SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UT Arlington men's basketball team (1-5) has its grueling four-game road trip finally come to a close on Monday, Nov. 29, when the Mavericks head from Utah to UC Santa Barbara (3-1) to face the Gauchos inside The Thunderdome at 8 p.m. Central (6 p.m. local Pacific).
 

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UT Arlington Game Notes  ///  UC Santa Barbara Preview

 
THE OPENING TIP(s)

• UC Santa Barbara will be the last of five-straight opponents for UTA which played in the NCAA Tournament last year. The Gauchos received a No. 12 seed and had a shot to beat No. 5 Creighton in the opening round of March Madness before falling one point shy, 63-62.
   
• UCSB will already be the sixth 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.
   
• UTA and UCSB last met on Dec. 7, 2019 – a 72-68 Gauchos win in Arlington. Incredibly, the only UTA player who appeared in that game who will also play in Monday's contest is David Azore (13 points, 10 rebounds in the 2019 game). Nicolas Elame (two points) also played in the contest, but UTA's 3rd-leading scorer this year (7.6) will miss his second-straight game a hamstring injury.

TWEETABLES
1) This is UTA's second game in California in 10 days; the Mavs dropped a tight 68-62 contest at San Diego State on Nov. 20. UTA had won eight games in a row in California prior to that defeat, dating back to Dec. 2, 1994, at Fresno State.
 
2) UTA was originally scheduled to return the 2019 game in Arlington to Santa Barbara last year, but the two sides agreed to push it back one season due to the travel impacts from COVID.
 
3) UTA ranks 24th in the nation in blocked shots per game (5.7), and individually Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu is 23rd at 2.8 per contest.
 
4) Utah State shot 52 percent from the floor on Saturday – one of only two UTA opponents this season to connect at better than 35 percent (Oklahoma State: 47 percent). The Mavs entered Saturday's game ranked 30th nationally in field goal percentage defense at 37.1.
 
5) Pedro Castro was held scoreless at Utah State, his first pointless game since he was a redshirt freshman with the Mavs (two schools in-between) on Mar. 16, 2019, in a Sun Belt Tournament semifinal win over Georgia Southern.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• Last season, UCSB went 22-5 overall and 13-3 in Big West Conference play on its way to a Big West regular season title, a Big West Tournament Championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Gauchos were picked as the unanimous favorite to repeat in the Big West preseason coaches' and media polls this year. UTA is 10-8 all-time versus current Big West members.
   
• UCSB is off to a 3-1 start with 25+ point wins over San Francisco State, Chicago State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and a narrow 73-65 loss at Washington State.
   
• The Gauchos have won 20-straight home games, which is the 6th-best current streak in the nation.
   
• UCSB ranks 5th nationally in field goal percentage (53.3), 4th in assists per game (20.5), 5th in 3-point defensive percentage (22.9), 6th in defensive field goal percentage (34.4), 8th in points per game (87.8) and 8th in rebounds per game (44.8).
   
• Senior center Amadou Sow ranks 19th in the country at 20.8 points per game and 20th in the nation in field goal percentage (66). The Preseason Big West All-Conference selection was also named to this year's Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award Watch List, which is presented annually to the nation's best mid-major player.
   
• UCSB is ranked #13 in the most recent CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll.

LONG-RANGE THREAT IS BACK
After undergoing minor back surgery to repair an on-going nerve issue two weeks ago, Carson Bischoff was cleared to return to the court this week and made his season debut Saturday in front of about 30 friends and family at Utah State. A native of Ogden, Utah, Bischoff knocked down three 3-pointers – half of his season total from last year. Those three 3-pointers for Bischoff already represent 16 percent of UTA's triples this year against Division-I opponents (3 of 19).
 
STILL FINDING THEIR FOOTING
In addition to facing a challenging schedule, UTA is still trying to adapt to a new style of play with a roster which has not spent a lot of time together. Based off KenPom's 'Minutes Continuity' analysis, UTA ranks in the bottom 17 percent of all of college basketball in terms of players who have played together the most (299th out of 358 teams).
 
UTA's minutes continuity percentage is just 29.4 – essentially meaning that just 29 percent of the Mavs total minutes this season have been played by the same players from last year. Of the 59 teams with a worst percentage than UTA, 13 are at 0 percent due to not playing any games last year (i.e. the Ivy League teams and some other select schools).
 
OTHER NOTABLE KENPOM NUMBERS
61.1% – Percentage of UTA's points this year which have come off 2-point field goals, ranking as the 18th-highest rate in the country.
25.5% – Percentage of UTA's opponents points so far this season which have come from made free throws, the 8th-most of any team in the nation.
91.7 – The rating of UTA's opponent defenses so far this season, ranking the 5th-hardest schedule in the country in terms of defenses faced.
 
ACU SUMMARY
UTA suffered an 80-71 overtime loss on Nov. 16 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 Nov. 18 at North Texas 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 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 on Nov. 13 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. 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
UTA will have a week in-between games as the Mavs will return to the College Park for the first time in three-and-a-half weeks when they welcome another traditionally strong mid-major program in Nevada for a 7 p.m. tipoff on Tuesday, Dec. 7.
 
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).