LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Despite shooting just 32 percent from the field, the UT Arlington men's basketball team (12-13, 8-4 Sun Belt Conference) had the lead with 75 seconds to play Thursday night at Little Rock (10-15, 5-7 SBC), but the Trojans closed the game on a 6-0 run to claim a 56-52 win over the Mavericks inside Jack Stephens Center.
 
Edric Dennis reached 1,000 career points on a layup with under four minutes to play which put the Mavericks up three, 51-48. However, that bucket with 3:55 remaining would be the final field goal of the night for UTA as the Mavs finished just 19-59 from the floor.
 
Brian Warren was the only UTA player to reach double-figure points with 10 – and he scored the first eight points of the evening for the Mavs. David Azore finished with eight points and a game-high-tying three assists, while Radshad Davis netted seven and pulled down five rebounds and Dennis tallied six – a total matched by TiAndre Jackson-Young.
 
After UTA held a lead as large as nine early in the contest, Little Rock came storming back and built a 10-point advantage, 42-32, in the 2nd half. That was enough to kick UTA into gear as the Mavs responded with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to tie the contest for just the second time, 42-42.
 
From there the two sides traded buckets until the visitors built the aforementioned three-point edge in the closing minutes. Unfortunately for UTA, Little Rock tied the game at 52-52 on a pair of Rayjon Tucker free throws with 1:12 showing. A Trojans' fastbreak layup on the ensuing possession put the hosts in front, 54-52, and Dennis had his potential tying shot with seven seconds remaining rim out. Little Rock then made both free throws at the other end to finish the contest on the 6-0 run and hand UTA just its second loss in its last 10 games.
 
The setback drops UTA into a 2nd-place tie in the Sun Belt at 8-4 with Georgia State, while Texas State moves into sole possession of 1st place at 9-3 following an 84-74 win at Arkansas State. The Mavericks still have a one-game lead on Georgia Southern (7-5) in 4th place, and a 1-and-a-half game lead over 6-5 Coastal Carolina and ULM which occupy the 5th-place position.
 
HEAD COACH CHRIS OGDEN
"We just didn't get the job done tonight. We didn't play with the same effort and intensity which got us to the top of the league standings; we, in a way, reverted back to the team we were in the non-conference schedule. We were out-hustled – and that shows in the rebounding numbers (45-35 deficit) – and that's something that needs to change immediately. We've got to re-group and re-focus our efforts to Arkansas State on Saturday."
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The rebounding discrepancy for UTA – which came into the contest leading the SBC in per-game rebound average in league games – wasn't the fault of Jabari Narcis as the junior pulled down a season-high-tying 11 caroms to lead all players. Three of those came on the offensive end as part of UTA's dozen offensive boards, but that led to just six second-chance points for the Mavericks.
 
UTA held Little Rock to a season-low point total and more than 20 below its season average, but couldn't take advantage as the Mavs shot just 24 percent (6-25) from 3-point range and only 53 percent (8-15) from the free-throw line. Little Rock wasn't much better as the Trojans connected at a 39-percent clip from the floor (21-54), 15 percent (2-13) from beyond the arc and 71 percent (12-17) from the charity stripe.
 
Little Rock entered the game 11th in the nation in field-goal percentage (49.3), and UTA came in with the nation's 10th-best perimeter defense by holding opponents to just 29.1 percent from 3-point range.
 
Rayjon Tucker recorded a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds; he came into the game averaging more than 20 per game. That marked the 12th time in 12 SBC games that UTA has held a top-10 scorer in the league below his season average.
 
PLAY BY PLAY
Warren scored the first eight points of the night for UTA, which jumped out to a nine-point lead, 17-8, just more than eight minutes in following a Davis layup. However, after that fast start, the Mavs slowed against Little Rock's 2-3 zone, scoring just eight points over the final 12 minutes of the stanza, and the Trojans took a 26-25 lead into the halftime locker room – the first lead they had at any point of the first 60 minutes of action versus UTA this season.
 
Part of that small deficit for UTA came from Andres Ibarguen and Davis (combined 15.5 points per game) playing a total of two minutes in the 1st half as both players were whistled for two fouls in one minute of action. Making up for their absences down low was Narcis, who pulled down eight 1st-half rebounds – his most against a Division-I opponent in a game all year, let alone a half.
 
THIS AND THAT
UTA is receiving votes in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll this week for the second time this year … the loss was just the second on the road in SBC play for UTA (4-2) … Pedro Castro scored five points … Dennis matched Azore's three-assist night … Narcis added three points … DJ Bryant played for the first time in nearly a month – since the last Little Rock game – as he's been bothered by a finger injury … Ayoub Nouhi tallied four points … UTA committed just eight turnovers – its second-straight single-digit turnover game for the first time this year.
 
NEXT UP
UTA makes the trip to Jonesboro on Friday before facing Arkansas State (10-15, 4-8 SBC) Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
CLEAR BAG POLICY
In an effort to enhance public safety and the fan experience, for all UTA men's and women's home games this season the College Park Center will implement a clear-bag policy. All purses, containers, backpacks or anything larger than a small clutch bag are prohibited, and items must be placed in a clear tote bag not to exceed 12" x 6" x 12". For more information, fans are encouraged to visit UTAMavs.com/BasketballGameday.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
To secure tickets for upcoming games and find out about additional gameday procedures, log on to UTATickets.com. Additionally, for updates, behind-the-scenes photos, videos and more engaging and personal content, be sure to follow the men's basketball program on Twitter (@UTA_MBB) and Instagram (@UTA_Hoops).