ARLINGTON – Shahada Wells scored a game-high-tying 21 points in his Maverick debut, but a strong UT Arlington effort fell just short in a 75-68 setback to Oklahoma State on Wednesday inside the College Park Center.
 
On the first day of the Division-I college basketball season in front a national TV audience on ESPN, UTA never trailed in the opening 15 minutes and held a lead with 10 minutes to play, but the Cowboys pulled away over the closing minutes to start the year 1-0.
 
A First Team All-American at Tyler Junior College last year, Wells scored 13 of his 21 in the 2nd half to match the output of heralded Cade Cunningham – the 2020 Naismith High School Player of the Year. Wells added six rebounds and a game-high five steals as well in an impressive debut.
 
After being held scoreless in the 1st half, redshirt junior David Azore – UTA's leading returning scorer from a season ago – poured in a game-best 14 points over the closing 20 minutes. Sophomore Nicolas Elame picked up where he left off last year with another formidable performance of 12 points to go along with a team-best eight rebounds and a team-best five assists.
 
Not surprisingly with no outside competition permitted prior to Wednesday, both teams got off to cool starts from the field as OSU shot 39 percent in the 1st half and UTA connected at a 31-percent clip.
 
That rate increased significantly coming out of halftime as the Cowboys elevated to 57 percent in the 2nd half to finish at 46 percent for the game, while the Mavericks shot it at a 46-percent pace in the 2nd half to close the day at 38 percent.
   
UTA led by five points or more on four occasions in the opening stanza before OSU used a 9-0 run late in the period to turn a 22-21 deficit into a 30-22 advantage before settling for a 32-27 halftime lead.
 
Azore wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard in the 2nd half as he netted the first points of the stanza to trim the UTA margin to three, 32-29, but OSU responded and slowly expanded to its largest lead of the game at 11, 47-36, with 12 minutes showing.
 
Unfazed, the Mavs counter-punched the Big 12 member's surge with one of their own. Keyed by Azore and Wells, the duo combined to score all of UTA's points in a ferocious 13-0 run over two minutes to re-claim a lead, 49-47, with 10 minutes left.
 
From there the two sides – meeting for the 13th time – traded buckets, and it remained a one-possession contest with just over 2 minutes remaining before the Cowboys finally pulled away.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Cunningham, a 5-star recruit who has been projected as an NBA Lottery pick, recorded a double-double in his first collegiate game with 10 rebounds to go along with the aforementioned 21 points.
• Keylan Boone registered a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Isaac Likekele just missed one with nine points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.
• OSU out-rebounded UTA, 54-33, but the Mavs had 12 steals compared with one for the Cowboys. That resulted in an incredible 29-2 edge in points off turnovers for UTA.
• Fredelin De La Cruz finished with eight points and six rebounds for the Mavs.

THIS AND THAT

• The game was part of a 2-for-1 home-and-home series, with UTA traveling to Stillwater to play the Cowboys in each of the next two seasons.
• Oklahoma State was just the second Power-5 team to visit the College Park Center since it opened on Feb. 1, 2012 (Oklahoma: Nov. 16, 2012).
• This was the second-straight regular-season game at the College Park Center on national TV for UTA as the Mavericks hosted rival Texas State on ESPN2 in the 2019-20 home finale on Feb. 28.
• The loss snapped a six-game winning streak in season openers for UTA. It was just the Mavs second season-opening loss in the last 15 tries.
• Approximately 600 fans were in attendance; UTA Athletics officials are planning to allow that amount for each home game during the season. 

NEXT UP
UTA heads to Ruston, La., to compete in the Louisiana Tech Classic this weekend. The Mavs will face La Tech on Friday at 6 p.m. and Northwestern State on Saturday at 3 p.m.

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).