TULSA, Okla. – The UT Arlington men’s basketball team (1-3) will continue its challenging start to the 2020-21 season with its fifth game in 10 days when the Mavericks visit Tulsa (0-2) on Friday at 4 p.m.

No spectators are permitted at Donald W. Reynolds for the matchup; however, it will be streamed on ESPN+, and Josh Sours will have the call on KTNO 620 AM.

KEY STORYLINES

UTA is coming off a 72-60 setback at Arkansas on Wednesday night, while Tulsa will be opening the home portion of its season after a pair of neutral-site contests last weekend.

This will be the third-straight season that the Mavericks and Golden Hurricane will be playing each other. Ironically enough, the two programs – separated by only about 4-and-a-half hours – went more than 40 years between their first meeting (1966) and second meeting (2008).

The Mavs knocked off Tulsa at the College Park Center last year, 73-59, in an win which got better as the year went on due to the Golden Hurricane finishing as co-regular-season champions of the American Athletic Conference.

Despite having to alter its schedule at the last moment like every other team in the nation, UTA has still managed to put together an impressive slate of non-conference opponents, and that continues with Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane will already be the fourth opponent in UTA’s first five games of the year which won 20 games a season ago and/or finished in the top 100 of the NET (Tulsa: 21 wins & 78 NET).

TWEETABLES

• UTA has already had six different players reach double-figure scoring in a game and three different players record a double-double.
   
• The 12-point loss at Arkansas was the first game this year for UTA decided by double figures. The Mavs held the Razorbacks to only six points over the final 10 minutes, but couldn’t capitalize offensively.
   
• Shahada Wells has led (or tied) UTA in scoring in each of the first four games. He scored 16 of his 17 points in the 2nd half at Arkansas.
   
• David Azore uncharacteristically netted only five points and grabbed one rebound against Arkansas – the redshirt junior’s fewest in both categories since his redshirt freshman season.
   

SCOUTING TULSA

• Tulsa opened its season with losses to TCU (70-65) and South Carolina (69-58) last weekend as part of the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City.
   
• The Golden Hurricane finished 21-10 last season and 13-5 in the American Athletic Conference to share the league’s regular-season championship with Cincinnati and Houston.
   
• Senior Brandon Rachal was selected to the Preseason AAC First Team after being selected to the 2019-20 AAC Third Team.
   
• All of Tulsa’s points this year have come from seven players, with Rachal leading the team at 16.5 per game.
   
• Tulsa has been picked to finish 6th in the AAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll this year.
   
• Tulsa will welcome UTA’s foe from Wednesday, Arkansas, to Reynolds Center for its next game on Saturday.

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: 767).

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 finally have a chance to collect themselves with a scheduled week between games. The Mavs are slated to return to the court next Friday, Dec. 11, at 6 p.m. against Hardin-Simmons from the College Park Center.

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).