JONESBORO, Ark. – A game delayed nearly two hours took even longer to finish Friday night as the UT Arlington men's basketball team let a double-figure 2nd-half lead slip away en route to an overtime setback to Arkansas State, 83-75, inside First National Bank Arena.
 
The game was moved back from a scheduled 6 p.m. start to 7:45 p.m. due to a game-clock issue in the building, but the delay did little to slow down Sam Griffin as the UTA sophomore poured in a career-high 28 points to lead all scorers, in addition to securing a career-best six rebounds and issuing a team-high-tying three assists.
 
However, that performance was soured by a game-sealing 9-0 Arkansas State run to close the game after the Mavericks had taken a 75-74 lead in the extra session. UTA had multiple 13-point leads in the 2nd half, and a seven-point advantage inside of 4 minutes to play in regulation, but couldn't close the door.
 
Shahada Wells added 19 points – his 15th time in double figures in 16 games this season – Jordan Phillips netted 13 and Patrick Mwamba totaled 11 and pulled down six rebounds for the Mavs, who shot 50 percent (15-30) from the floor in the 1st half before connecting at only a 28-percent clip (9-32) in the 2nd half.
 
Not making things any easier for UTA, the Mavs were again without Sun Belt Preseason Second Team selection David Azore (11.4 points, 4.6 rebounds) for the eighth-straight game with a leg injury. Additionally, Lazaro Rojas (4.4 points, 3.3 rebounds) also missed his seventh-consecutive game with a leg injury.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• UTA falls to 8-9 overall and 4-5 in Sun Belt play, while Arkansas State improves to 6-8 and 3-4 in league action.
• Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu continues to be an impressive walk-on for UTA as he pulled down a team-best nine rebounds and blocked six shots – tied for the 6th-most rejections in a game in program history.
• In only nine games played this year, Akobundu-Ehiogu now has three games of five or more blocks; he's incredibly already one of only two players (Jermaine Griffin) in program history with three career games of 5+ blocks.
• Arkansas State's Norchad Omier is the only true freshman in the nation averaing a double-double on the season, and he more than got to that number on Friday with 15 points and 20 rebounds – tied for the 2nd-most rebounds in a game by any player in the nation this year against a Division-I opponent.
• Marquis Eaton scored 18 points to lead the Red Wolves, Malcolm Farrington added 15 and Caleb Fields tallied 14 and issued a game-best seven assists.
• A-State shot just 27 percent (9-33) from the field in the 1st half, 44 percent (14-32) in the 2nd half and then missed just one shot (6-7, 86 percent) in overtime.
• Both teams were nearly perfect from the free-throw line: UTA – 86 percent (12-14), A-State – 90 percent (17-19).

PLAY-BY-PLAY SUMMARY
With Arkansas State holding a slim 15-14 lead at the 11-minute mark 1st half, UTA embarked on a 13-0 run over six minutes to create a 27-15 advantage. The Mavs' cushion would extend to as much as 13, 30-17, shortly thereafter before the blue-clad visitors settled for a 35-26 halftime lead.
 
The UTA lead extended back to double figures for the majority of the first eight minutes of the 2nd half, but with the Mavs possessing a 13-point edge, 48-35, at the 13-minute mark, A-State briskly orchestrated a 12-0 spurt to pull within one, 48-47, at the 10-minute juncture.
 
However, the Mavs responded with a 7-0 run in just over a minute to claim a 55-47 lead. But, A-State had an answer of its own, and in 90 seconds had pulled back within one, 55-54, entering the final 5 minutes.
 
The back-and-forth period continued again as Griffin and Phillips hit 3-pointers to shove the Mavs ahead again by seven, 61-54, with under 4 minutes to play. Unfazed, the Red Wolves again had a rebuttal, and on a driving layup by Fields with 6.7 seconds left, the hosts tied the game, 68-68.
 
After UTA used its final timeout following the bucket, Nicolas Elame drove into the frontcourt and pulled up from the wing in front of the Mav bench. The sophomore had a good look, but his shot was just long off the back rim, sending UTA to its first overtime contest of the season.
 
In overtime, there were four lead changes and two ties in the first 2 minutes and 47 seconds. UTA held the aforementioned 75-74 lead following a Mwamba 3-pointer with 2:43 to play, but the last of those lead changes came when Omier tallied the eventual game-winning points on a layup with 2:13 to play.

THIS AND THAT

• This was UTA's first loss when leading at halftime this year (8-1).
• This was UTA's first overtime contest since a triple-overtime outing at home against Texas State on Feb. 28, 2020.
• That Texas State outing ended a five-game winning streak in overtime games for the Mavs; this is the first time they have lost back-to-back overtime games since the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons.
• UTA coaches and staff wore sneakers in recognition of Cancer vs. Cancer.

NEXT UP
The two teams will face a quicker-than-expected turnaround when they square off to conclude their weekend set on Saturday 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).