ARLINGTON – An unprecedented regular season will come to a close this weekend for the UT Arlington men’s basketball team when the Mavericks welcome Arkansas State to the College Park Center for a pair of matchups laced with Sun Belt Conference Tournament seeding implications.

Friday’s game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start, with Saturday’s slated for a 4 p.m. tipoff. Saturday will also represent Senior Day as the Mavs honor Davis Steelman, Lazaro Rojas and a pair of managers pregame. Additionally, Saturday will be a Whiteout, with all fans in attendance receiving a commemorative white T-shirt upon entering through Gate 3. UTA students can claim theirs in advance (only 75 available) in the MavCITY Rewards app, and then stopping by Campus Edge on Friday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to pick up the shirt.

SEEDING IMPLICATIONS

Below are the Sun Belt Conference standings (by winning percentage) entering the final weekend, and the opponents for those teams (two games Friday and Saturday).

West Division
1) Texas State: 10-3 (.769) | vs. ULM
2) Louisiana: 9-6 (.600) | @ LR
3) Arkansas State: 7-6 (.538) | @ UTA
4) UT Arlington: 7-8 (.467) | vs. ASU
5) Little Rock: 6-10 (.375) | vs. LA
6) ULM: 5-11 (.313) | @ TXST

East Division
1) South Alabama: 10-5 (.667) | vs. GSU
2) Georgia State: 6-4 (.600) | @ USA
3) Coastal Carolina: 7-5 (.583) | @ TROY
4) Appalachian State: 6-7 (.462) | @ GS
5) Georgia Southern: 6-8 (.429) | vs. APP
6) Troy: 4-10 (.286) | vs. CCU

Sun Belt Tournament West Division Seeding Scenarios (UTA Can Finish 3, 4 or 5)

• Texas State has clinched the #1 seed.
• Louisiana OR Arkansas State can still finish with the #2 seed.
• UTA will earn the #3 seed with TWO wins over Arkansas State.
• UTA will receive the #4 seed with ONE win over Arkansas State OR ONE Little Rock loss to Louisiana.
• UTA will get the #5 seed with TWO losses to Arkansas State and TWO Little Rock wins versus Louisiana.
• UTA cannot be the #6 seed.

The top-2 teams in each division receive a 1st-round bye in the Sun Belt Tournament scheduled for Mar. 5-8 in Pensacola. All 12 teams make the postseason tourney, which will be seeded off winning percentage as a result of the unbalanced scheduling due to COVID. 

KEY STORYLINES

• UTA and Arkansas State split their series in Jonesboro at the end of January, with the Red Wolves claiming an 83-75 win in overtime on Friday after overcoming a 13-point 2nd-half deficit (click here for the full recap). However, on a Shahada Wells’ coast-to-coast contested layup as time expired the next day, UTA secured a comeback 65-64 victory (click here for the full recap).
   
• After missing the previous 13 games with a leg injury, Sun Belt Preseason Second Team selection David Azore returned to the UTA lineup on Monday in a 76-74 loss at Louisiana. The redshirt junior – who was averaging 11.4 points and 4.6 rebounds in eight games prior to the injury – started the contest and scored eight points, grabbed six rebounds and recorded three steals in 28 minutes.
   
• Shahada Wells (266 points, 62 assists) and Sam Griffin (244 points, 37 assists) have accounted for 49 percent of UTA’s scoring in Sun Belt games this year (510 of 1,033) and 53 percent of its assists (99 of 188).
   
• Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu leads the Sun Belt in conference games with 3.4 blocks. For the year, walk-on Akobundu-Ehiogu is averaging 3.5 – which would rank 2nd in the nation if he qualified (must have appeared in 75 percent of UTA’s games this season; currently at 65 percent due to not being cleared eligibility-wise until mid-December). Akobundu-Ehiogu has 52 blocks (12th-most in the nation) in only 15 games. In just 15 career games with UTA, he has five games of 5+ blocks; no one else in program history has even four such games.

