ARLINGTON – Freshman Chendall Weaver came off the bench to score a game-high 20 points in leading a quintet of UT Arlington double-figure scorers as the Mavericks (1-1) claimed a 103-61 Homecoming win over Southwestern on Saturday night inside the College Park Center.
 
Weaver went 6-10 from the floor and a perfect 5-5 from the free-throw line while also securing six rebounds and passing out a game-high-tying four assists in just 23 minutes.
 
Taj Anderson netted 19 points, Aaron Cash tallied 18, Marion Humphrey added 12 and Brandyn Talbot contributed 11 to round out the UTA double-figure scorers as the Mavs connected at a 47-percent clip (31-66) and 41 percent (11-27) from the 3-point line.
 
UTA turned Southwestern over 31 times, leading to an insurmountable 51-4 advantage for the Mavs in points off turnovers. Additionally, UTA finished with a +16 edge in points in the paint (36-20), a +19 margin in second-chance points (28-9) and a +25 cushion (28-3) in fastbreak points.
 
UTA – which had 75 percent of its points at Oklahoma State on Monday come from newcomers – increased that contribution total to 80 percent on Saturday as 82 of the Mavs' 103 points came from players who weren't donning the blue and white last year.
 
Both teams traded buckets early on, and the game was tied at 15-all just a little over six minutes into the contest. However, UTA responded with a 12-0 surge as part of a larger, extended 32-6 run over the ensuing seven minutes which gave the Mavs a 26-point advantage, 47-21, and for all intents and purposes the victory.
 

BOX SCORE NUGGETS

• UTA scored 100+ points for the 75th time in program history.
• The Mavs recorded 19 steals, which tied for the 3rd most in single-game program lore (22 versus University of Dallas in 1990 and 21 against Huston-Tillotson in 1991).
• UTA went 30-48 from the free-throw line, with the 48 attempts tying for the 5th most in program history.
• Humphrey notched six steals, tying for the 10th-highest total by a UTA player in a single game.
• Shemar Wilson corralled a game-high nine rebounds while also adding seven points.
• UTA finished with a 45-32 rebounding margin.
• After making just four 3-pointers in the entire game at Oklahoma State, UTA knocked down four triples in the opening 8:02 on Saturday and finished with 11.
• True freshman Damonze Woods and redshirt freshman Cash Clayton both saw playing time for the first time in their collegiate careers.
• UTA Starting 5: Taj Anderson, Kyron Gibson, Aaron Cash, Pedro Castro, Shemar Wilson

QUOTABLE
"It was a fun game; we need a crowd like that every night. We're still learning how to play together, but we got better at some things tonight and I was proud of everyone who got to play. I really liked our 2nd half as well – we started getting stops and making some plays offensively which originated from our defense."
– UTA Head Coach Greg Young


GAME FLOW
With UTA holding a 20-17 lead just over seven minutes into the contest, the Mavs rattled off 12-straight points – the first five of which came from Weaver as he threw down a dunk and then knocked down a 3.
 
That created a 15-point edge, 32-17, at the nine-minute mark, and after a Southwestern bucket the Mavs responded with a 9-0 push in 90 seconds to open up a 41-19 cushion. Following a pair of Pirates' free throws to create a 41-21 score line, UTA again countered with a 6-0 stretch to establish the aforementioned 26-point lead, 47-21, with five minutes remaining in the opening half.
 
UTA would settle for a 53-34 halftime lead after shooting 47 percent (17-36) from the floor and 46 percent (5-11) from the 3-point line. The Mavs forced the Pirates into 16 opening-period turnovers, leading to a massive 27-1 advantage in points off giveaways.
 
Possessing a 62-39 lead a little over three minutes into the 2nd half, UTA orchestrated another 12-0 run over the next four minutes to forge ahead by 35, 74-39, at the 13-minute juncture.
 
The lead grew to 40, 83-43, when Weaver delivered an impressive and-1 floater falling out of bounds on the baseline. From there, the lead got to as large as 45 in the closing minutes as UTA cruised to its first win of the year.
 
THIS AND THAT

• The contest counted as an official game for UTA, but served as an exhibition tilt for Division-III Southwestern.
• With the win, UTA avoided an 0-2 start to the season – something that has only happened to the Mavs once since the 2003-04 campaign.
• UTA is now 19-4 in home openers to a season since the turn of the century.
• This was the fifth all-time meeting between UTA and Southwestern, but the first since 1975. All four of the previous meetings came between 1972-75, and the Mavs now have a 4-1 edge all-time.
• The game wrapped up a tripleheader of action at the College Park Center as the UTA Volleyball team began things at 11 a.m. with a five-set win on Senior Day over Southern Utah in its regular-season finale. The women's basketball team followed at 3:30 p.m. with a hard-fought 75-72 triumph over Division-I newcomer Texas A&M-Commerce.

NEXT UP
UTA will remain at home and welcome Hardin-Simmons to the College Park Center for a 7 p.m. tipoff on Tuesday, Nov. 15. 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).