FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The UT Arlington men’s basketball team will play its fourth game in eight days to open the 2020-21 season when the Mavericks (1-2) face off with Arkansas (2-0) Wednesday at 8 p.m. on the SEC Network.

UTA’s challenging opening stretch to this unprecedented season continues as the Mavs will face their third opponent already this year which won 20 games a season ago and/or finished in the top 100 of the NET (Arkansas: 20 wins & 43 NET). All three of UTA’s games so far this season have been decided by single digits.

It will mark the third time in the last five seasons (2016, 2018) that UTA and Arkansas will face each other in Fayetteville. Even though the last meeting was just two seasons ago, David Azore and Patrick Mwamba are the only current UTA members who played in that game.

The Mavs have been extremely active on the defense end of the floor through their first three games as they rank 7th in the nation in total steals (31; Oklahoma State: 12, Louisiana Tech: 7, Northwestern State: 12). Meanwhile, Shahada Wells is 5th in the country with 10 thefts, including a five-steal performance against OSU.

On the other side of the ball, UTA ranks 12th nationally in fewest turnovers as the Mavs only average 9 giveaways per game.

TWEETABLES

• UTA has already had six different players reach double-figure scoring in a game: Wells, Azore, Mwamba, Nicolas Elame, Sam Griffin and Fredelin De La Cruz.
   
• Additionally, the Mavs have already had three different players record a double-double this year: Azore, Mwamba and De La Cruz; Mwamba and De La Cruz both posted double-doubles last time out against Northwestern State.
   
• UTA has bettered its scoring performance in each game so far this season: 68 versus OSU, 71 at LA Tech and 80 opposite Northwestern State.
   
• In stark contrast to the opening halves of its first two games of the season in which UTA averaged 32 percent from the floor and 27.5 points, the Mavs connected at a 50-percent clip against Northwestern State (18-36) en route to 45 1st-half points.
   
• Additionally, in those first two games against OSU and LA Tech, the Mavs had nine different players combined score in the 1st half; they had 10 on Saturday alone in the first 20 minutes.
   

SCOUTING ARKANSAS

• Arkansas has opened its season with wins over Mississippi Valley State, 142-62, last Wednesday and North Texas, 69-54, on Saturday.
   
• The Razorbacks have five players averaging between 13 and 17 points per game, led by Desi Sills at 16.5. Sills was an SEC Preseason Second Team selection.
   
• Arkansas’ 2020 recruiting class was a consensus top-10 group nationally – already the second top-ranked recruiting class UTA will have faced this season (OSU: #4). The group features a quartet of 4-star recruits, but does not include a handful of transfers who rank among the top-50 in the nation.
   
• In total, Arkansas features a school-record 11 new scholarship players. Only three players return from last year’s club – tied for the 2nd-fewest returners in the nation.
   
• Arkansas led the nation in 3-point defensive percentage last year at 27.2 percent; UTA ranked 20th in that same category (29.6 percent – single-season program record).

NEWCOMER DIVERSITY

UTA has seven newcomers on its roster this year, and in a unique twist each class is represented:

Freshmen: Brandyn Talbot, Antonio Romanelli
Sophomore: Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu
Juniors: Shahada Wells, Fredelin De La Cruz, Carson Bischoff
Senior: Lazaro Rojas

The Mavs are one of only 14 teams in the nation to have a newcomer in each class: California Baptist, East Tennessee State, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Hawaii, Montana State, New Mexico State, Oral Roberts, Portland State, Seattle, SIU Edwardsville, Weber State and Wichita State.

GLOBAL IMPACT

The UTA roster this year is represented by seven different countries, five different continents and three different states: Nigeria and Congo (Africa), Canada and Dominican Republic (North America), Brazil (South America), France (Europe) and Australia; Texas, Utah and Florida. The seven different countries represented are tied for the 2nd-most of any team in the nation (Maine, 8). While he lists his hometown as Mesquite, Texas, Akobundu-Ehiogu was born in Nigeria and lived there until he was 13.

