ARLINGTON – The UT Arlington men's basketball team (1-1) embarks on its most grueling stretch of the non-conference season Tuesday night at 7 when the Mavericks welcome Abilene Christian (0-2) to the College Park Center.
 

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UT Arlington Game Notes  ///  Abilene Christian Game Notes  ///  Digital Game Program

  
THE OPENING TIP(s)

• Abilene Christian will be the second of an incredible eight opponents for UTA in its non-conference schedule which competed in the NCAA Tournament last year. Additionally, it starts a stretch of five-straight NCAA Tournament opponents for the Mavs – three of which come over the next five days in three different cities and two different states.
   
• Greg Young secured his first-career win at the Division-I level with a 104-75 victory over Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday night. Young – who was named the ninth head coach in program history this past spring following 12 seasons on the UTA sidelines as either an assistant (2009-13) or associate head coach (2013-21) – had previously served as a junior college head coach for 10 seasons, accumulating an overall record of 168-139.
   
• UTA had 13 different players score double-figure points in a game last season – tied for the most of any team in the nation along with Abilene Christian and Murray State.

TWEETABLES
1) Javon Levi posted his seventh-career double-double with 12 points and 10 assists Saturday against UMHB. It was the first points-assists double-double by a UTA player since Brian Warren had 15 and 12 versus Arkansas Tech on Nov. 24, 2019.

2) UTA shot 64.2 percent (43-67) from the floor on Saturday, which was tied for the 7th-best mark in single-game program history. It's the 2nd-highest percentage in program history when making at least 40 shots (66 percent, 40-62, at Texas Wesleyan on Jan. 2, 1965).

3) Shemar Wilson led the way with that shooting percentage as he went a perfect 6-6 from the floor – tied for the 9th-most makes in program history without a miss.
 
4) After being out-rebounded in the 1st half, 22-21, UTA out-boarded UMHB in the 2nd half, 26-5, to finish +20 on the glass for the evening (47-27).
 
SCOUTING ABILENE CHRISTIAN

• As a No. 14 seed, ACU stunned 3rd-seeded Texas in the NCAA Tournament this past March, 53-52, before falling to eventual Final Four participant UCLA in the Second Round, 67-47.
   
• ACU finished 24-5 last year, 13-2 in league play and won the Southland Conference Tournament with two blowout wins – including in the title game over Nicholls, 79-45.
   
• The Wildcats have opened this season with road losses at Utah (70-56) and at Texas A&M (81-80 in double overtime) last Tuesday and Friday, respectively.
   
• ACU led the nation in turnover margin last year at +6.3 per game. The Wildcats also ranked in the top-5 nationally in steals per game (2nd, 9.7), assists per game (5th, 17.7), points allowed (5th, 60.4) and scoring margin (5th, 15.3).
   
• UTA and ACU were both founding members of the Southland Conference in 1963. UTA remained in the league until 2012; ACU left the league in 1973 to join the Division-II Lone Star Conference before re-joining the Southland and D-I in 2013. UTA moved from the Southland to the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) for one season (2012-13) before joining the Sun Belt, and ACU is now in its first year as a member of the WAC.
   
• ACU was picked to finish 5th in the WAC Preseason Coaches Poll, while the Wildcats were tabbed for a 4th-place showing in the WAC Preseason Media Poll. The Wildcats return their starting backcourt of Damien Daniels, Coryon Mason, and Reggie Miller – all of whom received Preseason Second Team nods by either the WAC coaches or media.
   
• Head coach Brette Tanner is in his first season at the helm of ACU after being promoted in April following the departure of Joe Golding to UTEP. Tanner spent the previous seven seasons with ACU – one as an assistant and the six after as an associate head coach.

 RE-TWEETS

• The Mavs had six different players reach double-figure points on Saturday. The last time UTA had exactly six in double figures was an NIT Second Round victory over Akron on Mar. 20, 2017. UTA had eight double-figure scorers in a 117-53 win opposite Howard Payne on Dec. 22, 2020.
   
• The Mavs handed out 28 assists against UMHB, one shy of cracking the top-10 single-game program record list.

• UTA's 43-point loss to Oklahoma State on Nov. 9 was its largest ever in a season opener, and biggest setback since a 48-point defeat (92-44) at Kentucky on Nov. 25, 2014. The Wildcats were the nation's top-ranked team at that time.
   
• Levi moved into rarified air at Oklahoma State as he became one of only three active players in the nation with at least 600 career assists.
   
• Despite returning just eight letterwinners from last season, the Mavericks bring back four starters, including four of the five who started their Sun Belt Conference Tournament game.
   
• UTA finished in the top-40 nationally last year in blocks per game (21st, 4.8), steals per game (24th, 8.3), turnover margin (33rd, +2.8) and 3-pointers made per contest (37th, 9.0).

For the complete game preview and much more information about the matchup and UTA, view the infographic game notes by clicking here.

NEXT UP
UTA heads to Denton to face North Texas on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Mean Green are 1-0 on the year after opening the season with an 84-53 win over Oklahoma Christian last Tuesday. UNT hosts a quality mid-major program in Buffalo on Monday night.
 
The UTA-UNT game can be heard on KTNO 620 and streaming in The Varsity Network app, with the video broadcast airing on YouTube.
 
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).