Feb. 13, 2017

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ARLINGTON, Texas -- Kevin Hervey and Jalen Jones each had 20 points, leading UTA to a 71-55 win over defending conference champion Little Rock, pushing the Mavericks into sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt Conference standings, on Monday night at College Park Center.

UTA (19-6, 9-3 SBC) moved into sole possession of first place in the league standings with the win and Monday-night losses from 9-4 teams Arkansas State, Georgia State and Georgia Southern. UTA's following two games are in the Peach State vs. Georgia State and Georgia Southern.

The Mavericks used a 32-12 run over the final 13:35 of the game, including holding Little Rock (13-13, 4-9 SBC) without a field goal for the final 4:42.

UTA has won 18 of its last 21 games, seven of its last eight and have claimed three consecutive wins. The Mavs have a sparkling 11-0 record at College Park Center and have won 14 straight games at home.

The Mavs won the battle of the boards 37-30, while shooting 46 percent (24-of-52) from the field. Little Rock was limited to 37 percent shooting with the Mavs forcing 17 turnovers.

KEY STRETCHES
First Half
Hervey got the Mavs on the board with a triple from the corner less than a minute into the game. Little Rock then built up its lead to 7-3 before Jorge Bilbao cut into the lead from the charity stripe. With just under 14 minutes remaining, Hervey drilled a second triple from in front of the Little Rock bench, evening up the game for the first time, 10-10. After each team traded baskets in the next four minutes of game action, Kaelon Wilson gave UTA its first lead with two free throws with 10:19 left.

Following the under eight-minute timeout and the teams trading free throws, Bilbao gave UTA an 18-15 lead with a post-move basket. Drew Charles sank his first bucket of the game on a three from the corner to give UTA a 21-19 lead with five minutes remaining. A Jones fade-away jumper stretch the lead to 23-19 before LR's Deondre Burns answered with a jumper of his own inside the arc. Jones immediately drilled a triple to extend UTAs lead to 26-21 headed to the under four-minute timeout. Stetson Billings hit a big three for LR to cut the lead to 28-26 with 95 seconds left in the half. LR took advantage of a pair of missed free throw opportunities on the front-end of 1-and-1s and Maurius Hill's triple from the wing gave Little Rock a 29-28 lead. Hervey regained the lead for the Mavs with a rebound and putback to send the game to intermission at 30-29. Jones led the Mavs with nine points, with Hervey charting eight points and three boards.

Second Half
Little Rock wasted no time taking the lead out of the break as Burns hit a three pointer and was fouled, sinking the free throw for the four-point play. After the Trojans continued its run to 6-0 out of the halftime, Hervey connected on his first two free-throw attempts of the day and Jones laid it off the glass in transition to cut the LR lead to 35-34. Jones continued his hot streak with a triple from the wing and a 37-35 UTA lead. The Trojans then successfully executed a five-point possession, getting a basket, foul and free throw and two technical free throws to take a 40-37 lead.

Jones ended a nearly three-minute scoring drought for UTA with a dunk but Little Rock answered with a jumper from Burns to make it a 45-41 game. A Faith Pope steal and dunk cut the Trojans lead to 45-43. UTA took the lead again after Pope was fouled on a basket with the senior hitting the free throw for a 47-45 advantage. Wilson then extended UTA's run to 6-0 with a dunk in transition, giving the Mavs its largest lead of the night, 53-46. After a strong defensive rebound from Link Kabadyundi, Jones drove to the rim for a bucket and a 55-46 lead. Hervey followed with a pair of triples and a jumper to extend UTA's lead and close out the game.

KEY STATS
Jones and Hervey led the way with 20 points each. Hervey finished with five rebounds, while Jones added four boards. Neal led the team with seven assists, with Wilson leading the club with six rebounds, adding 13 points. UTA also got six points from Bilbao and five from Pope.

NEXT
The Mavs return to action on Feb. 18 at Georgia State. Tipoff is slated for 1:15 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed live on ESPN3.com. The game will be broadcast live on the UTAMavs.com and is available locally 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.