ARLINGTON – Playing without two starters, the already-shorthanded UT Arlington men's basketball team (4-6) battled back from a double-figure 2nd-half deficit to tie the game, but UC Santa Barbara (6-3) ultimately claimed a 72-68 win Saturday at the College Park Center in the Mavericks home non-conference finale.
 
Trailing by 10 midway through the 2nd half, UTA orchestrated an 8-0 run as part of a larger 19-9 stretch which turned a 50-40 deficit at the 11-minute mark into a 59-59 tie with four minutes left. True freshman Sam Griffin keyed the Mavs' spurt as the guard came off the bench and scored 14 of UTA's 17 points in one stretch on his way to finishing with a team-high 16 points.
 
However, UCSB had a response immediately after UTA tied the contest at 59-all, converting a traditional three-point play on its ensuing possession, and the Gauchos would have that lead the final four minutes on their way to a fifth-straight win.
 
Redshirt sophomore David Azore recorded his first double-double of the season with 13 points and a season- and game-best 10 rebounds while adding a career- and game-high seven assists. Sophomore Jordan Phillips netted 14 points – 10 of which came in the 1st half – and grabbed a career-best seven rebounds. Radshad Davis finished as UTA's fourth double-figure scorer with 12 on the afternoon.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Playing without two starters – in addition to Patrick Mwamba who remains out with a broken foot – the Mavs were missing TiAndre Jackson-Young and Coleman Sparling due to injuries. Chris Ogden's typically deep bench – which just a few games ago had all 10 players score in a win over Elon – was shortened to just an eight-man rotation on Saturday. In total, UTA was without nearly 12 points and 10 rebounds in per-game averages, but still battled against another challenging non-conference opponent.
 
For just the second time this year, UTA committed more turnovers than its opponent, 13-11, leading to a crucial four-point edge in points off turnovers for the visitors, 15-11. The other key statistical difference came in free-throw shooting as the typically-stout Mavs connected at just a 65-percent clip (13-20), while the Gauchos shot 79.2 percent (19-24).
 
Aside from those two categories, both teams – each picked to finish 2nd in their respective conferences – were very equal. UTA shot 41.4 percent (24-58) from the floor; UCSB went 41.5 percent (22-53). The Mavs connected at a 30.4-percent clip (7-23) from 3-point range; the Gauchos shot 36 percent (9-25).
 
UCSB got the majority of its offensive production from two players – Amadou Sow who netted 23 points and Jaquori McLaughlin who tallied 22 – as the Mavericks allowed a pair of teammates to each score 20+ against them for the first time this season.
 
THEY SAID IT – Head Coach Chris Ogden
On The Game: "It was a close, tight game, but we just didn't get it done in the end. We won the rebounding battle (39-34), but at the end of the day, rebounds actually hurt us – they got a couple key ones at the end that really broke our back. Our effort was much better than the North Texas game, but we just didn't get it done."
 
On Where Things Stand 10 Games In: "We're continuing to learn and we want to be playing our best basketball in February and March. That's what this is about really; it's about getting better. I think we would have all liked to win some of these games early on because we thought we had a team that could. But we're 4-6. That's who we are and we have to own that and get better."
 
On The Tough Non-Conference Schedule: "That's the program we want to have. We're always going to play a tough schedule. We're not going to shy away from it. I want to be exposed right now so we can get better and play our best basketball in February and March."
 
1ST-HALF RUNDOWN
UTA trailed for the majority of the 1st half, but fought back into the contest and went into the halftime break tied at 29-29.
 
The UCSB lead was never more than six in the opening 20 minutes, and thanks to his own personal 5-0 run midway through the stanza, Phillips put the Mavericks in front for the first time, 18-16, with 9:25 remaining.
 
From there the two sides traded buckets, and following an Azore pull-up jumper at the 5:36 mark the contest was no more than a one-point margin either way for the rest of the period.
 
UTA knotted things up on a free throw by Phillips just before the halftime buzzer – a conversion which put him in double figures with 10 points to lead the Mavs in the 1st half.
 
In that opening period UTA shot 45.8 percent (11-24) while UCSB went 43.5 percent (10-23) from the floor. The key difference in the 1st half came in the form of turnovers as UCSB converted eight UTA giveaways into 10 points compared with the Mavs netting just four points off seven Gauchos' miscues.
 
2ND-HALF RUNDOWN
Azore went coast-to-coast off a defensive rebound for a layup to open the scoring and put UTA in front, 31-29, just 25 seconds into the half. However, UCSB responded with a 9-0 run to create a 38-31 lead, and that advantage grew to 10 on three occasions after that – with the last one coming at the aforementioned 50-40 scoreline.
 
While it was Griffin who sparked UTA's comeback, Sow fueled UCSB to victory as 21 of his game-high 23 points came in the 2nd half, going 7-9 from the floor, 3-3 from 3-point range and 4-5 from the free throw line while also adding six rebounds. Azore, meanwhile, nearly had a double-double in the 2nd half alone with nine points and nine rebounds.
 
THIS AND THAT

• Entering today, UTA had played the 21st-hardest schedule in the nation through its first nine games, according to KenPom.
• UCSB was the second-straight opponent for UTA which won 20+ games last season but did not participate in a postseason tournament.
• Through its first nine games this year, UTA has only committed more turnovers than its opponent just once – at #8 Gonzaga (10 turnovers compared with six).
• This was just the second all-time meeting between UTA and UC Santa Barbara. The Mavs will return the game to Santa Barbara during the 2020-21 season.
• This is UTA's first loss (4-1) this year when winning the rebound battle.
• Brian Warren scored just seven points on four field goal attempts. Jabari Narcis grabbed seven rebounds; Davis had five caroms.
• With the double-double, Azore is now the fourth different UTA player with a double-double this year – tied for the most of any Sun Belt Conference member.

NEXT UP
The Mavs close out their non-conference schedule with an in-state showdown at Houston next Wednesday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m. The Cougars will be the fourth of nine Division-I non-league foes for the Mavs which played in the NCAA Tournament last season. The American Athletic Conference member is 4-2 entering a Sunday contest with South Carolina.
 
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).