EUGENE, Ore. – The UT Arlington men's basketball team (2-2) battled through its worst shooting night in program history Sunday to remain competitive throughout the contest before a 2nd-half push by #14 Oregon (4-0) sent the Mavericks to a 67-47 defeat inside Matthew Knight Arena.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UTA shot just 23.4 percent (15-64) from the floor – its worst field-goal percentage in program history (previous: 23.5 percent at Texas State on Jan. 9, 1999).
 
Despite that cold shooting, the Mavs trailed by single digits midway through the 2nd half and never by more than the final margin of 20 as UTA committed just six turnovers to keep itself in the matchup for the majority of the evening.
 
Arkansas sophomore transfer Jordan Phillips led UTA with 14 points – his most versus a Division-I opponent – while redshirt sophomore David Azore tallied 11 as the duo finished as the lone double-figure scorers for the Mavs.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Oregon displayed why it was installed as the preseason Pac-12 Conference favorites for the second-straight year as the Ducks shot 45.8 percent (27-59) from the floor. Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List member Payton Pritchard registered game highs of 24 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
 
Jabari Narcis entered the game tied as UTA's leading scorer for the year, but was held without a point on Sunday while securing a team-best nine rebounds. The taller Ducks held a 46-36 edge on the glass for the game, but UTA actually had a 13-8 advantage on the offensive boards.
 
Oregon did much of its work in the low blocks, out-scoring UTA in the paint, 28-12, and also possessing a 13-1 advantage in fastbreak points.
 
Azore once again assembled a solid all-around game as he also pulled down six rebounds and issued a team-most two assists. Brian Warren finished with nine points, while Coleman Sparling added five for the Mavs.
 
THEY SAID IT – Head Coach Chris Ogden
"I'm pleased that we held Oregon to 67 points, only had six turnovers and grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, but we can't expect to beat them when scoring 47 points. For the most part we were locked in, but we went through some stretches where we couldn't get a shot to fall, and in those moments we have to be more disciplined to get a piece of the paint and make better shot selections. We had a lot of open looks that just didn't go in, but we also took some bad shots, and that's where we need to improve."
 
1ST-HALF RUNDOWN
Entering the game with just two points all season, Sparling keyed a quick offensive start to the game for the Mavs – something which didn't happen at Nevada on Tuesday. The Washington native – who had about a dozen family and friends in attendance – scored five of UTA's first eight points.
 
He set the tone and then turned the torch to Phillips, who came off the bench to score four straight and push the Mavericks to a three-point lead, 14-11. However, following a Radshad Davis bucket – his only points of the evening – which tied things up again at 16-all, the Ducks went on a quick 8-0 spurt over 90 seconds to give them a 24-16 lead at the 8:30 mark.
 
The Ducks extended that run to 21-6 to build their largest lead of the night at that point, 37-21, with under two minutes remaining before UTA closed the stanza on a crucial 8-0 run to go into the locker room down just three possessions, 37-28.
 
2ND-HALF RUNDOWN
UTA had several possessions early in the period to cut further into that single-digit deficit, and finally did with a 3-pointer from Phillips with a little over 16 minutes remaining to make it a 39-33 Oregon lead.
 
However, UTA went cold from the field after that and Oregon orchestrated an extended 15-3 run to create an 18-point cushion, 54-36, with eight minutes left. UTA was able to get that margin back down to 13 on multiple occasions, but couldn't get any closer.
 
THIS AND THAT

• Oregon was the second of three-straight opponents for UTA which played in the NCAA Tournament last year and the first of back-to-back nationally ranked foes. The Ducks are also the third opponent in a four-game stretch for the Mavs which were ranked in the top 100 of KenPom's preseason rankings.
• This was the first-ever meeting between UTA and Oregon. The Mavericks are now 0-7 all-time versus current Pac-12 Conference members, with three of those matchups coming against Colorado.
• UTA is now 1-32 all-time against nationally-ranked teams. The lone win was a 65-51 triumph at #12 Saint Mary's on Dec. 8, 2016. UTA did have two losses to nationally-ranked Louisiana during the 1972-73 season later converted into vacated wins for the Ragin' Cajuns due to NCAA sanctions.
• The Ducks are now 79-4 (.952) against non-conference opponents at Matthew Knight Arena since it opened in 2011.
• The 47 points are the 8th fewest for UTA in program history in a road game.

NEXT UP
UTA will remain on the road, and the stretch doesn't get any easier for the Mavs as they head to Spokane, Wash., for the second year in a row to face Gonzaga. The Bulldogs enter the contest ranked #8 in the country – the same ranking they possessed last December when the Mavs suffered an 89-55 setback. Gonzaga is 4-0 to start the year and will be coming off a 30-point rout in College Station over Texas A&M this past Friday.
   
PURCHASE TICKETS
Season tickets start as low as $99, and tickets for all home games are available by visiting UTATickets.com, calling the UTA Box Office at (817) 272-9595 or by stopping by the College Park Center during regular business hours.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
For updates, behind-the-scenes photos, videos and more engaging and personal content, be sure to follow the men's basketball program on Twitter (@UTAMavsMBB), Instagram (@UTAMavsMBB) and Facebook (/UTAMavsMBB).