ARLINGTON – Louisiana (9-13, 4-7 Sun Belt) executed a full-court inbound and knocked down a contested, off-balance 3-pointer as the buzzer expired Thursday night inside the College Park Center, sending UT Arlington (9-13, 5-6 Sun Belt) to a heartbreaking 66-65 loss.
 
Coleman Sparling put UTA in front, 65-63, with 2.7 seconds remaining after grabbing an offensive rebound and flipping a shot off the backboard which counted following a goaltending call against the Ragin' Cajuns.
 
After taking its final timeout, Louisiana inbounded from under its own basket. With 6-foot-9 Jabari Narcis guarding 6-foot-1 inbounder P.J. Hardy, Hardy threw a long, arcing pass to the opposite 3-point line. Several feet behind the wing closest to the Cajuns' bench, 6-foot-9 Dou Gueye caught the pass, turned quickly and with 6-foot-9 Sparling's hand in his face, threw up a 3-point attempt which hit nothing but net to give Louisiana the walk-off win. The shot landed at #1 on SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays for Jan. 30.
 
The 3-pointer was just Gueye's 16th of the season in now 58 attempts, and sent a gut-punch to the Mavericks, who had closed on a 7-0 run to take that two-point lead with 2.7 seconds to play.
 
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for UTA, which has now lost five of its six Sun Belt contests by six points or less.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
TiAndre Jackson-Young eclipsed 1,000 career points on a 3-pointer in the 1st half, becoming the second Mav in the last two weeks to reach the milestone mark (Radshad Davis at ULM).
 
David Azore reached double-figure points for the 21st-straight game – believed to be the 2nd-longest streak in the nation – with a team-high 14 points to go along with six rebounds and three assists.
 
Brian Warren came off the bench to tally 12 points while issuing a game-high eight assists – his 2nd-most against a Division-I opponent this year. Sam Griffin netted 10 points in a starting role for the true freshman, and Davis scored seven points and reached double-figure rebounds for the second time in three games with a team-best 10.
 
Reigning Sun Belt Player of the Week Jalen Johnson was a formidable force for Louisiana as the redshirt junior registered a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double. Cedric Russell and Hardy each scored 13 points as the Ragin' Cajuns shot 41 percent (26-64) from the floor while holding UTA to 37 percent (24-65).
 
The difference in the game – aside from the final miracle shot – came on the glass as Louisiana dominated the rebounding battle, 47-36, including 16 on the offensive end which led to a vital 17-8 edge in second-chance points.
 
UTA committed just four turnovers – its fewest in any game since joining the Sun Belt Conference in 2013-14.
 
THEY SAID IT – Head Coach Chris Ogden
"If you play enough basketball, you're going to unfortunately lose games like this at some point. I thought we defended the last play pretty well, but give credit to Dou – he just made a tough, contested shot. I liked our fight and competitive spirit after a slow start, but we can't give up 16 offensive rebounds – that was the biggest stat in the game."
 
1ST-HALF RUNDOWN
UTA jumped out to a 10-3 lead five minutes in following a Jordan Phillips' 3-pointer, but the Ragin' Cajuns responded with a zone defense which stalled the Mavs and propelled the visitors to a 9-1 run and their first lead of the night, 12-11, at the midway point.
 
That run eventually grew to 14-1 and Louisiana built a 17-11 lead before the Mavs trimmed it back to two; UTA cut its deficit to two as well after trailing 24-17, but the Cajuns again had a response and created their largest lead of the night, 32-24, before settling for a 36-29 halftime lead.
 
The Mavs came into the contest leading the Sun Belt in 3-point percentage defense in league games at 27 percent, but in the 1st half they allowed Louisiana to connect at a 43-percent clip (6-14).
 
Eight different Mavs scored in the opening stanza, led by five each from Azore and Davis – who corralled seven boards as well in just 14 minutes.
 
Ranked 2nd in the Sun Belt in conference rebounding at 37.6 per game, UTA was out-rebounded in the 1st half, 25-16, leading to a 9-2 advantage in second-chance points for the Cajuns.
 
2ND-HALF RUNDOWN
UTA erased its seven-point halftime deficit in just 84 seconds to start the 2nd half, tying things up at 36-all on a pair of Azore free throws. Louisiana re-built a lead as large as six, and held a 49-44 lead before the Mavs clipped off five in a row to re-tie the contest for the third time, 49-49.
 
UTA finally re-claimed its first lead since the 12-minute mark of the 1st half on a Narcis putback at the 10:34 mark to cap a 7-0 Mavs' run, 51-49.
 
With the contest tied at 53-53, Louisiana rattled off five straight to forge ahead, 58-53, but the Mavs eventually were able to get back within one, 59-58, on a Jackson-Young 3-pointer. However, Louisiana once again had a response and went back in front by five, 63-58, prompting a UTA timeout with just over 2:30 to play.
 
Out of that timeout, the Mavs responded with the aforementioned 7-0 run to take the lead before Gueye's back-breaking heroics.
 
THIS AND THAT

• The Ragin' Cajuns were without two key players when UTA defeated them earlier this month: Mylik Wilson and Gueye. The two combined for 13 points and seven rebounds on Thursday.
• The 2nd half featured four lead changes and six ties.
• Narcis scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds … Griffin secured a career-high five rebounds … Sparling netted six points, a total equaled by Jackson-Young, who now has 1,004 career points bridging time at UTA and Tyler Junior College.
• UTA closes the season with seven of its last 10 games at home, and that began on Thursday.
• 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.
• The Mavs were without Patrick Mwamba for the 16th-straight game with a broken foot.
• Ten of UTA's 13 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 6th-hardest non-conference schedule in the nation.
• Despite their record, the Mavs came into Thursday as the 2nd-highest ranked Sun Belt team in the NET Rankings at #113 (Georgia State #105).

NEXT UP
UTA will complete its homestand when ULM visits the CPC on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tipoff. The Warhawks are 6-14 overall and 2-9 in the league following a 71-51 loss at Texas State on Thursday. The Mavs defeated ULM to weeks in Monroe, 78-58.
   
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.
 
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