SAN MARCOS, Texas – For the second-straight year the UT Arlington men's basketball team (9-12, 5-5 Sun Belt) silenced a raucous crowd inside Strahan Arena as the Mavericks claimed their third-straight win with a thrilling 64-62 victory over Texas State (12-9, 5-5) Saturday afternoon.
 
Holding that 64-62 lead with seven seconds remaining, UTA needed one last defensive stop to seal the contest, and the Mavs got that when Radshad Davis contested a 3-point attempt from Nijal Pearson.
 
Off an inbounds play under its own hoop, Texas State's all-time leading scorer rose up from well beyond the arc with Davis's right hand in his face. But his final shot rang off the back rim and then the backboard simultaneous to the buzzer and light going off, signaling UTA's fifth-straight win over its rivals.
 
David Azore reached double-figure points for the 20th-straight game by delivering a team-high 19 points to lead UTA. The Mavs received just one other double-figure scoring performance – from Davis with 10 points to go along with a team-best eight rebounds – as the Mavs put together another balanced performance.
 
Sam Griffin and Jabari Narcis both hit multiple big 3-pointers in the 2nd half and each finished with nine points in starting roles, while Brian Warren added eight points – but did secure all of UTA's final four points.
 
Warren – who broke the hearts of a record crowd last year in a UTA double-overtime win inside Strahan – delivered two pivotal free throws in a 1-and-1 situation with 17 seconds left to put the Mavs up 64-60. That came on the heels of an isolation pull-up jumper a couple of possessions earlier which halted Texas State's momentum as the Bobcats had trimmed a nine-point deficit down to four, 60-56, with just over two minutes showing.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The two teams – who are now in a four-way tie for 5th place at the midway point of the Sun Belt regular season – were nearly as equal in every statistical category on the court Saturday.
 
UTA shot 44 percent (24-55) from the floor, while Texas State connected at a 43-percent clip (23-54). The Mavs went 35 percent (6-17) from 3-point range, and the Bobcats were 31 percent (5-16). Both teams had 15 points off turnovers, and points in the paint were also dead-even at 22 each.
 
The only discernable difference came on the glass where UTA held a pivotal 35-28 advantage, including a 10-7 edge in offensive rebounding, leading to a 9-6 cushion in second-chance points. Entering the game, UTA ranked 2nd in the Sun Belt by securing 37.9 rebounds per league contest, while Texas State was 2nd-to-last at 31.1.
 
Pearson, who was recognized as Texas State's all-time leading scorer prior to the game, led all scorers with 26 points. Isiah Small was the lone other Bobcat to reach double-figure points with 11 while also securing 12 rebounds for a double-double.
 
THEY SAID IT – Head Coach Chris Ogden
"That was a heck of a team win. It was certainly ugly at times, we made some mistakes and we didn't have a good start, but we found a way. I've been telling them (the team) that we're just getting going and we're trending toward playing our best basketball in February and March."
 
1ST-HALF RUNDOWN
UTA weathered an early storm as the Mavs faced deficits of 9-0 and 11-2 right off the opening tip before embarking on a 7-0 run to pull themselves within two, 11-9, at the midway point of half.
 
After scoring those nine points through the first 11 minutes of the contest and trailing 16-9, UTA got its offense going with a Davis layup at the 8:33 mark to finally crack double-figure points. That spearheaded a stark contrast for the Mavs, as after going just 4-13 (31 percent) from the floor until that point they finished the stanza by going 9-13 (69 percent).
 
After getting that early nine-point deficit down to one point on four occasions in the 1st half, the Mavs finally tied the contest on a Narcis 3-pointer at the 1:27 mark, 31-31, and took their first lead on a Griffin jumper on the next possession, 33-31, before taking a 35-34 lead into the halftime break.
 
UTA finished the opening 20 minutes shooting 50 percent (13-26) from the floor, while Texas State went 48 percent (13-27). The Mavs held a decided 16-9 edge on the glass, which helped fuel a crucial 7-0 advantage in second-chance points.
 
2ND-HALF RUNDOWN
The Mavs started the 2nd half nearly the same way they did the 1st, making just two of their first 11 field goal attempts (18 percent) before finishing the day by making 9-of-18 attempts (50 percent).
 
That slow start helped propel the Bobcats to a 42-37 lead five minutes into the period. However, the Mavs had a response in the form of an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to re-create a three-point edge, 45-42, with 12 minutes remaining.
 
A few minutes later with UTA possessing a 55-51 lead, the Mavs clipped off five-straight points in 40 seconds – the last three coming on Narcis's third 3-pointer of the game – to extend to their largest lead of the day, 60-51, with just over five minutes left.
 
That's when Texas State started to mount a comeback and eventually got its deficit down to the aforementioned four, 60-56, with a little more than two minutes showing before Warren capped things off.
 
THIS AND THAT

• This is UTA's first three-game winning streak of the season and the first time it has won multiple games since the opening two contests of the year.
• This is just the second time this season UTA has won when scoring fewer than 70 points.
• TiAndre Jackson-Young moved two points shy of 1,000 for his career.
• Azore also secured six rebounds and issued a team-high-tying three assists. Coleman Sparling came off the bench to score five 2nd-half points.
• With Davis's 10 points off the bench, it's now the 19th time this year a Mav has registered double-figure points off the bench.
• The attendance was listed at 4,084.
• Azore has now reached double-figure points in every game this year except the season opener in which he registered seven points against UT Dallas.
• UTA now leads the all-time series, 40-33, representing just the second opponent (Texas Wesleyan, 41) that the Mavs have beaten 40 times.
• UTA has now won five-straight meetings in the series, tied with Appalachian State for the longest winning streak over a fellow Sun Belt school.
• UTA coaches and staff members wore sneakers as part of the national Coaches vs. Cancer Suits And Sneakers Week.
• The Mavs were without Patrick Mwamba for the 15th-straight game with a broken foot.
• Four of UTA's five Sun Belt losses have been by six points or less; nine of its 12 losses this year have been by eight points or less, with five of those setbacks coming to NET Quad 1 or Quad 2 opponents. UTA played the 7th-hardest non-conference schedule in the nation.
• Despite their record, the Mavs came into Saturday as the 2nd-highest ranked Sun Belt team in the NET Rankings at #119 (Georgia State #105).

NEXT UP
UTA will return home for its first games with students in session since early December when the Mavs welcome Louisiana and ULM to the College Park Center next Thursday, Jan. 30, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 1, at 2 p.m., respectively. The Ragin' Cajuns and Warhawks meet each other later on Saturday night.
 
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).