March 14, 2017
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ARLINGTON, Texas - The UTA men's basketball team hopes its recent success against the West Coast Conference continues Wednesday when it opens play at BYU in the 2017 National Invitation Tournament.
Seeded sixth in its 8-team region, UTA travels to the Marriott Center to play the No. 3 Cougars in a 10 p.m. (CDT) tipoff in the first round of the NIT. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN2 with Eric Rothman and Corey Williams calling the action.
In addition, a live radio broadcast will be available throughout the DFW Metroplex on KEXB 620 AM and via the popular TuneIn app on smartphones and tablets. Links to complete game coverage, including video, audio and live statistics, are available on UTAMavs.com.
UTA fans are invited to a special viewing party at Grease Monkey, located in Downtown Arlington. Food and drink specials will be available.
The winner of Wednesday's game in Provo will advance to face the winner of 7th seeded Akron at No. 2 Houston in the tournament's second round. The date, time and site of that game is expected to be announced Wednesday night.
"We are focused, excited and ready to keep playing," said senior guard Drew Charles, a 5th-year graduate student pursing a master's degree in business administration. "BYU has an extremely talented team and they are very dynamic offensively. They are going to provide a very tough challenge. But, our team lives every day with our tough guy, take the stairs mentality. We are motivated to play in the NIT and will be ready to give it our best shot."
Wednesday's game will mark the third time this season UTA will play a team from the WCC. The Mavericks posted a signature victory at then 12th-ranked Saint Mary's in early December and concluded their non-league schedule two weeks later with a win at Loyola Marymount.
"The West Coast Conference is a great league and our games this year at Saint Mary's and LMU were super-competitive," said UTA head coach Scott Cross. "BYU is really talented will present a different set of challenges for us. They are experienced, battle tested and had a big win recently against No. 1 ranked Gonzaga. We know we have a big challenge ahead of us."
UTA enters Wednesday's game with a 25-8 overall record and won its first-ever Sun Belt Conference regular-season title with a 14-4 mark in league play. The team's win total is the highest in program history and its appearance in the NIT is the fifth time UTA has qualified for a postseason appearance.
After earning a first round bye in last week's Sun Belt Championships, the Mavericks registered a 23-point win over Coastal Carolina in the tournament quarterfinals. But, UTA was unable to find its shooting touch in a disappointing semifinal loss to 4th-seeded Texas State.
"When we lost in the Sun Belt Tournament, everybody had that empty feeling that the season was over," said Cross, the 2017 Sun Belt Coach of the Year. "But, once the sting wore off a bit and we realized we still had an opportunity to play in the NIT we got re-focused pretty quickly. Our guys need to remember the feeling they had after the loss in New Orleans and use that to get inspired to play their best at BYU and, hopefully, beyond."
Junior forward Kevin Hervey, the Sun Belt Player of the Year, returned from a season-ending knee injury a year ago to lead UTA in scoring (17.1), rebounding (8.6) and 3-pointers. The Arlington native earned all-district honors by the United States Basketball Writers of America and was twice named the conference's Player of the Week.
Hervey is joined in the starting frontcourt by senior Jorge Bilbao, the Sun Belt's leader in offensive rebounds. A native of Bilbao, Spain, he is among the program's all-time leaders in rebounds and appearances and is one of just two players - along with Charles - to start all 33 games this season.
Junior guard Erick Neal, a second-team all-league selection, leads the Sun Belt and ranks among the top 10 nationally in assists per game. The Dallas native is second all-time in the UTA program for career assists.
With senior starting guard Jalen Jones likely out for the postseason due to a hand injury he suffered late in the Sun Belt quarterfinal win over Coastal Carolina, junior Kaelon Wilson is expected to earn his fifth start of the year. The Lancaster native owns 97 career appearances and is shooting just better than 50 percent from the field this year.
BYU enters its second-straight NIT as an at-large selection after finishing the regular season with a 22-11 overall record. The Cougars advanced to last year's semifinals in Madison Square Garden after knocking off UAB, Virginia Tech and Creighton in the first three rounds.
The Cougars are coached by Dave Rose, a 1983 Houston graduate who owns 12-straight 20-win seasons. He has won 74 percent of his 415 career games coached at BYU and is 10th among active coaches nationally in career winning percentage.
