Feb. 18, 2017

Final Stats | Quotes | Notes

ATLANTA (AP) Erick Neal drilled a 30-footer with 1.1 seconds left and UTA maintained its hold on first place in the Sun Belt Conference with a 68-67 win at Georgia State Saturday afternoon.

The Mavericks only lead of the second half came at the buzzer. UTA tied the game at 55-55 on a Neal trey and Jalen Jones tied it at 65-65 on his 3-pointer with 46 seconds left. D'Marcus Simonds' jumper with 22 seconds left gave Georgia State the lead, 67-65, before Neal's heroics.

The win keeps UTA (20-6, 10-3) in first place by a half game. Four teams atop the Sun Belt standings are within one game in the win column. Georgia State (16-10, 9-5) had been part of a three-way tie for first, but has now lost three straight.

UTA returns to action Monday with a 6 p.m. tipoff at Georgia Southern. The game will be streamed live via ESPN3 with live radio coverage on UTAMavs.com, TuneIn and KEXB 620 AM throughout Dallas-Fort Worth. The Mavericks return home Saturday, Feb. 25 with a 4:30 p.m. contest against South Alabama. UTA fans are invited to watch the game at Grease Monkey in Arlington. Food and drink specials will be available.

The Mavericks trailed by 15 points, 53-38 with 11 minutes to play, but ran off 14-straight and trailed by one with 7:12 remaining. GSU had a 7-point lead with 2:10 remaining after a pair of free throws by scoring leader Jeremy Hollowell. Four UTA free throws and a 3-pointer tied the game at 65-each with :46 second left.

GSU's D'Marcus Simonds appeared to clinch the game when he connected on a jumper with :22 seconds on the clock. The Mavericks inbounded the ball before calling timeout with :10 seconds remaining.

Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks looked to their leading scorer, Kevin Hervey, but the Panthers had him covered. Neal dribbled to the top of the arc, took a couple of steps backward before launching his 30-foot shot game-winner between a pair of defenders.

GSU launched a desperate shot from just beyond halfcourt as the buzzer sounded.

Kevin Hervey led UTA with 17 points and 10 rebounds, his 10th double-double of the season. Drew Charles scored 16 points, while Jorge Bilbao and Jalen Jones finished with 11 points apiece. Neal ended the game with 9 points and 7 rebounds.

Hollowell scored 19 to pace Georgia State.

The win puts UTA past the 20-win plateau for the second-straight season, marking the first time the Mavericks posted back-to-back 20-win seasons in program history.