ARLINGTON – Looking to stop a three-game losing streak, the UT Arlington men's basketball team (3-4) returns to College Park Center on Saturday for a 2 p.m. matinee affair with in-state foe UT Rio Grande Valley (5-4) to conclude the home portion of its non-conference schedule.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
The game is the first of five contests as part of UTA's Holiday Hoops – with all children aged 18 and under receiving complimentary admission. For those older than 18, tickets start at just $8, and can be purchased in advanced at UTATickets.com. All students are admitted free of charge with a valid ID through Gate 1. Additionally, the first 125 fans at Saturday's game receive a UTA-themed Santa hat.
 
The contest – like all UTA home games this year – will be streamed on ESPN+ with veteran play-by-plan man Ron Thulin and former collegiate head coach and current WNBA assistant coach Mike Petersen on the call. Additionally, The Voice Of The Mavericks Josh Sours will have the call on the radio at KEXB 620 AM and via the TuneIn App and iHeartRadio. Furthermore, for updates and behind-the-scenes photos and videos all season, be sure to follow @UTA_MBB on Twitter and @UTA_Hoops on Instagram.
 
TWEETABLES – 5 Things To Know In 260 Characters Or Less
1) Overall, UTA is 43-6 at the College Park Center since 2015-16. In regular-season non-conference games all-time at the CPC, the Mavs are 25-6, but since 2015-16 that mark stands at an impressive 17-2 (losses: FGCU last year; Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Nov. 16).
2) UTA is holding its opponents to just 26.8 percent from 3-point range to rank 20th in the nation. The all-time program record for 3-point percentage defense in a season is 30.2 in 1994-95 (3-point line implemented in 1986-87).
3) Andres Ibarguen was cleared to return by the NCAA for the game at Tulsa Tuesday, and his 6-5, 230-pound frame proved to be an immediate impact as he grabbed a team-high-tying five rebounds and UTA out-scored its first Division-I opponent of the year in the paint, 36-34.
4) The Mavericks will be looking to avoid their first four-game non-conference losing streak since 2013.
5) After using the same starting lineup for each of the first three games of the year, UTA has had a different starting 5 each of the past three games (four total different lineups on the season).
 
SCOUTING UTRGV
UTA and UTRGV – the result of a merger of UT Pan American and UT Brownsville in 2015 – have a lengthy history as the two sides have met 31 times, with the Vaqueros holding a slim 16-15 edge in the all-time series.
 
However, the series has been a tale of two dominating periods for each team. From the first-ever meeting in 1959 through 1989, UTRGV – then just UT Pan American – held a 14-2 edge. Since then, UTA has owned the Vaqueros, winning 13 of the past 15 contests, including seven in a row and last season's matchup in Edinburg, 86-65.
 
The Vaqueros are coming off a 58-53 loss at Houston on Wednesday night. UTRGV and UTA have a common opponent already this year in Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – whom the Vaqueros have played twice and won both, while the Mavericks allowed a 12-point lead to slip away en route to a setback to the Islanders.
 
UTRGV is led in points (13.8) and rebounds (6.4) by Lesley Verner II. Tyson Smith paces the attack from the perimeter with 18 made 3-pointers on the year, but UTRGV is shooting just 26 percent (46-177) from beyond the arc this year. Comparitvely, UTA is only connecting at a 23.8-percent clip (43-181).
 
ONE OF THE NATION'S TOUGHEST SCHEDULES
The contest will be another challenging test for UTA as the Mavericks are projected to have the 7th-hardest non-conference schedule in the nation, according to ESPN's Basketball Power Index. Of the Mavs' 12 non-league D-I opponents, nine had a .500 or better record last year and seven participated in the postseason.
 
IN THE MIDST OF TOUGH STRETCH
As part of that gruelingly slate, UTA is in the early stages of a brutal stretch in which five of nine opponents played in the NCAA Tournament last year: Arkansas (L, 78-60; Nov. 23), Missouri (Dec. 4), #1 Gonzaga (Dec. 18), #17 Texas (Dec. 28) and Georgia State (Jan. 3). Including UTRGV (CBI) and North Texas – the reigning College Basketball Invitational Champions who are off to an 8-1 start this year and receiving votes in the national polls – seven of UTA's stretch of nine opponents played in the postseason in 2018.
 
