Jan. 2, 2017

Final Stats | Quotes | Notes

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Preseason Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Kevin Hervey recorded his 15th career double-double to lead the UTA men's basketball team to its 11th consecutive win, an 84-69 result over Appalachian State, on Monday night at the College Park Center.

A 6-foot-9, 230-pound junior, Hervey notched his sixth double-double of the year and the 15th of his career. He tied his season high with 21 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, while adding two assists and a steal in just 24 minutes. Since returning to the starting lineup after suffering a season-ending injury in 2015-16, Hervey has led the Mavs on their 11-game winning streak.

UTA (12-3, 2-0 Sun Belt Conference) extended its winning streak to 11 games, behind only a 16-game stretch from the 2011-12 team for the longest in the history of the program. The Mavs went 6-0 in December and finished November on a four-game winning streak. UTA opened conference play on Saturday, posting a 90-69 win over Coastal Carolina.

The Mavs trailed for the majority of the first half, taking their first lead with five minutes remaining in the period. UTA owned a 37-33 lead at the break, marking the 14th time in 15 games in 2016-17 it has owned the halftime lead.

A game after the Mavs connected on 15 3-point attempts, Appalachian State (5-8, 0-2 SBC) held UTA to 3-for-15 from behind the arc. The Mavs finished the game shooting 43 percent (29-for-67) and holding Appalachian State to 39 percent (23-for-59) from the field. UTA got to the free-throw line 32 times, making 23 shots, and won the battle of the boards 49-39 and in points in the paint 46-26.

KEY STRETCHES
First Half
The game opened with a pair of 3-pointers from Appalachian State before UTA got on the board with buckets from Hervey, Jalen Jones and Drew Charles. The Mountaineers continued their strong start, owning a 13-6 advantage at the first media timeout. UTA fought back with a strong defensive effort and got to within 22-20 after a 3-pointer from Charles with just under nine minutes remaining.

Jones then converted an old-fashioned 3-point play with 8:10 left in the period to cut the lead to 24-23. Hervey contributed to four straight points to give the Mavs their first lead, nabbing a putback off an Erick Neal miss, before leading the break to find Julian Harris for a layup and a 27-26 lead with just over five minutes remaining. A driving layup in traffic by Kaelon Wilson highlighted a 12-7 run to end the half and stretched the UTA lead to 37-33.

Seven UTA players scored at least four points with Hervey owning a team-leading eight points, with five rebounds.

Second Half
The Mavs continued its strong finish to the first half to open the final period, using a 9-0 run to take a 46-37 lead with just over 16 minutes left. Hervey, who scored eight of UTA's first 11 points in the second half, finished a layup and gave UTA its first double-digit lead at 48-38.

Faith Pope added a big exclamation point in the second half, slamming a dunk off an inbounds play to give UTA a 58-46 lead with 11 minutes left. Jones used a fall-away jumper from the corner at the eight-minute mark to stretch the UTA lead to 66-48. The Mountaineers got a 3-pointer from Patrick Good with 6:13 left in regulation to cut into the UTA lead, 69-56. Good added a 3-pointer after the under four-minute timeout to get the game to 73-63, before Jones answered with a jumper at the top of the key. Neal and Pope connected in the final minute of the game for a transition dunk.

KEY STATS
Hervey led four Mavericks in double figures, including Neal, Jones and Wilson. Neal had 10 points, four rebounds, five assists and a career-high equaling five steals. It marked Neal's seventh consecutive game with at least five assists. Wilson came off the bench for 11 points, five rebounds and a steal, and Jones finished with 11 points and four rebounds. Jones added 13 points and four rebounds.

UTA also got a strong bench performance from Harris, a junior forward, who tied his season high with seven points while connecting on 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Charles added eight points and six rebounds.

NEXT
UTA will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 7 at Texas State, with tipoff slated for 4:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast live on UTAMavs.com and on KEXB 620-AM with the Voice of the Mavs, Josh Sours, calling the action.

The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy. New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12 and ticket books can now be purchased from your school's ticket office. For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference's championship central websites and be sure to follow the Sun Belt on social media - @SunBelt.