ARLINGTON – Coming off one of the largest wins in program history, the UT Arlington men’s basketball team closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule on Tuesday, Dec. 22, when the Mavericks host Howard Payne at 6 p.m. inside the College Park Center.

KEY STORYLINES

This will be just the fifth all-time meeting between UTA and Howard Payne, with the Mavs holding a 3-1 series lead. Howard Payne was UTA’s first-ever road opponent (its third-ever game overall) as the Mavs faced off with the Yellow Jackets in Brownwood, Texas, on Dec. 5, 1959; HPU claimed a 71-69 win.

UTA associate head coach Greg Young was a four-year men’s basketball letterwinner at Howard Payne, graduating with a degree in physical education in 1986. He was the team captain as a senior, and received the distinguished Paul J. Cunningham Award for excellence and dedication that same year.

TWEETABLES

1) The Mavs got off to their worst five-game start (1-4) since 2001-02, but have the chance with a win to finish the abbreviated non-conference schedule with a .500 record at 4-4.

2) UTA ranks 22nd in the nation in total steals (66) and 28th in the country in steals per game (9.4).

3) Fredelin De La Cruz has posted consecutive double-doubles, and his three double-doubles on the season are tied for the 16th-most nationally (one player with six; five players with five).

4) UTA’s depth and versatility has been a notable characteristic so far this year as the Mavs have a different leader in points (Shahada Wells, 14.3), rebounds (De La Cruz, 7.7), assists (Nicolas Elame, 3.2), 3-pointers (Sam Griffin, 10; tied with Wells) and blocks (Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu, 5; tied with De La Cruz).

5) The contest will count as a normal game for UTA; however, it will serve as an exhibition contest for the Division-III Yellow Jackets.
 

SCOUTING HOWARD PAYNE

• Howard Payne enters the game officially with an 0-4 record, although the Yellow Jackets also have exhibition losses to Division-I members Abilene Christian (81-51) and Sam Houston State (117-54).
   
• HPU opened its season with an 81-70 setback at home against Hardin-Simmons; that 11-point margin is HPU’s smallest of the young season. UTA defeated Hardin-Simmons earlier this month, 91-66.
   
• The Yellow Jackets were slated to take on Tarleton State in another exhibition against the D-I newcomer this past Thursday, Dec. 17, but that game was postponed.
   
• Tyrell Thompson is the lone HPU member averaging double-figure points as the senior forward averages 18.8 points per game. He also leads the team in rebounding at 8 per contest.
   
• The Yellow Jackets are a member of the American Southwest Conference.

NEAR-RECORD OUTING LAST TIME

UTA is coming off one of the largest wins in program history with a 109-48 triumph over Dallas Christian on Dec. 17. The game was announced just two days earlier on Dec. 15, but despite that the Mavericks achieved the following notable accomplishments:

• The 61-point final margin was the 4th-largest in program history: 
  • 69 (154-85) vs. Huston-Tillotson (Nov. 29, 1990)
  • 66 (130-64) vs. Huston-Tillotson (Nov. 28, 1991)
  • 63 (149-86) vs. University of Dallas (Dec. 8, 1990)
     
• The Mavs posted a +29 rebound margin (55-26) – the 8th-largest differential in program history (record: 36 on two occasions).
   
• UTA recorded the 8th-best free-throw percentage (minimum 20 makes) in program history by going 23-27 for 85.2 percent.
   
• The 109 points were the 3rd-most this century (tied for the 27th-most all-time; record: 154):
  • 111 vs. Howard Payne (Nov. 13, 2013)
  • 110 @ Texas State (Feb. 3, 2007)
     
• UTA attempted 38 3-pointers – tied for the 6th-most in program history (record: 42 at South Alabama on Jan. 16, 2016).
   
• Maverick head coach Chris Ogden utilized his entire roster with the exception of Elame (9.7 ppg) to rest; the 15 Mavs who played each logged between 5-22 minutes, and 14 of those 15 scored multiple points.

BY THE NUMBERS

1: UTA’s 75-68 setback to Oklahoma State was its first season-opening loss since 2013-14, and only its second year-opening defeat since 2005-06.

2: With a 72-60 loss at Arkansas on Dec. 2 and a 79-64 setback at Tula on Dec. 4, it marked just the second time in the Chris Ogden era that the Mavs have lost consecutive games by 10+ points (five-straight from Nov. 20-Dec. 4 in 2018).

4: Four of UTA’s first five games this season came against opponents which won 20+ games last year and/or finished in the top 100 of the NET: Oklahoma State (64 NET), Arkansas (20 Wins & 43 NET), Louisiana Tech (22 Wins & 87 NET) and Tulsa (21 Wins & 78 NET).

5: UTA played five games in the first 10 days of the season; the only team in the country to play more games during that time was San Francisco with six (several teams tied with five).

6: The Mavs held Arkansas to only six points over the final 10 minutes of their game on Dec. 2, but couldn’t capitalize offensively en route to a 72-60 loss in Fayetteville.

9: UTA has already had nine different players reach double-figure points in a game – already tying the total from all of last season: Wells, David Azore, Patrick Mwamba, Elame, Griffin, De La Cruz, Jordan Phillips, Brandyn Talbot and Lazaro Rojas. The Mavs almost have 10 such players as Davis Steelman tallied nine points against Hardin-Simmons.

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: 793).

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 featured eight contests – four at home, one at a neutral site and three on the road. Each of those games were drivable and regionally located. In early December, UTA and Oral Roberts mutually agreed to delay the start of their home-and-home series by one season to 2021-22 (were scheduled to play at ORU on Dec. 19).

UTA played 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).

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).

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 return to action in 2021 when the Mavs begin Sun Belt Conference play at defending regular-season league champion Little Rock on consecutive days, Jan. 1-2.

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).