Recap | Final Stats | Notes

UTA (12-3, 2-0) 84 vs Appalachian State (5-10, 0-2) 69
Monday January 2, 2017
College Park Center • Arlington, Texas

Postgame Quotes

UTA Head Coach Scott Cross
Opening statement:
"I'm glad we came away with a victory. We did some good things. I thought our guys tried to defend. We got confused a couple of times on their stagger screens. They ran different actions and we got lost. We gave up a few open 3-point shots, but our guys battled and managed to find a way to win. It was an ugly game, but I'm thankful our guys figured out a way to pull it out."

On the amount of 3-point shots taken:
"This is a unique team. It's not something that we talk about. I think they have a sixth sense about them that they need to attack the basket. Some teams may stick to our shooters. I know they were trying to deny Drew [Charles] and keep it from getting any open looks. These guys are active and good drivers. Kaelon [Wilson] was able to get to the basket and finish. That's the beautiful thing about it. We can win inside and outside. We can win in transition and most of all, we have to win on the defensive end of the floor and that's where it begins and ends."

On the play of Faith Pope:
"He's a freak athlete. He has pterodactyle arms and he's so quick off the floor. He's already jumped before the other guy even realizes and there's nothing you can do but foul him."

On Kevin Hervey's performance:
"He's definitely got his confidence going. We ran our corner action where we post him in the short corner and I felt like we got good looks almost every time. He created some shots from other guys. He was able to score, post up, back them down, face up and shoot 15-footers. We were getting good action, so we kept going to it. Any time you find something working, you want to stick to it."

"It's just he's such a skilled guy, so he gets a lot of defensive rebounds. Any time you don't have to outlet the ball and you just go with it, now you have three guys already ahead and he pitches it up and you usually have numbers. It's one of the things that he brings to the table and allows us to play a lot faster because he's getting defensive rebounds. He's skilled enough to where he can almost act as a point guard and make good decisions. We definitely want to play in transition as much as we can."

On the team's upcoming 3-game road trip starting at Texas State:
"Texas State is always a great defensive team. They deny and pressure the ball and they'll be aggressive. We're going to have to prepare for that because it is a little different and unique from what we face. It'll be a tough environment, but again, we've been on the road nine games in nonconference, so our guys will be more than prepared. They've already faced some unbelievable teams. We just need to spend time preping for what they do, but we'll get a little bit of rest, too."

On the Mavericks' improving second-half performances:
"The depth of our bench is starting to take over. You play the Minnesota's, the Arkansas' and they're just as deep as we are, but a little bit bigger probably from top to bottom. They're just as athletic as us, so they can match us in those areas. Florida Gulf Coast I'd like to think was an outlier in the second half, but they're loaded, too. They have a great basketball team and feel like they have pretty good depth, too. And all those games were on the road, too. Usually the crowd gets more into it in the second half and makes it tough and I think that played a part of it in those first couple of games."

Senior Guard Jalen Jones
On what makes this team different from others he's played for:
"This is a great team. We have a lot of pieces. We're really close-knit, like brothers. We have a certain kind of chemistry on the court and that's why we're on an 11-game win streak. That's why we had a good season last year and most of us came back. We want the best for each other. We always have to come together once adversity hits. We all know how to overcome it. We're close-knit with the coaches, too. We're all a family. We have to come together to execute."

Senior Forward Faith Pope
On his role:
"I just have to bring the energy on offense and defense, whatever it takes. Whether it's grabbing rebounds, throwing a pass. He's more of a scorer and I'm more of a facilitator."