CLOSING IN ON 1,000

Redshirt junior David Azore began this season with 718 career points – well on pace to become only the 26th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone (currently: 762).

Only three players in program history have scored more than 1,500 career points: Willie Brand (1,907 from 1987-91), Kevin Hervey (1,783 from 2014-18) and Erick Neal (1,557 from 2014-18). Among those three players, only one had scored more points through his first two years than Azore:

Brand: 979 Points
Azore: 718 Points
Neal: 622 Points
Hervey: 510 Points

AMONG THE NATION’S BEST

UTA finished in the top-40 in the nation in four key statistical categories last season: assist-to-turnover ratio (16th, 1.3), defensive 3-point percentage (20th, 29.6), fewest turnovers per game (29th, 11.2) and assists per game (35th, 14.9).

SCHEDULE ALTERATIONS

Like every team’s non-conference schedule, UTA’s was drastically impacted and looks significantly different now than it did in late spring. The non-league docket features eight contests – three at home, one at a neutral site and four on the road. Each of those games are drivable and regionally located.

UTA will play five games in 10 days to open the season, including two Power-5 teams (vs. Oklahoma State, @ Arkansas) and three opponents which won at least 20 games a season ago (@ Louisiana Tech, @ Arkansas, @ Tulsa).

Despite all the scheduling issues, UTA will still impressively play four of its six Division-I non-league games against teams which finished in the top-100 of the NET last season (Arkansas: 43; Oklahoma State: 64; Tulsa: 78; Louisiana Tech: 87).

UTA’s 18-game Sun Belt schedule will begin on Jan. 1 at Little Rock. The league switched to a divisional conference schedule in 2020-21 to help mitigate the travel impacts associated with COVID-19. For UTA that means solely home-and-home weekend series with the five other West Division opponents: Little Rock, Louisiana, Arkansas State, Texas State and ULM.

HARD-LUCK LOSSES

After playing the nation’s 7th-hardest non-conference strength of schedule in 2018-19, UTA played the 3rd-most difficult non-league slate in 2019-20. Through that extremely-challenging slate and the Sun Belt schedule, the Mavericks remained extremely competitive despite finishing 14-18 overall and 10-10 in the Sun Belt. Among those notable accomplishments:

• Six Losses By One Possession – Three Points Or Less
   
• Three Losses By One Point – Tied For The Most In Single-Season Program History
  • Also occurred in 1974-75, 1977-78, 1982-83 and 1987-88.
  • All three setbacks came at the buzzer or in the final 4 seconds as the opponent hit a game-winning shot: Furman (58-57; floater with 3.8 seconds left), Louisiana (66-65; 3-pointer at the buzzer) and Coastal Carolina (63-62; jumper at the buzzer).
     
• 13 Of The 18 Losses Were By Eight Points Or Less
  • One of those was to then-#8 Gonzaga, 72-66, as UTA led for 16 minutes and held the Bulldogs to their worst field-goal percentage (39.1 percent) in 99 games – since Feb. 20, 2016, against Saint Mary’s.
     
• Of UTA’s Nine Division-I Non-Conference Opponents, Eight Of Them Finished In Either 1st Or 2nd Place In Their Respective League
  • Tulsa: T-1st, American; UTA Won, 73-59
  • Nevada: 2nd, Mountain West; UTA Lost, 80-73
  • Oregon: 1st, Pac 12; UTA Lost, 67-47
  • Gonzaga: 1st, West Coast; UTA Lost, 72-66
  • Furman: 2nd, Southern; UTA Lost, 58-57
  • North Texas: 1st, Conference USA; UTA Lost, 77-66
  • UC Santa Barbara: 2nd, Big West; UTA Lost, 72-68
  • Houston: T-1st, American; UTA Lost, 71-63

LOCKING IN ON D

UTA set the single-season program record for defensive 3-point percentage last year, limiting opponents to just 29.6 percent from beyond the arc – breaking the previous record of 29.8 percent set in 2018-19.

Additionally, the Mavs have produced two of the better single seasons on the defensive side of the ball in program history under Ogden’s guidance.

