Box Score SAN MARCOS – The UT Arlington men's basketball team trimmed a 20-point 2nd-half deficit down to seven in the closing minutes, but the Mavericks' comeback stalled out there as they dropped a 79-68 decision Saturday afternoon to Texas State inside Strahan Arena.
 
Shahada Wells led the Mavs with 17 points, Jordan Phillips tallied 12, Nicolas Elame registered 11, Sam Griffin totaled 10 and Patrick Mwamba just missed giving UTA five double-figure scorers with nine.
 
UTA shot 50 percent from 3-point range and knocked down 14 triples – its most this season against a Division-I opponent – but it wasn't enough to overcome a fast start from Texas State which helped propel the hosts to a double-figure halftime lead.
 
In the 2nd half, the Mavs cut a 59-39 score with 12 minutes remaining to 70-63 with 2+ minutes remaining, and UTA had multiple opportunities on the same trip to knife into the deficit even more, but the 3-point attempts were off the mark. The Bobcats didn't allow the Mavs to get any closer the rest of the day as they swept UTA in the regular season for the first time since the 2009 season.
 
With the win, Texas State extends its lead in the Sun Belt West Division by moving to 9-3 in league play, while UTA falls to 7-7. Arkansas State sits at 6-5 heading into a contest later on Saturday with Little Rock (6-7), while Louisiana resides at 7-6 in advance of a meeting with ULM (3-10) this afternoon. The top-2 teams in the West and East divisions receive 1st-round byes in the Sun Belt Tournament next month. UTA has four regular-season games remaining.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Texas State improves to 15-6 overall, while UTA falls to 11-11.
• UTA was again without Sun Belt Preseason Second Team selection David Azore (11.4 points, 4.6 rebounds) for the 12th-straight game with a leg injury. Additionally, Lazaro Rojas (4.4 points, 3.3 rebounds) also missed his 11th-consecutive game with a leg injury.
• Elame followed up a career-high 17-point performance in a 63-56 loss to Texas State on Thursday night with the aforementioned 11 on Saturday – the first time the sophomore has posted back-to-back games of 10+ points.
• Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu blocked three shots and grabbed a team-high five rebounds for UTA.
• Wells passed out a game-high five assists; Griffin added four.
• Isiah Small recorded a double-double with game bests of 21 points and 10 rebounds for Texas State. Caleb Asberry tallied 20 points, while Nighael Ceaser added 10 to round out the trio of double-figure scorers for the Bobcats.
• UTA shot 43 percent (22-51) from the floor for the game, while Texas State connected at a 48-percent rate (27-56).
• The Bobcats finished with a 23-5 edge in 2nd-chance points as they held a 15-6 advantage on the offensive glass and 39-22 overall.

PLAY-BY-PLAY SUMMARY
An early 13-0 run help the Bobcats to double-up the Mavs, 20-10, and the hosts didn't let up from there as the advantage grew to as much as 16, 31-15, at the 5-minute mark before taking a 42-30 halftime lead.
 
UTA shot 53 percent from the floor (10-19), in addition to 67 percent from 3-point rage (6-9), in the opening 20 minutes, but the Mavs allowed the Bobcats to shoot 63 percent (17-27) and 57 percent (4-7), respectively. The biggest statistical disparity came in the form of 2nd-chance points as the Bobcats efficiently converted five offensive rebounds into 11 points, while the Mavs grabbed just one and did not score off of it.
 
Texas State methodically extended its lead in the opening minutes of the 2nd half and eventually built its biggest cushion of the day at the aforementioned 20 (59-39). The Mavs showed a little fight and grit and responded with nine-straight points off 3-pointers from Phillips (two) and Wells to trim the deficit to 11, 59-48, inside of 10 minutes to play.
 
A few minutes later after the Bobcats had padded their lead back to up to 16, 66-50, Mwamba clipped of a pair of 3-pointers on consecutive trips from nearly the same spot on the baseline in front of the Mavs' bench as part of an 8-0 UTA surge to move within eight, 66-58.
 
It remained an eight-point differential, 68-60, with a little over 3 minutes remaining, and the aforementioned 70-63 scoreline inside of 3 minutes, but that would be as close as the Mavs would get.
 
THIS AND THAT

• Both teams were members of the Southland Conference the last time Texas State swept the regular-season meetings (January of 2009).
• This was the first time in eight meetings that the final margin was greater than eight points.
• The loss was just the sixth for UTA in the last 23 meetings with Texas State dating back to 2012.
• This was the 76th all-time meeting between UTA and Texas State; the Mavs have only played McNeese (79 games) more in their 60+ year history. 

NEXT UP
UTA will embark on its final regular-season road trip of the year when the Mavs head to Lafayette to face Louisiana in a two-game series Feb. 19-20 with start times of 6 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively.
 
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).