Final Stats | Quotes | Notes

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Five members of UTA men's basketball senior class scored in double figures, with Johnny Hamilton notching his third double-double of the year, leading the Mavs in a rout of South Alabama, 91-67, on Saturday evening at College Park Center.

UTA (11-6, 2-2 Sun Belt Conference) opened with the first seven points of the game and cruised to the double-figure win over South Alabama (8-8, 2-2 Sun Belt). The win marks UTA's second straight, also besting Troy - the defending Sun Belt Conference Tournament Champions - on Thursday night in a 10-point win.

The win was highlighted by the performance of the UTA senior class, which combined to score the first 72 UTA points of the game. Five seniors reached double figures, with Kaelon Wilson owning a game-best 19 points.

UTA's win saw a staggering 44-18 advantage in points in the paint, with UTA also outrebounding USA, 52-34. The Mavs shot 48 percent as a team, holding USA to 32 percent, marking the sixth time UTA has held an opponent under 40-pecent from the field on the year.

LEADING THE MAVS
Senior point guard Erick Neal, a native of Dallas, finished with 14 points, three rebounds and five assists, adding three steals in 29 minutes. Neal's five dimes continued his UTA career record for assists. Hamilton and Kevin Hervey each added double-doubles, with Hamilton collecting 18 points and 12 boards, blocking three shots in 26 minutes. Hervey, the defending Sun Belt Conference Male Athlete of the Year, had 16 points and 10 rebounds, handing out three assists and hitting six from the free-throw stripe 30 minutes. It marked the program-record 32nd double-double in Hervey's career, with the senior sporting seven in 2017-18.

The Mavs also got double-figure scoring efforts from seniors Nathan Hawkins and Wilson. Hawkins had 13 points and five rebounds, with Wilson owning 19 points and five rebounds with a pair of steals.

NEXT
The Mavs will hit the road on Thursday, traveling to face Little Rock in the first of a two-game road swing, also face Arkansas State on Saturday. The game will tipoff at 4:15 p.m. CT with coverage live on ESPN3.com.

FIRST HALF
The Mavs wasted little time building a lead, scoring the first seven points of the game behind a triple from Wilson and jumpers from Hervey and Wilson. The Mavs built their lead to 11-3 after a pair of buckets at the rim from Hamilton and UTA took a 13-7 advantage into the first media timeout. After a Neal connected on the back-end of a free-throw trip, UTA's lead was 17-9 with just under 13 minutes left. South Alabama answered with three straight makes from behind the arc to take its first lead at 20-17 with 11 minutes left in the period. The Mavs used a triple from Neal to regain the lead, with Wilson's second 3-pointer and a dunk from Hamilton giving UTA a 27-20 lead. After taking a six-point lead after a free throw from Hamilton, USA cut the advantage to three with a triple but Wilson got two points back to take a five-point lead into the under four-minute media timeout. The Mavs got four straight points on a dunk from Hamilton and a pair from the charity stripe for Hawkins but a five-point outburst from USA forced a UTA timeout with 2:17 left and a 36-32 lead. Two free throws from Wilson and an offensive rebound and putback by Hawkins lifted UTA to a 40-32 lead at the break.

UTA was led in the half by a 15-point, seven-round outing from Hamilton. UTA held a 22-19 advantage in rebounding, holding USA to 6-of-20 from behind the arc and hitting 11 free throws while not allowing the Jags a trip to the charity stripe.

SECOND HALF
Wilson connected on one of two attempts from the charity stripe to open the half and stretch UTA's lead to 41-32. A Hervey jumper was sandwiched around triples from USA, as the Jags cut the lead to 43-38. UTA then went on an 8-0 run, including threes from Neal and Wilson and a basket in the paint from Hervey for a 51-38 lead, forcing a USA timeout. The 8-0 sparked a 17-5 stretched over nearly four minutes, with the Mavs getting threes from Neal and Wilson and four points from Hervey. After Neal was found in traffic by D.J. Bryant at the rim, UTA took a 62-43 lead with just under 12 minutes left. USA answered a Neal layup with four straight from the free-throw line, cutting the lead to 64-49. Neal continued his hot second stanza as Hervey found Neal in the corner after a baseline drive, with Neal sinking his third triple of the game for a 67-52 lead. After a Hawkins steal on the defensive end, the senior was fouled while making a basket and completed the three-point play to give UTA a 70-52 lead. The rout continued as the Mavs used baskets from Hervey, Hamilton and Hawkins to take the UTA lead to 80-59, owning an 83-64 lead as the under four-minute media timeout. The final minutes were highlighted by two ferocious dunks from senior Link Kabadyundi. Kabadyundi had six points and five rebounds in the second stanza.

PURCHASE UTA HOME GAME TICKETS
Single game, group and specially-priced multi-game ticket packages to attend UTA men and women's basketball events are on sale through the UTA Box Office in person or by calling (817) 272-8585 and online through UTATickets.com. Single game tickets are priced at $8, $12 and $25 per game, depending on seat location. UTA students and faculty staff tickets are available for just $5 per game. Discount Maverick Club (season) and general public (single game) parking is also available. Visit UTATickets.com for detailed information.

SPECIAL TICKET PACKAGES
Specially-priced Sun Belt game ticket packages are available for the remainder of the season through the UTA Box Office. The Sun Belt Fun Pack provides a tickets for every league men and women's game for just $45 per seat, while the Sun Belt Saturday Family Four Pack includes four tickets, four hot dogs and four small sodas for just $40 per game. The Sun Belt 3-Point Thursdays provides a ticket, small popcorn and small soda for just $10 per game.

FOLLOW THE MAVS SOCIALLY
For up-to-date news, photos, videos and updates you can follow UTA sports program online at UTAMavs.com or via any of several social media accounts on twitter @UTAMavs, Instagram @UTAMavs, Snapchat @UTAMavs and Facebook at UTArlingtonAthletics. Follow the UTA basketball programs on Twitter at @UTA_MBB and @LadyMavHoops.