TWEETABLES

1) Akobundu-Ehiogu recorded a season-high 11 points on Monday at Louisiana as part of his first-career double-double. That gave UTA its 13th-different double-figure scorer this season – tied for the most of any team in the nation (Murray State, Abilene Christian).

2) UTA will be looking to avoid its first four-game Sun Belt losing streak since the 2015-16 season (Jan. 23-Feb. 4, 2016). The Mavs haven’t lost five league games in a row since January of 2007 when they were members of the Southland Conference.

3) UTA’s top-35 national rankings: 3-pointers made per game (32nd, 9.1), blocks per game (34th, 4.6) and steals per game (35th, 8.2). In Sun Belt games, UTA is 1st in blocks per game (5.1) and 2nd in both free-throw percentage (76.6) and turnover margin (+1.7).

4) Monday’s 76-74 loss at Louisiana was UTA’s first Sun Belt defeat this year in a game decided by five points or less (4-1). UTA had just seven turnovers in that game – its 2nd-fewest of the season (five vs. Oklahoma State).

SCOUTING ARKANSAS STATE

• Arkansas State had its four-game winning streak snapped with a postponed-game loss at home to Texas State on Monday, 57-52.
   
• True freshman Norchad Omier is averaging a double-double on the year with 12.6 points and 11.6 rebounds. He ranks 5th in the nation in rebounding, 4th in double-doubles (12) and 6th in offensive boards per game (4.1).
   
• Marquis Eaton leads the Red Wolves with 13.8 points per game for the year, but has increased that average to 15.8 in Sun Belt contests. In conference games, Eaton is averaging a league-best 5.8 assists per outing and ranks 1st in free-throw percentage (.906).
   
• A-State ranks 18th in the nation in 3-point percentage for the season (.383). The Red Wolves also lead the Sun Belt in conference games with a 78.6 percent free-throw clip.

UTA BACK-TO-BACK AVERAGES

UTA is 3-4 on the first day of back-to-backs in Sun Belt play (all Fridays except Thursday vs. Texas State), and 4-3 on Saturdays. This list does not include UTA’s lone solo game at Louisiana on Monday, Feb. 22. Below are the key statistical averages (UTA listed first, opponent in parenthesis):

Points Per Game
1st Day: 73.4 (74.3)
2nd Day: 63.6 (67.6)

Field-Goal Percentage
1st Day: 39.9 (45.5)
2nd Day: 37.4 (42.5)

3-Point Percentage
1st Day: 37.1 (36.8)
2nd Day: 34.6 (38.1)

Free-Throw Percentage
1st Day: 79.5 (74.6)
2nd Day: 74.2 (72.6)

BY THE NUMBERS

0: To this point of the season, UTA has not had a single game impacted due to COVID.

4: Four of UTA’s first five games this season came against opponents which won 20+ games last year and/or finished in the top 100 of the NET: Oklahoma State (64 NET), Arkansas (20 Wins & 43 NET), Louisiana Tech (22 Wins & 87 NET) and Tulsa (21 Wins & 78 NET).

5: UTA played five games in the first 10 days of the season; the only team in the country to play more games during that time was San Francisco with six (several teams tied with five).

5: Jordan Phillips landed at #5 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays for Jan. 15 after an and-1 dunk against Louisiana.

7: The Mavs have won games this season when scoring in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 100s and 110s.

7: Wells had seven steals on Jan. 22 against Little Rock – tied for the 4th-most by any player in the nation this year (tied for the 3rd-most against a Division-I opponent). It’s also tied for the 3rd-most in single-game program history.

10: Nicolas Elame landed at #10 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays on Feb. 22 for his one-handed dunk at Louisiana.

13: UTA’s 13 different players who have reached double-figure points in a game this season: Wells, Azore, Patrick Mwamba, Elame, Griffin, Fredelin De La Cruz, Phillips, Brandyn Talbot, Rojas, Grayson Carter, McKade Marquis, Steelman and Akobundu-Ehiogu.

