ELON, N.C. – A game-deciding 14-0 run midway through the 2nd half spearheaded by Sam Griffin propelled the UT Arlington men's basketball team (4-4) to a 77-67 win at Elon (2-6) on Thanksgiving afternoon inside the Schar Center.
 
A true freshman, Griffin poured in a game- and career-high 20 points to lead the Mavericks, but it was an all-around effort from the visitors on the second half of a back-to-back which leveled their overall record on the young season.
 
All 10 UTA players who logged game action scored, including nine in the 1st half. The Mavericks shot a season-best 51.9 percent (28-54) from the floor, received 46 bench points – their most versus a Division-I opponent this year – posted their best rebounding margin of the campaign at +11 (38-27) and out-scored their third-straight opponent in the paint (28-18) to bounce back from a heart-breaking last-second one-point loss to Furman on Wednesday.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 51-44 with just over 12 minutes remaining, Griffin scored eight of UTA's points in the aforementioned 14-0 run spanning four minutes to go from down seven to up seven, 58-51, with eight minutes left.
 
Elon trimmed the deficit to three, 60-57, with five minutes showing, but UTA had a response with a 9-0 run to put the game out of reach. Griffin played a role in all nine points as he scored five, had a steal which led to jumper and grabbed a defensive rebound which resulted in a layup at the other end.
 
That put the Mavs comfortably in front, 69-57, with 2:30 remaining, and Elon wasn't able to get closer than eight the rest of the way.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Griffin was ultra-efficient in getting his 20 points as he went 8-9 from the floor, 3-4 from 3-point range and 1-2 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed three rebounds and had a game-high-tying two steals in 24 minutes off the bench. He's just the second UTA player to reach 20 points in a game this year, and becomes the sixth different leading scorer for the Mavs through the first eight contests.
 
Azore reached double-figure points for the seventh-straight outing with 11 – a total matched off the bench by Jordan Phillips. Azore added four rebounds and issued three assists, while Phillips went 4-4 from the free-throw line and secured three boards.
 
UTA shot 50+ percent in both halves, and after going just 3-10 from 3-point range in the 1st half connected on five of 10 attempts in the 2nd half. The Mavs held Elon to 40.4 percent (23-57) from the field as the Phoenix were led by a game-high 25 points from Marcus Sheffield II and 10 more from Simon Wright.
 
THEY SAID IT – Head Coach Chris Ogden
"I'm proud of our guys for the way they responded, not only after last night's tough loss but also when they faced some adversity today. We showed some fight to come back in the 2nd half, and we got contributions throughout the lineup which was great to see."
 
1ST-HALF RUNDOWN
Azore scored UTA's first five points of the afternoon, and the Mavs built a six-point edge, 15-9, following an and-1 conversion by Radshad Davis at the 12-minute mark. Elon came back to tie the contest at 17-17 on a contested, banked 3-pointer at the 10-minute mark.
 
Moments later, UTA got into the bonus at the 9:50 mark and used that to propel them to a 5-0 run to re-take a five-point lead, 22-17. After Elon opened up its largest cushion of the 1st half, 30-27, at the 2:30 mark, UTA closed the period on a 5-0 run to take a 32-30 lead into the break.
 
In reference to UTA being in the bonus midway through the half, the Mavs marched to the free-throw line 11 times compared with just three for Elon, but uncharacteristically made just five of those (45.5 percent).
 
UTA connected at a 50-percent clip from the floor (12-24) in the opening 20 minutes, but nine turnovers combined with six points left at the charity stripe prevented UTA from holding a larger lead at the break as Elon shot just 37.9 percent (11-29) from the floor.
 
UTA's first 25 points came from nine different players; everyone except Narcis (11.3 ppg) scored in the opening half, led by seven each from Griffin and TiAndre Jackson-Young.
 
2ND-HALF RUNDOWN
Narcis quickly took care of the zero in his point total to begin the 2nd half as he scored five of UTA's first 10 points as the Mavs took a 42-39 lead on his first 3-pointer of the day at the 15:30 mark.
 
That three-point advantage remained intact at 44-41, but Elon strung together a 10-0 run over the next 2+ minutes to take its largest lead of the day at 51-44 with just over 12 minutes showing.
 
However, that lead quickly dissipated as a result of the 14-0 UTA run, and the Mavs took the lead for good at the 9:47 mark when Griffin knocked down a 3-pointer to push UTA in front, 54-51. That would be the last of eight lead changes on the day as the game was also tied on 12 occasions.
 
THIS AND THAT

• Davis finished with nine points and a team-high-tying four rebounds. Warren scored just six points on 1-4 shooting and 4-5 from the free-throw line, but issued a game-high-tying four assists.
• After committing nine turnovers in the 1st half, UTA had just three in the 2nd half.
• Nicolas Elame came into today with two points, five rebounds and one block all season, but recorded five points, four rebounds and one block today alone in 16 pivotal minutes off the bench. He also had an assist and a steal.
• UTA entered Thursday having played the 5th-hardest schedule in the nation as each of its first five D-I opponents this year reside in the top 120 of the KenPom rankings: Tulsa (118), Nevada (98), Oregon (16), Gonzaga (5) and Furman (68).
• Patrick Mwamba did not play, and is out indefinitely, after suffering a broken right foot at #8 Gonzaga last Tuesday.
• This was the first-ever meeting between UTA and Elon.
• Elon entered riding a five-game losing streak, but similar to UTA had played a difficult schedule as the Phoenix came in with the 12th-ranked strength of schedule in the nation.

NEXT UP
UTA will return home for a pair of games next week, beginning Monday with a big DFW showdown with North Texas inside the College Park Center beginning at 7 p.m.
 
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).