Additionally, while this past Tuesday's opponent for the Mavericks – Tulsa – was not technically in 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.
 
WINS ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEARS
Despite the tough schedule – especially on the road – and the double-figure losses as part of the current three-game slide for UTA, the Mavericks have mostly been competitive late into each of the contests.
 
Against Indiana, UTA got a 20-point 2nd-half deficit down to just one, 61-60, with 6 minutes remaining before falling 78-64. Versus Arkansas, the Mavs had it as a seven-point contest, 56-49, with 7 minutes left before falling 78-60. And at Tulsa, it was a four-point game, 50-46, with 10 minutes showing before the Hurricane embarked on a 14-0 run over the next five minutes to put the game out of reach.
 
UTA BIO BLASTS
0 Brian Warren: The only UTA player who has started and reached double-figure points in every game. Including his two years of junior college, he is only 40 points shy of 1,000 for his career.
2 DJ Bryant: Recorded a career-high five steals at Indiana – nearly a ninth of the junior's 44 career thefts. He is 16-17 (94.1 percent) from the free-throw line so far this season.
4 David Azore: Is shooting 92 percent (23-25) from the free-throw line this year to rank 27th in the country, but only 13 percent (2-15) from the 3-point line.
5 Edric Dennis: Came off the bench to score 13 of his team-leading 19 points in the 2nd half at Indiana and Arkansas.
22 TiAndre Jackson-Young: Leads the team with 14 offensive rebounds.
23 Patrick Mwamba: Returned at Arkansas from an ankle injury which caused him to miss most of the previous three games.
 
ODE TO BOBBY
Chris Ogden coached his first-ever road game last Tuesday at Assembly Hall, and as an ode to former legendary Indiana head coach Bobby Knight and the several connections the two have, Ogden wore a UTA-themed sweater on the sidelines. Ogden attended Knight's camp at IU when he was in 6th grade; his brother, Tanner, played for Knight at Texas Tech; Ogden and Knight's son, Pat, are extremely close friends.
 
KD SHOWS SUPPORT
Kevin Durant sat courtside next to the UTA bench on Nov. 16 at the College Park Center to watch the Mavericks take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Durant – a nine-time NBA All-Star, 2014 NBA MVP and two-time NBA Champion with the Golden State Warriors – is close friends with Ogden dating back to their time at Texas. Ogden, who led the Longhorns to the 2003 Final Four as a captain, was an administrative assistant on the 2007-08 Texas squad – Durant's lone collegiate season with Texas.
 
RE-TWEETS
1) UTA opened its season with a 90-66 win on Nov. 6 over UT Tyler – the Mavericks' fifth-straight season-opening win and 12th in the last 13 years. The 90 points were the second-most in a season opener for UTA since 1994 (99 vs. East Texas Baptist in 2011).
2) UTA started the year 3-1; four of the five times this decade that the Mavericks have commenced a season 3-1 it has resulted in a postseason and/or 20-win campaign.
3) The Mavericks went 21-13 overall last year (10-8 in the Sun Belt), finishing 112th in the RPI and reaching the Sun Belt Tournament Final for the first time in their five years in the league.
4) UTA has posted three-straight 20-win seasons. In the 59-year history of the program, the Mavs have only had seven 20-win campaigns, and five of them have come in the last 10 years.
5) UTA has posted some solid early-season showings as the revamped Mavs already own victories over perennially-strong mid-major Northern Iowa and a UC Davis team which returns four starters from a Big West Regular Season Championship and NIT appearance.
6) Of the 481 points UTA has scored through its first seven games this year, 446 (92.7 percent) are from players who did not play for the Mavs last season.
 
A WHOLE NEW CREW
UTA lost its top-9 scorers and only returns two letterwinners from last year's team (three total letterwinners; one did not play because of an injury in 2017-18), and just one of those two was a scholarship player (DJ Bryant). The Mavericks had eight seniors graduate and one junior who transferred which accounted for the top-9 scorers not returning in 2018-19.
 
UTA welcomed 12 talented, and in many cases experienced, newcomers at the start of the season. UTA returns just 3.2 percent of its points from a season ago – the lowest percentage of any team in the nation. The Mavericks also return only 4 percent of their rebounds and 11 percent of their assists from last year.
 
