SAN DIEGO – A resilient UT Arlington men's basketball team (1-4) put up a feisty effort in a hostile Viejas Arena environment, but eventually fell just short at San Diego State (3-1) Saturday night, 68-62.
Facing its third opponent in five days which went to the NCAA Tournament last year, UTA showed its resiliency and had the game tied, 46-46, with just over eight minutes remaining. However, a game-altering 9-0 run in response by the Aztecs was part of an extended 12-2 surge by the hosts, who opened up the first double-figure lead of the night for either side at 58-48 with five minutes to play. From there, the Mavericks were unable to get any closer than six – which they did four times in the closing four minutes.
Pedro Castro (17) and
David Azore (15) combined for 32 points in a two-headed attack to lead UTA offensively.
Nicolas Elame also reached double figures for the Mavs with 11 off the bench in only 11 foul-plagued minutes. True freshman
Montez Young Jr. corralled a game-best 10 rebounds – five of which came on the offensive glass in the 2nd half – as UTA matched the Mountain West Conference member on the glass for the game, 34-34.
UTA went head-to-head with the defending Mountain West Tournament and Regular Season Champions in front of nearly 12,000 vocal spectators, but ultimately the key deciding factor came down to fouls and free throw shooting. The Mavs had two players foul out – Azore and
Shemar Wilson – and had two other key members finish with four fouls as UTA was whistled for 26 fouls compared with 18 for SDSU.
All told, that led to the Aztecs finishing an incredible 30-34 from the free throw line (88.2 percent) compared with just 7-13 (53.8 percent) for the Mavs – a differential of +23 in points at the charity stripe for the hosts.
QUOTABLE
"I loved our grit and our fight tonight, especially the way we played Thursday night at North Texas," said UTA head coach
Greg Young. "For us to come back and play a top-50 team in the nation on their home floor and put ourselves in a position to win I love.
"I don't love moral victories, but we are trying to build this thing the right way," Young continued. "We just need to clean up some things. We can't foul as much; it's hard to win a game on the road with that type of free throw disparity. But we did value the ball better and I thought we got some cleaner shots. Our execution was better too, and this is certainly a game we can build off."
BOX SCORE NUGGETS
- After committing 49 turnovers the previous two games, UTA only had 13 giveaways on Saturday compared with 17 for SDSU, leading to a 20-14 edge in points for the Mavs.
- The Mavs held SDSU to just 34.8 percent (16-46) from the floor while connecting at a 38.5-percent clip (25-65) themselves.
- Javon Levi had five points, four rebounds and four assists for UTA.
- Young Jr. added a trio of assists and a pair of steals as his energy and hustle was evident throughout the contest, particularly in the 2nd half as he created numerous second chances for the Mavs.
- Jack Hoiberg knocked down a pair of 3-pointers en route to an eight-point night for the Mavs.
- Matt Bradley tallied 15 points to pace the Aztecs, who only had Trey Pulliam join him in double figures with 11.
- Young used his fourth-different starting lineup in five games with Levi, Castro, Azore, Young Jr. and Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu.
- Patrick Mwamba, UTA's 2nd-leading scorer a season ago, did not make the trip due to health reasons.
- SDSU – which is now 30-3 in its last 33 homes game – had eight players made at least two free throws each.
GAME FLOW
UTA's first five points all came courtesy of Castro, and the Mavs built a 9-4 lead at the under-12 mark of the opening half. Following a 7-0 spurt by SDSU to turn an 11-8 deficit into a 15-11 edge, UTA re-tied the contest at 15-all with less than eight minutes left following an Elame layup.
However, the Aztecs responded with a 9-0 run over two minutes to open up a 24-15 edge inside of six minutes. But the Mavs had a response and pulled back within four, 27-23, with a little over three minutes to play despite having two players with three fouls and two players with two fouls.
A resilient UTA side only went into the half trailing 31-28 as SDSU took advantage of the Mavs' foul trouble by going 13-14 from the free throw line compared with just 2-3 for the visitors in the opening 20 minutes.
UTA pulled within one, 33-32, at the 17:12 mark of the 2nd half following an Azore steal and coast-to-coast layup, but SDSU rebutted with an 8-0 spurt to open up a 40-32 advantage with 15 minutes to play.
After the Aztecs had pushed ahead by nine, 46-37, with a little over 10 minutes remaining, the Mavs again battled back, and following a Castro turnaround jumper at the 8:38 mark capped the 9-0 run which knotted the contest at 46-46.
That was followed by the aforementioned SDSU push, but the Mavs had one more response in them and made it a two-possession game at the under-4 mark, 60-54, after a Levi and-1 conversion. However, SDSU pushed back and re-opened a 10-point edge, 64-54, with a little over a minute remaining before UTA got back within six multiple times in the closing minute, including the final margin.
THIS AND THAT
- This was UTA's first road non-conference Saturday night game (start time after 6) since Dec. 16, 2017 – an 86-65 win over UTRGV in Edinburg.
- After not wearing black uniforms since the 2017-18 season, UTA wore new black jerseys for the second time in three days.
- This was the first-ever meeting between UTA and SDSU.
- SDSU has the 3rd-best winning percentage in the nation since the start of the 2019-20 season.
- SDSU was already the fourth opponent for UTA this season which played in the NCAA Tournament last year (Oklahoma State, Abilene Christian, North Texas). The Mavs will play eight total non-conference games against 2021 March Madness participants – believed to be the most of any team in the nation.
- The Aztecs have won a record 14 Mountain West Conference championships.
- SDSU was the first of three Mountain West 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.
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
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