TROY, Ala. – Coming off a dominant performance Thursday night at South Alabama, the UT Arlington men's basketball team (14-15, 10-6 Sun Belt Conference) looks to sweep its final regular-season road trip when the Mavericks take on Troy (11-16, 4-11 SBC) Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ by clicking here, while the Voice of the Mavericks Josh Sours will have the call on the radio at KEXB 620 AM and streaming via the TuneIn App and iHeartRadio. Furthermore, for updates and behind-the-scenes photos and videos from not only this game, but all season, be sure to follow @UTA_MBB on Twitter and @UTA_Hoops on Instagram.
 
WHERE THINGS STAND
UTA is in sole possession of 4th place in the SBC standings at 10-6, one game back of Georgia State and Georgia Southern which are both 11-5 and in 2nd place. Texas State maintains a one-game lead in 1st with a 12-4 record.
 
Louisiana and ULM are one game behind UTA in the loss column, tied for 5th with 8-7 records. Coastal Carolina is 7-8 in the league and is the sole occupant of 7th place.
 
If the season ended today, the Mavs' #4 seed in the conference tournament would give them a double-bye into the quarterfinals. The top-2 seeds receive byes all the way to the SBC Tournament semifinals; the 3-4 seeds get byes to the quarterfinals, and the 5-6 seeds automatically advance to the second round. Seeds 7-10 will play in opening-round games hosted on the campuses of the #7 and #8 seeds, with the winners of those contests advancing to New Orleans. The bottom-2 teams do not qualify for the tournament.
 
TWEETABLES – 5 Things To Know In 260 Characters Or Less
1) UTA has clinched a top-6 seed and bye to the SBC Tournament in New Orleans. Entering play on Saturday with two regular-season games remaining, the Mavericks could still finish anywhere between a #1 and #6 seed.
2) The Mavs shot a season-high 57.7 percent from 3-point range (15-26) Thursday at South Alabama. The 15 makes are tied for the 3rd-most in program history (record: 17) and tied for the most ever in a road game. UTA has posted consecutive season highs in 3s made: 12 last Saturday vs. ULM.
3) UTA and Georgia Southern are the only SBC teams which have secured five-straight seasons of double-figure conference wins; Louisiana (8 wins this year) can join them by winning two of its last three games.
4) The Mavs rank 20th in the nation in 3-point percentage defense (30.3) and are 54th in the country in free-throw percentage (74.2).
5) UTA has the following SBC and non-conference stat comparisons: 13 turnovers per game in conference play (15.9 in the non-conference), 14.2 assists per game (10.5 non-conference) and 39.1 rebounds per game (37.6 non-conference).
 
Bonus Tweet
Through UTA's first 29 games, head coach Chris Ogden has utilized 14 different starting lineups – the 2nd-most starting 5 combinations in the nation to this point (UT Martin: 17). That includes the Mavericks having started the same five players 10 games in a row prior to mixing up the lineup last Saturday versus ULM.
 
RE-TWEETS
* UTA shot a season-high 56 percent from the floor (28-50) Thursday at USA – the first time the Mavs have shot better than 50 percent all year.
 
* Included in that percentage was the aforementioned 57.7-percent clip from 3-point range – the highest percentage from beyond the arc in program history when making at least 15 (15-26).
 
* The Mavs have had four games this year in which they've knocked down 10 or more 3-pointers. All four of those have come in SBC play, and three of those have occurred in the last six contests.
 
UTA IN THE SBC RANKS
In 12 of 16 SBC games, UTA has held its opponent below its conference scoring average entering the game, including Thursday when the Mavs limited South Alabama to just 57 points – by far their fewest in a league game this year. Two of the four instances in which UTA didn't hold their opponent below their average came in double-overtime contests against Texas State and ULM.
 
The Mavs rank 2nd in the SBC by holding league opponents to just 68.9 points per game. Troy averages the 2nd-fewest points in league games at just 70.7, and over its last three games the Trojans are averaging just 49 points (44 versus Texas State Thursday).
 
UTA leads the league in conference field goal percentage defense (40.8), total assists (227) and rebounds per game (39.1). UTA checks in as the 2nd-best free-throw shooting team in conference games at 75.7 percent and 2nd in rebound margin (+4). Troy, meanwhile, is 2nd-to-last in rebound margin in league games (-3.4).
 
UTA was picked 11th in the Sun Belt Preseason Poll, and its current 4th-place standing represents the largest increase (+7) among all 12 league members along with Texas State (8th to 1st). Since joining the Sun Belt in 2013-14, UTA has won 66 league regular-season games; only Louisiana (69) and Georgia State (75) have more league wins in that time.
 
ABOUT TROY
UTA leads the all-time series with Troy, 6-3, which began when the Mavs joined the SBC for the 2013-14 season. Each of the first four games in the series were decided by five or fewer points; however, each of the last five contests – four which have been won by UTA – have been double-figure point margins.
 
Troy was predicted to finish 4th in the SBC Preseason Poll, with senior Jordon Varnado earning a spot on the Preseason First Team. However, the Trojans are tied for last place entering Saturday after losing eight of their last nine games, much of that coinciding with Varnado being injured and then suspended.
 
In 20 games this year, Varnado was averaging 21.5 points and 7.8 rebounds, but is not expected to play against the Mavericks.
 
In his absence, senior Alex Hicks leads the Trojans with 12.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per outing. Javan Johnson is the only other double-figure scorer for Troy at 10.4 per game.
 
Saturday will represent Senior Day for Troy, with Varnado, Hicks and BJ Miller (9 ppg) scheduled to be honored prior to the game.
 
