CONWAY, S.C. – The UT Arlington men's basketball team (10-15, 6-8 Sun Belt) led on just one occasion Saturday afternoon inside the HTC Center as Coastal Carolina (13-12, 6-8 Sun Belt) posted an 89-75 win over the Mavericks.
 
Radshad Davis led UTA with 16 points off the bench – the 12th time this season the Mavs' leading scorer has been a non-starter – while Jordan Phillips reached double-figure points for the first time in five games with 12. That total was also matched by Jabari Narcis as the 6-foot-9 forward knocked down three or more 3-pointers for the seventh time this season.
 
UTA head coach Chris Ogden was ejected with 4:30 remaining in the 1st half following a pair of consecutive technicals, turning the reigns to associate head coach Greg Young.
 
At that juncture – after the technical free throws – the Mavs were down by 15, 36-21, and thanks to 50-percent shooting in the 2nd half (14-28) UTA was able to out-score the Chanticleers the rest of the game, but weren't able to get any closer than six as UTA dropped just its second conference game by more than seven points.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Entering the contest, UTA ranked 2nd in the Sun Belt in league games in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3) while Coastal Carolina was last at 0.7. The exact opposite transpired on Saturday as the Mavs finished at 0.8 (12 assists, 14 turnovers) and the Chanticleers finished at 2.8 (14 assists, 5 turnovers).
 
UTA ranks as the nation's 28th-best ball-protecting team in the nation (11.3 turnovers per game), but the 14 on Saturday were its second-most since the calendar turned to 2020 and resulted in an incredible 17-0 advantage in points for Coastal. The Chants' five giveways, meanwhile, were the fewest by any UTA opponent this season.
 
DeVante Jones led all scorers with 20 and also grabbed a game-high-tying nine rebounds and issued a game-best six assists. Tommy Burton and Garrick Green both registered 15 points apiece, while Tim Ceaser tallied eight points and nine rebounds. CCU shot 47 percent (31-66) from the floor, but the Mavs limited the Chants to only 22 percent (5-23) from 3-point range.
 
Conversely, UTA finished at 43 percent (23-54) from the floor and 40 percent (8-20) from 3-point range.
 
True freshman Sam Griffin scored nine points in a starting role, while classmate Nicolas Elame netted a career-high seven points off the bench. David Azore failed to reach double-figure scoring for the second time in three contests as he finished with eight points, a team-best five assists and four rebounds.
 
Phillips and Narcis both secured a team-best six rebounds as the two sides finished even on the glass, 35-35. In their first meeting this year, CCU out-boarded UTA by 12, including grabbing 17 on the offensive end – the most the Mavs have allowed this season.
 
1ST-HALF RUNDOWN
Narcis put the Mavs in front, 3-2, on UTA's first possession, but after that juncture the Chants controlled the contest, putting together an immediate 9-0 response as part of a larger 13-1 run and led by as much as 11 inside the opening 10 minutes on multiple occasions.
 
The latest of those came with a 19-8 scoreline before the Mavs orchestrated an 8-2 run to pull within 21-16, but Coastal answered back and eventually extended to its largest lead of the 1st half, 36-21, at the 4:30 mark following the aforementioned technical-foul free throws.
 
Griffin responded immediately to the Ogden ejection by drilling a back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the UTA deficit back down to nine, 36-27, and following a Davis bucket the Mavs had put together an 8-0 rebuttal and trimmed it to a 36-29 score. Coastal ended up taking a 41-32 lead into the half.
 
2ND-HALF RUNDOWN
Phillips moved UTA to as close as it had been since the 8-minute mark of the 1st half when he knocked down a 3-pointer in the opening minute of the 2nd half to pull UTA within six at 41-35.
 
However, Coastal responded with a 10-0 run to forge what at that time was its largest lead of the afternoon, 51-35, at the 16-minute mark.
 
UTA was able to get that differential back down to six on multiple occasions – the last of which came with 5:30 remaining to make it a 68-62 contest – but the Mavs couldn't get stops at the other end as they allowed their second-highest point output of the year.
 
THIS AND THAT

• CCU out-scored UTA in the paint, 46-16, and in fastbreak points, 20-10.
• The Mavs were without Patrick Mwamba for the 19th-straight game with a broken foot. Ayoub Nouhi did not travel and missed his second-straight game as he remained back in Arlington with a sickness.
• Despite their record, the Mavs came into Saturday as the 2nd-highest ranked Sun Belt team in the NET Rankings at #126 (Georgia State #123).

NEXT UP
UTA will embark on a pivotal five-game homestand which will take it through the end of February, beginning this coming Thursday, Feb. 13, against Arkansas State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. inside the College Park.
 
All five of UTA's remaining regular-season home games are against teams ahead of the Mavs in the Sun Belt standings as they look to secure the highest possible seed entering next month's Sun Belt Tournament.
   
PURCHASE TICKETS
Tickets for all remaining 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.
 
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).