TULSA, Okla. – In a matchup of teams looking to snap two-game losing streaks, it was Tulsa (5-2) using a big 2nd-half spurt to run away from the UT Arlington men's basketball team (3-4) Tuesday night at the Reynolds Center en route to a 72-58 setback for the Mavericks.
 
Brian Warren led a trio of UTA double-figure scorers with 15 points while also passing out of a game- and season-high seven assists and pulling down three rebounds. He was joined in the double-figure point column by Edric Dennis and Radshad Davis with 10 each.
 
With the game just a four-point contest, 50-46, at the 10-minute mark, Tulsa clipped off a 14-0 run over the next five minutes to create a 64-46 lead and put the contest out of reach for the Mavs.
 
UTA – which entered the evening connecting at just a 24.8-percent rate from 3-point range – couldn't convert again from long range as the Mavs finished with a season-low three makes from distance (3-20) for just a 15-percent conversion.
 
Meanwhile, the Mavs came into Tuesday's contest holding its opponents to only 22.5 percent from beyond the arc – the 6th-best in the nation. But that was put to the test against the Hurricane as Tulsa connected at a 55.6-percent clip (10-18) from 3-point range, with the 10 makes representing the most the Mavericks have allowed all year.
 
That 3-point shooting, in part, helped lead a Tulsa comeback as UTA came out of the gate fast and held a 10-point 1st-half lead, 17-7, before the two sides went into the halftime break tied at 31-31 – the only occurrence of the contest being tied all night. From there, Tulsa started the 2nd half as the aggressors and the Mavs never fully recovered as they dropped their third in a row away from home.
 
HEAD COACH CHRIS OGDEN
"I'm most disappointed in our effort; our toughness. We got hit in the mouth and we never recovered. We didn't shoot it well and we didn't make open shots, but we didn't show enough fight to get back into the game. That needs to change."
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
After missing the first six games of the year, UTA forward Andres Ibarguen was cleared by the NCAA to return Tuesday, giving the Mavs a much-needed big – literally – presence down low. The 6-5, 230-pound Colombian averaged a double-double last year as a sophomore at Trinity Valley Community College after leading the nation (junior college) in field-goal percentage as a freshman at a gaudy 75.9 clip.
 
In his first game, Ibarguen's impact was felt immediately as he finished with a team-high five rebounds and six points in 22 minutes. For the game, UTA out-rebounded Tulsa, 42-28, including a season-high 17 offensive boards – four more than its previous high and six more than any other total against a Division-I opponent this year.
 
However, the Mavs allowed Tulsa to shoot 49.2 percent (29-59) from the floor – the second-highest percentage surrendered all year – and turned the ball over 16 times which led directly to 26 points for the American Athletic Conference member.
 
DaQuan Jeffries tallied a game-high 24 points to lead the Hurricane, while Elijah Joiner finished with 11 and Martins Igbanu and Lawson Korita netted 10. UTA, meanwhile, connected at only a 39-percent rate from the floor (23-59) – the fourth time in the last five games the Mavs have been held below 40-percent shooting.
 
THIS AND THAT
After using the same starting lineup for each of the first three games, Ogden ran out his third-different starting lineup in the last three contests with Jabari Narcis, Patrick Mwamba, David Azore, Warren and Dennis … Mwamba recorded a team-best three steals while also issuing three assists, scoring three points and grabbing four rebounds … Ibarguen also had two blocks … UTA out-scored Tulsa in the paint, 36-34 – the first time this year against a D-I opponent the Mavs have held the edge in that category.
 
COACHING CONNECTION
Ogden was opposed on the Tulsa bench by head coach Frank Haith, who coached Odgen when he was a player at Texas from 1999-03. Haith was an assistant on the Longhorns' bench from 2001-04; in 2003, Ogden led Texas to the Final Four as the team captain.
 
ABOUT TULSA
UTA is in the midst of a stretch of five opponents in a nine-game stretch which played in the NCAA Tournament last year. While Tulsa was not part of that group, the Hurricane finished 19-12 a season ago and returned three starters from a team which didn't play in the postseason but still posted a very-strong RPI of 89.
 
NEXT UP
UTA will return home for its final non-conference game of the year at the College Park Center when the Mavs welcome UTRGV for a 2 p.m. tipoff on Saturday, Dec. 1. As part of an on-going Holiday Hoops promotion, anyone 18 or younger is admitted free. It will be the last game at the CPC for the Mavs until Jan. 3 when Sun Belt play begins.