However, seven of those newcomers are junior transfers who have a proven record of success at the collegiate level previously. Those seven junior newcomers have combined to score 4,009 points, grab 1,788 rebounds and issue 749 assists over their first two years.
 
Least % of Points Returning From 2017-18
1) UT Arlington         3.2% (87 of 2,640)
2) Mount St. Mary's   4.4%
3) UNC Asheville       5.5%
4) Idaho                       6.9%
5) Oakland                  8.6%
6) Middle Tennessee  10.2%
7) Chattanooga           10.5%
8) Wichita State          12.1%
9) Duke                       13.8%
 
Least Career Points Returning (At Current School)
1) Mount St. Mary's   103
2) UT Arlington         130 (DJ Bryant: 85; Scott Muirhead: 41; Patrick Binzer: 4)
3) UNC Asheville       141
4) Chattanooga           241
5) Middle Tennessee  329
    Idaho                       329
 
Least Starts Returning From 2017-18
1) Idaho                       0
2) Mount St. Mary's   1
3) Wichita State          4
4) UNC Asheville       5
5) UT Arlington         7 (All DJ Bryant)
    Duke                       7
 
Fewest Returning Letterwinners
1 - Chattanooga
2 - UNC Asheville
2 - Drake
3 - UT Arlington
3 - Baylor
3 - Nicholls
3 - Duquesne
3 - Milwaukee
3 - Detroit Mercy
3 - Little Rock
 
Fewest Returning Minutes From 2017-18
1) Mount Saint Mary's           7%
2) UT Arlington                     7.9%
     UNC Asheville                  7.9%
4) Idaho                                   10.6%
5) Wichita State                      11.2%
6) Middle Tennessee               15.2%
7) Chattanooga                       15.24%
8) Oakland                              16.5%
9) Drake                                  17.4%
 
Teams With Zero Scholarship Seniors
Virginia
North Florida
UT Arlington
Duquesne
Cal State Northridge
 
ON THE RISE – 20-WIN SEASONS
UTA has posted seven 20-win seasons in its 59-year program history, but five of those have come in the last 10 years – including three in a row.
 
Year                Record            Postseason
2016-17           27-9                 NIT
2015-16           24-11               CIT
2011-12           24-9                 NIT
2017-18           21-13               ----
2007-08           21-12               NCAA
1990-91           20-9                 ----
1980-81           20-8                 NIT
 
MOST WINS IN TEXAS
Over the last 3+ seasons (2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19), UTA owns the 3rd-most wins of the 23 D-I schools in the state of Texas (entering games on Nov. 30):
 
1) Stephen F. Austin: 78-29
2) SMU: 77-29
3) UT Arlington: 75-37
    Houston: 75-29
5) Baylor: 73-36
6) Texas Tech: 70-37
7) Texas A&M: 68-41
8) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi: 64-41
9) Sam Houston State: 63-49
10) TCU: 61-49
11) Texas Southern: 60-51
12) Texas State: 57-49
13) Texas: 56-51
14) Lamar: 52-52
15) UTEP: 47-55
      North Texas: 47-61
      Abilene Christian: 47-50
18) Rice: 45-61
19) Houston Baptist: 42-59
20) UTSA: 41-66
21) Incarnate Word: 40-55
22) UTRGV: 38-66
23) Prairie View A&M: 37-68
 
NON-CONFERENCE STRENGTH
UTA will play a challenging non-conference schedule to prepare for the Sun Belt slate. Of its 12 D-I non-league opponents, nine had a .500 or better record last year, seven participated in the postseason in 2017-18 and five finished in the top 100 of the RPI (not including UC Davis which finished at 101).
 
Marquee Games (2017-18 Record | RPI | Postseason | Misc)
WIN, 74-65 | Nov. 10 vs. Northern Iowa | 16-16
WIN, 68-59 | Nov. 18 vs. UC Davis | 22-11 | 101 | NIT | Big West Regular Season Champions
LOSS, 78-64 * | Nov. 20 @ Indiana | 16-15 | RV In National Polls At Time Of Game
LOSS, 78-60 ^ | Nov. 23 @ Arkansas | 23-12 | 34 | NCAA | RV In National Polls At Time Of Game
LOSS, 72-58 | Nov. 27 @ Tulsa | 19-12 | 89
Dec. 4 @ Missouri | 20-13 | 49 | NCAA | RV In 2018-19 Preseason Polls
Dec. 8 @ North Texas | 20-18 | CBI Champions | RV In National Polls
Dec. 18 @ Gonzaga | 32-5 | 22 | NCAA | Sweet Sixteen | #1 In National Polls
Dec. 28 @ Texas | 19-15 | 52 | NCAA | #17 In National Polls
 