LOCKING IN ON D
In 13 of UTA's first 16 SBC games, the Mavs have held a top-10 scorer in the conference below his season scoring average:
 
1) Daishon Smith (ULM): 22.1 (34 vs. UTA)
2) Ty Cockfield (ASU): 22 (16 & 27)
3) JaKeenan Gant (LA): 20.7 (11)
4) Rayjon Tucker (LR): 20.3 (15 & 11)
5) D'Marcus Simonds (GSU): 19.2 (15 & 1)
6) Ronshad Shabazz (APP): 18.8 (16 & 15)
T-7) Zac Cuthbertson (CCU): 17.9 (17 & 5)
T-7) Tookie Brown (GS): 17.9 (4 & 11)
9) Nigal Pearson (TXST): 17.8 (15)
10) Josh Ajayi (USA): 15.8 (18)
 
DOUBLE-OVERTIME SUCCESS
UTA has played two double-overtime games this month and has won both: 84-77 at Texas State on Feb. 2, and 91-86 versus ULM on Feb. 23. It's just the third time in program history the Mavs have played multiple double-overtime games in the same season – first time since 1998-99 (one of those went to triple overtime) – and only the second time ever they've occurred in the same month (January, 1980).
 
1,000 POINT MILESTONE
Dennis eclipsed the 1,000-career point mark at Little Rock earlier this month, and enters Thursday's game with 1,026. The junior scored 272 points at Hill Junior College as a freshman, tallied 406 as a sophomore at Jackson State and has 348 with UTA this season. He is the second UTA player to reach the mark this year as Brian Warren did so at Gonzaga in December.
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Following a pair of game-extending shots as part of a career-high scoring performance, Warren was named the league's Player of the Week on Feb. 4, sharing the honor with Coastal Carolina's Zac Cuthbertson.
 
Warren poured in a career-best 30 points, but it was eight key points which helped lead UTA to an impressive 84-77 double-overtime win at Texas State Saturday, silencing the largest crowd in Strahan Arena history. Warren forced overtime and double overtime with shots in the closing 20 seconds of each period, and then hit the go-ahead free throws in double overtime.
 
BATTLE TESTED
ESPN recently published an article detailing the toughest non-conference schedules in the country this year, of which UTA ranked the 7th-most difficult; click here to read the full article (note: ESPN+ subscription required).
 
At the time of the non-conference schedule concluding, UTA played an incredible seven Quadrant 1 (Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75) non-league opponents, based on the NET report (NCAA's new RPI), and all seven of those came on the road – the most in the nation.
 
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 secured some solid early-season showings as the revamped Mavs 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 1,993 points UTA has scored this year 1,932 (97 percent) are from players who did not play for the Mavs last season.
7) The 45 points UTA scored at Missouri on Dec. 4 were its fewest since tallying 44 at then-#1 Kentucky in 2014, and were tied for the 6th-fewest all-time in a road game.
8) UTA posted season highs in steals versus D-I opponents in consecutive December games: 10 at #8 Gonzaga and 12 at Cal Poly.
9) UTA's four non-conference wins are the fewest in a season since recording three during the 2002-03 campaign; however, that team went on to finish 16-13 overall after going 13-7 in Southland Conference action.
10) UTA shot a then-season-high 48.3 percent from the floor at Appalachian State, and followed it up with a then-season-best 11 3-pointers at Coastal Carolina, culminated by a Radshad Davis game-winning triple with 1.9 seconds remaining.
11) UTA has started 2-2 in Sun Belt play in four of the last five years, but went on to finish .500 or better in the conference each of those seasons – including last year's 10-8 mark and a regular-season championship 14-4 performance in 2016-17.
12) UTA shot 87.2 percent (34-39) from the free-throw line versus Little Rock – tied for the 5th-best percentage in single game program history (minimum 20 made). Dennis contributed 15 of those (15-17) – tied for the 9th-most makes in program history.
13) At Georgia State, UTA lost for the first time this year (now 13-2) when scoring at least 68 points. The Mavs erased a 16-point deficit to take the lead, took a four-point lead in the 2nd half, but couldn't hold on late.
14) UTA posted a +18 rebound margin (48-30) at Georgia State – its largest positive rebounding differential in a loss in any game since at least 2011-12. The Mavs pulled down a season-high 21 offensive boards.
15) UTA held Coastal Carolina to a season-low 22.6 percent from the floor on Feb. 7 in a 74-54 win – the Mavs' largest margin of victory against a D-I opponent this year (previous: App State, 10). CCU came into the game averaging 79 points per game in SBC play.
16) Andres Ibarguen pulled down 15 rebounds – tied for the 2nd-most by any SBC player in a game this year – and added 12 points for the second double-double of his season against Coastal.
17) UTA shot a then-season-high 47.6 percent (10-21) from 3-point range versus Appalachian State on Feb. 9 It was just the second time this year the Mavs have made double-digit 3s in a game (11 at Coastal Carolina).
18) Last Thursday marked the first time all year UTA's two leading scorers Warren and Dennis were each held to single digits; Warren scored a season-low seven, while Dennis tallied eight.
19) UTA has already clinched its eighth-straight season of a .500 or better conference record (2011-12: Southland; 2012-13: Western Athletic; 2013-Present: Sun Belt). The Mavs are the only team to finish in the top-5 of the SBC standings every year since 2013-14.
 
NEXT UP
UTA concludes the regular season with a home tilt against Texas State on Saturday, Mar. 9, at 2 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).