UTA held opponents to 68.4 points per game in 2019-20 – the 4th-fewest in program history; that came on the heels of a 69.8 point-per-game average in 2018-19 – the 8th-best in program history.

In terms of opponent field-goal percentage, UTA limited foes to only 41.2 percent last year – tied for the 5th-lowest in program history; in 2018-19, the Mavs held opponents to 42.3 percent – the 7th-best in program history.

RE-TWEETS

• UTA owns the 2nd-most wins against Sun Belt opponents (78) since joining the league in 2013-14 (Georgia State: 90; Louisiana: 78).
   
• UTA finished in 7th place in the Sun Belt regular-season standings last year with a 10-10 record – the first time since joining the league in 2013-14 that it did not finish in the top-5 of the conference (was the only team in the league to have accomplished that feat).
   
• The Mavs have a pair of current 15-game winning streaks: Houston Baptist (1980-2014) and Texas Wesleyan (1984-2009).

PROTECTING THE ROCK

In back-to-back games on Jan. 30 and Feb. 1, UTA committed nine total turnovers – four versus Louisiana and five against ULM. In the previous nine seasons combined (2010-19), UTA had a total of just two games of five or fewer turnovers (a span of 306 games). The four-turnover performance against the Ragin’ Cajuns were the fewest in a game by the Mavs since at least 2010.

SUSTAINED SUCCESS

Despite finishing last year with a 14-18 record, UTA still posted the 2nd-highest NET Ranking (formerly the RPI) in the Sun Belt at #129 – behind only Texas State at #120. To further demonstrate the Mavs’ consistency over the last six years, since 2014-15 (its second season in the league) UTA has the 2nd-best average NET/RPI among all Sun Belt teams at #121 (Georgia State: #119).

SUN BELT SUCCESS

UTA and Georgia Southern are the only two Sun Belt Conference teams to have posted six-straight years of double-figure league victories. The Mavs went 9-9 in SBC action in their first year in the conference in 2013-14, and since then have posted at least 10 Sun Belt wins in every season.

FREE-THROW EMPHASIS

In each of his first two seasons at the helm of the Mavs, Chris Ogden has placed an emphasis on free-throw shooting. Last year, UTA connected at a 74.8 percent clip from the free-throw line – the 4th-best percentage in single-season program history. In 2018-19, the Mavs went 74.1 percent from the charity stripe – the 6th-best percentage in single-season program history.

Those are two of only six seasons of 74+ percent from the free-throw line in the 61-year history of the program.

YOUNG NAMED TOP ASSISTANT COACH

Longtime UTA associate head coach Greg Young has been named the top assistant coach in the Sun Belt Conference, as unveiled by Stadium’s Jeff Goodman.

Young, who is entering his 12th season with UTA in 2020-21, was voted as the top assistant coach in the Sun Belt by his peers as Goodman polled at least 20 coaches in the conference.

Since joining UTA in 2009-10, Young has helped guide the Mavericks to a 207-152 record (.577) and advanced to the postseason four times: 2012 NIT, 2013 CIT, 2016 CIT and 2017 NIT. 

He has been a member of two regular-season championship teams – 2012 Southland Conference and 2017 Sun Belt – in addition to reaching the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Final in 2013 and the Sun Belt Tournament Final in both 2018 and 2019.

NET CHANGES

Prior to this season, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee announced that the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) will be changed to increase accuracy and simplify it by reducing a five-component metric to just two. The remaining factors include the Team Value Index (TVI), which is a result-based feature that rewards teams for beating quality opponents, particularly away from home, as well as an adjusted net efficiency rating.

The adjusted efficiency is a team’s net efficiency, adjusted for strength of opponent and location (home/away/neutral) across all games played. For example, a given efficiency value (net points per 100 possessions) against stronger opposition rates higher than the same efficiency against lesser opponents and having a certain efficiency on the road rates higher than the same efficiency at home.

No longer will the NET use winning percentage, adjusted winning percentage and scoring margin.

NEXT UP

UTA will face another quick turnaround as the Mavs remain on the road and head to Tulsa to face the Golden Hurricane on Friday at 4 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).