* 1-Point Game With 6 Minutes Left | ^ 7-Point Game With 7 Minutes Left
 
UTA's four 2018 NCAA Tournament opponents on its schedule puts the Mavericks in top-flight competition. The only teams in the nation who will play more than four teams which went to the NCAA Tournament last year in their 2018-19 non-conference schedule are: North Carolina (6), Florida (6), Kansas (5), Kentucky (5), Creighton (5), Northeastern (5) and Canisius (5).
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PLANT YOUR FLAG – 2018-19 UTA Men's Basketball Motto
"Plant Your Flag represents you being you. Being proud of where you came from and representing that – standing up for something. It doesn't matter what it is. Claim something. And then play for it."
– Chris Ogden
 
As part of that 'Plant Your Flag' motto, UTA's roster features a diverse collection of individuals from all over the world:
 
Teams With The Most Foreign-Born Players
12 – Maine
10 – Saint Mary's
7 – Fairfield
7 – UNLV
6 – Bradley
5 – UT Arlington
5 – TCU
5 – Virginia
5 – Tulane
 
As part of the foreign-born players, below are the teams with the most continents represented on their roster:
5 – Maine
5 – Virginia
4 – UT Arlington
4 – Bradley
4 – Illinois-Chicago
4 – UNLV
4 – Oklahoma
4 – Portland
4 – Sacramento State
4 – Tulane
4 – Utah State
 
From NBA Academy Africa To UTA
NBA Academies, a network of elite basketball training centers around the world, include educational development for top male and female prospects from outside the U.S. and mark the NBA's signature elite player development initiative. The initiative exposes elite prospects to NBA-level coaching, facilities and competition and provides a global framework for them to maximize their success.
 
Five NBA Academy graduates have committed to D-I schools, in addition to UTA freshman Patrick Mwamba (NBA Academy Africa):

Three men from The NBA Global Academy in Canberra, Australia:
- Francisco Caffaro (Argentina): Virginia
- Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua (Cameroon): UNLV
- Francisco Farabello (Argentina): TCU (for 2019-20 school year)

One woman from the NBA Academies Women's Program camp in Mexico City:
- Karla Martinez (Mexico): University of San Diego

SUN BELT SUCCESS
Since joining the Sun Belt Conference for the 2013-14 season, UTA has finished no worse than 5th place in the regular-season standings in the 12-team league. In 2016-17, the Mavericks won their first-ever SBC Regular Season Championship, and last season they were the preseason favorites to repeat. This year, UTA – due largely to its large roster turnover – was predicted to finish 11th in the SBC.
 
Sun Belt Strategic Men's Basketball Scheduling Plan
With the goal of improving the NCAA Tournament seeding for the Sun Belt's automatic qualifier, in addition to enhancing the resume of other teams to secure at-large berths, the following changes have been implemented beginning in the 2019-20 season:
 
Sun Belt teams will reserve two dates in the non-conference portion of their schedule to play against peer conference opponents. Each team will have one home opponent and one away opponent from this scheduling alliance.
 
In the next major portion of the strategic plan is centered around a 20-game smart schedule. The conference will split into two divisions (East: Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, South Alabama and Troy; West: Little Rock, Arkansas State, Louisiana, ULM, UTA and Texas State). Each team will play a 16-game schedule with five home and five away games played against divisional opponents and three home and three away games against non-divisional opponents.  Based on the resulting standings of those 16 games, teams will then be placed in four pods - Pod A (#1, #2, #3), Pod B (#4, #5, #6), Pod C (#7, #8, #9) and Pod D (#10, #11, #12). Each team will play the other two pod members once home and once away for the final four games of the 20-game schedule. The regular season conference champion will be awarded based on the results of the full 20-game conference schedule.
 
NEXT UP
UTA embarks on an extended five-game road swing to conclude non-conference play and take them into 2019. Next up is a trip to Missouri to face the Tigers on Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. on SEC Network+.