13: Lazaro Rojas (4.4 PPG, 3.3 RPG) is doubtful for this weekend’s games with a leg injury. He has missed the last 13 games.

14: The Mavs made 14 3-pointers at Texas State (Feb. 13) – their most ever in a conference game that they lost. It’s the 2nd-most makes in any loss in program history (15 at TCU on Dec. 19, 1999).

90: The Mavs scored 90+ points in four-straight games between Dec. 11-Jan. 1. It marked the first time since the start of the 1992-93 season that UTA had scored 90+ in four-consecutive contests.

93: The 93 points UTA scored in a 102-93 setback at Little Rock on Jan. 1 were its most in a regulation loss since a 102-94 setback at Sam Houston State on Feb. 14, 2002.

95: UTA shot 95 percent (19-20) from the free-throw line on Jan. 1 at Little Rock, which at the time was the 8th-best by any team in the nation this year (minimum: 15 makes).

SCHEDULE ALTERATIONS

Like every team’s non-conference schedule, UTA’s was drastically impacted and ended up significantly different than it was originally; however, to this point, the Mavs have not had any games affected by COVID. The non-league docket featured eight contests – four at home, one at a neutral site and three on the road. Each of those games were drivable and regionally located. In early December, UTA and Oral Roberts mutually agreed to delay the start of their home-and-home series by one season to 2021-22 (were scheduled to play at ORU on Dec. 19), and UTA added Dallas Christian to make up for that.

UTA played five games in 10 days to open the season, including two Power-5 teams (vs. Oklahoma State, @ Arkansas) and three opponents which won at least 20 games a season ago (@ Louisiana Tech, @ Arkansas, @ Tulsa).

SUSTAINED SUCCESS

Despite finishing last year with a 14-18 record, UTA still posted the 2nd-highest NET Ranking (formerly the RPI) in the Sun Belt at #129 – behind only Texas State at #120. To further demonstrate the Mavs’ consistency over the last six years, since 2014-15 (its second season in the league) UTA has the 2nd-best average NET/RPI among all Sun Belt teams at #121 (Georgia State: #119).

SUN BELT SUCCESS

UTA and Georgia Southern are the only two Sun Belt Conference teams to have posted six-straight years of double-figure league victories. The Mavs went 9-9 in SBC action in their first year in the conference in 2013-14, and since then have posted at least 10 Sun Belt wins in every season. That streak will come to an end for both teams this season.

YOUNG NAMED TOP ASSISTANT COACH

Longtime UTA associate head coach Greg Young has been named the top assistant coach in the Sun Belt Conference, as unveiled by Stadium’s Jeff Goodman.

Young, who is entering his 12th season with UTA in 2020-21, was voted as the top assistant coach in the Sun Belt by his peers as Goodman polled at least 20 coaches in the conference.

Since joining UTA in 2009-10, Young has helped guide the Mavericks to a 207-152 record (.577) and advanced to the postseason four times: 2012 NIT, 2013 CIT, 2016 CIT and 2017 NIT. 

He has been a member of two regular-season championship teams – 2012 Southland Conference and 2017 Sun Belt – in addition to reaching the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Final in 2013 and the Sun Belt Tournament Final in both 2018 and 2019.

NET CHANGES

Prior to this season, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee announced that the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) will be changed to increase accuracy and simplify it by reducing a five-component metric to just two. The remaining factors include the Team Value Index (TVI), which is a result-based feature that rewards teams for beating quality opponents, particularly away from home, as well as an adjusted net efficiency rating.

The adjusted efficiency is a team’s net efficiency, adjusted for strength of opponent and location (home/away/neutral) across all games played. For example, a given efficiency value (net points per 100 possessions) against stronger opposition rates higher than the same efficiency against lesser opponents and having a certain efficiency on the road rates higher than the same efficiency at home.

No longer will the NET use winning percentage, adjusted winning percentage and scoring margin.

NEXT UP

The Sun Belt Tournament will begin for UTA on Friday, Mar. 5, in Pensacola.

FOLLOW ALONG

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