SAN DIEGO – The UT Arlington men's basketball team (1-3) plays its third game in five days in a third-different city when the Mavericks visit a strong San Diego State team (2-1) Saturday at Viejas Arena at 9 p.m. Central (7 p.m. local Pacific).
 

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UT Arlington Game Notes  ///  San Diego State Game Notes

  
THE OPENING TIP(s)

• San Diego State is the third opponent in five days for UTA which played in the NCAA Tournament last year. The Mavs dropped an overtime heartbreaker to Abilene Christian on Tuesday (more info later in this release) before suffering a 64-36 setback at North Texas on Thursday.
   
• SDSU will already be the fourth 2021 NCAA Tournament opponent for UTA this month, and in total the Mavs will play eight such foes in their non-conference docket – believed to be the most of any team in the nation.
   
• This will also be the first of three Mountain West Conference opponents for UTA over its next four games. The Mavs will head to Utah State on Nov. 27 before welcoming Nevada to the College Park Center on Dec. 7. UTA is 9-15 all-time versus current MW teams, with the last matchup coming at Nevada in November of 2019 (80-73 UTA loss).

TWEETABLES
1) With a four-block performance at North Texas Thursday, Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu moved into UTA's top 10 for career blocks despite playing in only 22 games.
 
2) Akobundu-Ehiogu is now 10th all-time with 72 rejections, and he is the only player in program history with 70+ blocks in fewer than 30 games (next closest: Johnny Hamilton with 72 in the first 30 games of 2017-18).
 
3) UTA has committed 49 turnovers over the past two games, leading directly to 61 points for its opponents.
 
4) After tying a single-game program record for fewest 1st-half points with 12 at UNT, UTA actually out-scored the Mean Green in the 2nd half Thursday, 24-21, holding them to just 22-percent shooting (6-27).
 
5) Akobundu-Ehiogu is a perfect 10-10 from the floor in the last three games, and 16 of his 26 points this season have come off dunks.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This will be the first-ever meeting between UTA and SDSU. The Mavericks have only played two games in their 62+ year history in San Diego, and both of those came against the San Diego Toreros (West Coast Conference member) in 1988 (loss) and 2005 (win).
   
• SDSU has played one of the most challenging schedules in the nation to date as the Aztecs have a 66-53 win over UC Riverside, a narrow 66-60 loss at BYU – which went to Eugene and destroyed #12 Oregon on Monday, 81-49 – and a hard-fought 65-63 victory against Arizona State at home Thursday night.
   
• San Diego State has won a Mountain West-record 14 titles (eight regular season and six tournament) – six more than any other current conference member. SDSU was picked to finish 2nd in the MW Preseason Poll this year behind Colorado State.
   
• SDSU has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in eight of the last 11 seasons (excluding the COVID-canceled 2020 event), and has an NIT semifinal appearance during that span as well.
   
• Since the start of the 2009-10 season entering this year, San Diego State has the 9th-highest home winning percentage in the country, amassing a 171-23 (88.1) record.
   
• Matt Bradley leads a trio of double-figure scorers for SDSU through three games at 14.3 per contest. Nathan Mensah is nearly averaging a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds while shooting 81.3 percent (13-16) from the floor. Trey Pulliam rounds out that trio at 10.3 per outing.  

ACU SUMMARY
UTA suffered an 80-71 overtime loss on Tuesday to Abilene Christian despite holding a three-point lead with less than two seconds remaining in regulation. Leading 63-60, UTA's Shemar Wilson grabbed a rebound off a missed ACU free throw and was surrounded by a pair of Wildcats.
 
One official signaled for an ACU foul for grabbing Wilson around the waist with 1.5 seconds left. However, another official under the basket called for a jump ball. That ended up being the final decision, and with the possession arrow in favor of ACU, the visitors got the ball back under their own basket and knocked down a contested 3-pointer on the ensuing inbounds to force OT, where the Wildcats out-scored the Mavs, 17-8.
 
RE-TWEETS

• The 36 points UTA scored on Thursday at UNT were the 3rd-fewest in a single game in program history (31 at SMU on Dec. 16, 1989 and 35 versus Denver on Dec. 31, 2012). UTA also made just 12 field goals, tied for the fewest in program history with a dozen at the aforementioned SMU contest.
   
• The Mavs turned the ball over 28 times on Tuesday against Abilene Christian – their most in any game since committing 31 giveaways at Oklahoma State on Dec. 19, 2012.
   
• UTA shot 64.2 percent (43-67) from the floor last Saturday against Mary Hardin-Baylor, which was tied for the 7th-best mark in single-game program history. It was the 2nd-highest percentage in program history when making at least 40 shots (66 percent, 40-62, at Texas Wesleyan on Jan. 2, 1965).
   
• 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.
   
• Javon Levi posted his seventh-career double-double with 12 points and 10 assists 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.
   
• Greg Young secured his first-career win at the Division-I level with the 104-75 victory over Mary Hardin-Baylor on Nov. 13. 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.
   
• The Mavs had six different players reach double-figure points against UMHB. 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.

2020-21 RETWEETS

• 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.

• 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).
   
• David Azore has four career games of 11+ defensive rebounds. The only player with more than Azore's four is all-time leading rebounder Kevin Hervey with five.

NEXT UP
Following four games in eight days, UTA will have a week between games before heading back out on a roadtrip which in part will return the Mavs to California. UTA will face Utah State on Saturday, Nov. 27, before heading to UC Santa Barbara on Monday, Nov. 29. Both teams competed in the NCAA Tournament last year.
 
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).