ARLINGTON – Playing with just nine players in a clash of the top-2 teams in the Sun Belt Conference, the UT Arlington men's basketball team – despite missing leading scorer
David Azore – posted an impressive 83-73 win Thursday night over Louisiana behind a triple-double performance from
Javon Levi to move into sole possession of 1st place in the league with a 4-1 record.
Levi recorded his 10th assist with only 22 seconds remaining to cap just the third triple-double in program history with a brilliant all-around line of 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against only two turnovers.
Patrick Mwamba delivered career highs of 22 points and five assists,
Nicolas Elame came off the bench to net 13 points, corral six rebounds and register a career-best four steals while
Jack Hoiberg – back from missing the last two games in COVID protocol – scored all nine of his points in the 2nd half to help UTA stave off the preseason 2nd-place Ragin' Cajuns.
A marquee matchup between two of the best players in the Sun Belt unfortunately didn't transpire as UTA was without the conference's leading scoring in
David Azore at an incredible 26 points per game in league play due to COVID protocol. Meanwhile, Louisiana was missing Theo Akwuba – the reigning Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year – who averages 10.4 points and 8.8 rebounds for the year and was coming off a 16-point, 15-rebound performance last time out versus South Alabama.
With both teams missing key pieces, UTA displayed its depth in arguably its best all-around offensive performance of the season as the Mavs established season highs against a Division-I opponent in field goal percentage (55.7, 34-61), assists (22) and points in regulation (83).
Making the offensive showing even more impressive for the hosts was that Louisiana entered the game ranked 2nd in league games by holding opponents to just 65.3 points per contest and 1st in field goal percentage defense (35.3).
With the win, UTA moves atop the Sun Belt standings at 4-1 (.800), while Louisiana (3-1, .750) and Troy (3-1, .750) reside in a tie for 2nd – and the Mavs have handed both of those teams their lone loss.
BOX SCORE NUGGETS
- Louisiana came into the game ranked 18th nationally in rebounds per game at 41.4, but UTA out-boarded the Cajuns, 39-28, and held a 48-36 edge in paint points.
- Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu scored eight points – several on highlight-reel dunks – and added three blocks and three rebounds.
- Montez Young Jr. scored the first six points of the night for the Mavs, and also finished with four rebounds. He came into the game with eight points total in four Sun Belt contests.
- UTA used its 10th-different starting lineup of the year to represent the 3rd-most combinations of any team in the nation.
- Levi, Brandyn Talbot, Mwamba, Young Jr. and Akobundu-Ehiogu comprised the starting lineup, with Talbot making his first-career start.
- UTA was also missing Lazaro Rojas (3.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg) and walk-on Antonio Romanelli due to COVID protocol.
- The Mavs did an exemplorary job controlling Arizona transfer and former McDonald's All-American Jordan Brown as Louisiana's leading scorer posted only nine points on the evening – just the second time all year he's been held to single digits.
- Kobe Julien led Louisiana with 20 points. Dou Gueye and Trajan Wesley both added 13 points for the Cajuns, while Joe Charles netted 11 off the bench.
- After allowing Louisiana to shoot 54 percent (14-26) from the floor in the 1st half, UTA limited the Cajuns to 42 percent (14-33) in the 2nd half.
GAME FLOW
After falling behind 16-10, UTA clipped off six-straight points quickly to tie the contest at 16-all. However, the Cajuns had an even faster response to that Maverick surge as they orchestrated a 10-0 run in under two minutes to open up a 26-16 lead at the midway point of the 1st half.
Unfazed, the Mavs countered and eventually – on the strength of a 12-0 run capped by a Levi 3-pointer – completely erased their deficit and took a 33-28 lead. From there, UTA extended their edge by another point and carried a 39-33 lead into the halftime locker room on the strength of 53-percent shooting (17-32) from the floor.
Louisiana started fast in the 2nd half, scoring 11 of the first 15 points in the period to re-claim a 44-43 lead after five minutes of action. However, UTA once again had instant retort, this time on a Hoiberg floater to beat the shot clock followed by an Elame layup to re-take a 47-44 edge.
UTA re-established a six-point lead, 56-50, with 10 minutes left following a ridiculous one-handed alley-oop throwdown from Akobundu-Ehiogu in transition, prompting a Cajuns' timeout.
The Mavs held a 59-52 edge with 8:30 remaining after a Mwamba baseline 3-pointer before the Ragin' Cajuns made it one-possession game, 59-56, with just over six minutes left.
UTA then put together a game-solidifying 7-0 run in 90 seconds to carve out a 10-point lead, 66-56, inside of five minutes. From there, the Mavs didn't allow the visitors to get any closer than six the rest of the way, leading by as much as 14 in the final minute.
QUOTABLE
"Like almost every team in the country right now, we were shorthanded, but that's just the world we live in currently. And that's why we've kept preaching the power of the team – the crown jewel of any team is its depth. We have really good players; you don't ever want to lose guys, but I knew that we would play well and guys would step up. I'm proud of our team. I know Louisiana was missing a couple of players too, but for us to win by double figures is a credit to our players and our whole program."
– UTA Head Coach
Greg Young
THIS AND THAT
- Erick Neal has the only other two triple-doubles in program history, coming on Nov. 27, 2017, versus UT Dallas (10p, 10r, 13a) and on Jan. 28, 2016, at ULM (27p, 10r, 12a).
- Prior to the start of the game, Levi was presented with a commemorative 1,000 Point Ball for reaching the career milestone at Georgia Southern on Jan. 8.
- UTA has now defeated both of the Sun Belt Preseason top-2 teams in Georgia State (picked 1st) and Louisiana (picked 2nd).
- The 4-1 start to the Sun Belt season matches the 2015-16 squad for the best five-game beginning in UTA's tenure in the league (since 2013-14).
- Following Thursday game, UTA is incredibly one of only three Sun Belt teams to have played all five of their regularly scheduled conference games (App State, ULM).
- The last time someone other than Azore led UTA in scoring (DNP versus Howard Payne on Dec. 22 due to a non-COVID illness) was Pedro Castro, who is out for the year following back surgery, with 17 at UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 29.
- UTA is now 7-0 when leading at the half this year.
NEXT UP
UTA is scheduled to conclude its home weekend by welcoming ULM to the CPC for a 2 p.m. tipoff on Saturday. The Warhawks are 9-8 overall and 1-4 in the Sun Belt following an 80-56 loss at Texas State on Thursday.
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).
