote him as the Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year.
Senior guard Jalen Jones continues to lead the team in scoring with an average of 13.8 points per game. He has scored in double figures in eight of his last nine games and is also among the team leaders in field goal and 3-point percentage.
Guards Erick Neal and Drew Charles, along with forward Jorge Bilbao, round out the starting lineup for the Mavericks. Cross has fielded the same starting five in each of the team's last four games with junior guard Kaelon Wilson generally serving as the first player off the bench.
North Texas enters the contest with a 4-3 overall record after winning its last three contests. The Mean Green opened the season with a win over Sul Ross State before dropping road games at Texas Tech and Rutgers and a home contest against Drexel.
"North Texas is very, very talented and well coached," said Cross. "They are a team that is capable of scoring at will. We are going to have to be really locked in defensively. Their 7-footer Rickey Brice is big and wide and is a major presence inside. They also are also really good in transition. We are going to have to be ready to play. This is not going to be an easy game, by any stretch."
Brice, a native of Arlington, leads UNT with an average of 6.0 rebounds per game and has a team-high 11 blocked shots. Senior guard Deckie Johnson is the team's scoring leader at 14.9 points in 30.1 minutes per game.
UTA returns to College Park Center on Monday against UT Dallas. Tickets are available by visiting UTATickets.com or calling the UTA Box Office during weekday business hours at (817) 272-9595. Fans under the age of 18 will be admitted to the game free of charge by showing ID at the box office 90 minutes prior to tipoff.
