Final Stats

By Cassie Logan | @c4ssielogan

ARLINGTON, Texas - The UT Arlington men's basketball team cruised past Appalachian State 91-60 on Saturday night at College Park Center.

The Mavericks progressed to 8-5 in Sun Belt play and 17-7 on the season, which is tied for the third-best start in program history. In its first game in Arlington since Jan. 23, UTA nabbed its third consecutive win and completed the season sweep over Appalachian State (6-19, 4-10). The Mavs remain in fourth place in the Sun Belt standings.

The Mavericks held the Sun Belt's leading scorer in Frank Eaves to just four points and 0-5 from beyond the arc. Jalen Jones racked up a game-high 18 points with three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Erick Neal contributed 11 points with seven assists, five boards and two steals in 26 minutes.

The Mavericks opened the first half on a 14-5 run, including five points from Kaelon Wilson, three from the free throw line. Back to back 3-pointers from Drew Charles gave UTA a comfortable 23-9 advantage midway through the first half.

UTA displayed its biggest halftime lead of the season 49-21, proof of a consistent shooting effort. The Mavs downed 54.5 percent of shots made from the floor (18-33), while keeping Appalachian State to 20 percent. The Mountaineers were just 2-21 from beyond the arc.

The Mountaineers put up a layup in the opening minute of the second half to close the gap to 26, but that was the closest UTA would allow. A 3-pointer from Jones refocused the Maverick offense and the lead began to grow.

Any pressure the Mavericks felt was long gone eight minutes into the half when a dunk by Kennedy Eubanks strengthened UTA's lead to 34. The Mavs reached their largest lead of the night (91-55) after Mairega Clarke converted a steal into a jump shot with two minutes to play.

Turning Point
The Mavericks opened the game on a 14-5 run and never looked back. UTA was 5-7 from the field and 3-3 at the free throw line, courtesy of Wilson. The Mavs rounded up eight points in the paint and five off of turnovers.

Key Stats
The Mavericks shot 55.2 percent from the field to the Mountaineers' 30.2. … UTA held Appalachian State to 18.2 percent from 3-point range. … UTA out-rebounded 46-40. … The Mavericks picked up 48 points from the paint and 40 from the bench.

Notable
Erick Neal is 12th on the single-season assist list with 133. … The Mavericks are playing their first game since Jan. 23. … Head coach Scott Cross (170-135) is the program's all-time leader in wins in his 10-year tenure. … UTA is 3-1 all-time against Appalachian State. UTA won 71-67 in the Jan. 7 meeting earlier this year. The Mavs swept the season series against the Mountaineers. … UTA has won 13 games by double-digits this season.

Up Next
UTA three-game homestand continues with a visit from Louisiana 7:15 p.m. on Thursday. ULM rolls in on Saturday for a 7:15 p.m. meeting, which will be broadcast on ESPN3. Tickets are available at UTATickets.com.

Quotable
UTA coach Scott Cross opening statement:
"It was one of those games for the guys that seemed like everything was going in. You have three or four games like that every year and then there's three or four that go the other direction. When we were down there, it was reversed. We couldn't make anything. It's nice to have games like this. They're a lot of fun. Our bench played well and got some good minutes for the guys who haven't played a lot and have really contributed in practice. I thought our guys did a really good job defensively. Drew Charles did an unbelievable job on Frank Eaves. Faith Pope and Nathan Hawkins were on him quite a bit. To hold the leading scorer in the conference to five points is pretty special. Proud of our guys and it was a great win."