ARLINGTON – Spurred by another 2nd-half comeback and double-double performance from Patrick Mwamba, the UT Arlington men's basketball team won its third-straight game and completed a weekend sweep of ULM Saturday by claiming a 58-52 win inside the College Park Center.
 
On Friday, UTA faced a six-point halftime deficit before outscoring ULM by 13 in the 2nd half. On Saturday, UTA trailed by five at intermission, 34-29, and it was Déjà vu as the Mavs posted a +11 margin in 2nd half, 29-18, with the 18 points representing the fewest they have allowed in any half this season to a Division-I opponent.
 
Meanwhile, after registering a career-high 14 points on Friday night – nine of which came in the 2nd half –Mwamba followed the theme of the weekend for the Mavs as 14 of his career-high 19 points occurred in the final 20 minutes, in addition to nine of his career-high-tying 12 rebounds to give the redshirt sophomore his second-career double-double.
 
The backcourt duo of Sam Griffin and Shahada Wells both reached double-figure scoring as well for the Mavs, with Griffin tallying 14 – 11 coming in the 1st half – and Wells 13, registering his 18th double-figure scoring performance of the season in 19 opportunities.
 
UTA came out of the halftime break on a 14-4 run to take a five-point lead, 43-38, and never trailed the rest of the game as the Mavs won their seventh in a row overall against the Warhawks. Saturday's performance marked the third-straight game UTA has erased a halftime deficit to win; those are the only three occurrences of the season (3-8).
 
Just past the midway point of the Sun Belt season, UTA (11-9 overall, 7-5 Sun Belt), Texas State (7-3) and Louisiana (7-5) are all tied at the top of the West Division in terms of wins. In the unbalanced COVID scheduling, the final standings will go off winning percentage, which right now places the Bobcats (.700) ahead of the Mavericks and Ragin' Cajuns (.583). UTA and Texas State square off in a crucial home-and-home set next weekend.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• UTA was again without Sun Belt Preseason Second Team selection David Azore (11.4 points, 4.6 rebounds) for the 11th-straight game with a leg injury. Additionally, Lazaro Rojas (4.4 points, 3.3 rebounds) also missed his 10th-consecutive game with a leg injury.
• ULM falls to 4-15 and 2-10 in league action following its 10th-straight loss.
• Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu scored four points, grabbed six rebounds and blocked two shots for the Mavs. Davis Steelman added four points, four rebounds and two steals, and Nicolas Elame registered three points, three assists and five boards as the Mavs finished with a 44-32 rebounding edge.
• Russell Harrison recorded a double-double for ULM with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Thomas Howell added 10 points as the lone other double-figure scorer for the Warhawks.
• After allowing ULM to shoot 50 percent (14-28) from the floor in the 1st half, UTA clamped down in the 2nd and limited the Warhawks to 21 percent (6-29).

PLAY-BY-PLAY SUMMARY
UTA controlled the opening few minutes, but ULM responded with a pair of 7-0 runs in the first 10 minutes – the last of which propelled the Warhawks to a 20-13 lead with under 9 minutes remaining.
 
The ULM advantage grew to its largest of the day at eight, 28-20, inside of 7 minutes, and from there the Warhawk lead fluctuated between three and seven points the rest of the half before the visitors took the 34-29 cushion into the halftime break.
 
The aforementioned 14-4 run yielded the five-point lead early in the 2nd half for the Mavs, and the advantage grew to six a few minutes later, 46-40, but the Warhawks responded with a 6-0 run to tie for the game for the fourth time at 46-all with just over 8 minutes showing.
 
However, the Mavs rebutted with an extended 6-0 stretch over four minutes – from the 8-minute mark to the 4-minute juncture – with the extended scoreless streak for the Warhawks proving too much to overcome as they didn't get any closer than two the rest of the way.
 
THIS AND THAT

• This is the first time all season UTA has been multiple games over .500.
• This was UTA's second two-game Sun Belt series sweep of the year, with the other also occurring against ULM.
• This is UTA's fourth-straight win over ULM this season, seventh in a row overall and 10th in the last 11 meetings with the Warhawks dating back to the 2016 Sun Belt Tournament.
• Mwamba's first double-double came earlier this season on Nov. 28 versus Northwestern State (13 points, 12 rebounds).
• UTA has now won games this year when scoring in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 100s and 110s.

NEXT UP
UTA will remain at home and welcome rival Texas State to the College Park Center for a 6 p.m. tipoff on Thursday, Feb. 11. The Mavs will then head to San Marcos to face the Bobcats on Saturday, Feb. 13, at 4 p.m.
 
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).