ARLINGTON – The UT Arlington men's basketball team faces a quick turnaround when the Mavericks return to the College Park Center on Tuesday, Nov. 15, for a 7 p.m. tipoff against Hardin-Simmons.
OPENING TIP(s)
- UT Arlington will be looking to pick up its second win in four days as the Mavericks defeated Southwestern on Saturday night, 103-61. This contest will count as an official game for UTA, but it will serve as an exhibition tilt for Division-III Hardin-Simmons.
- With a win, UTA would move to 2-1 and be above .500 after three games for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign.
- In the victory over Southwestern, UTA turned the Pirates 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 paint points (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 in the season opener at Oklahoma State last 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.
TWEETABLES
1) The 100-point performance against Southwestern represented the 75th occurrence in program history of the Mavs reaching the century mark in a game. The last time UTA scored exactly 103 in any game came against Hardin-Simmons on Dec. 29, 2001.
2) The Mavs recorded 19 steals on Saturday, 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).
Marion Humphrey was responsible for six of those thefts, equaling the 10th-highest total by a UTA player in a single game.
3) UTA went 30-48 from the free-throw line in the Southwestern contest, with the 48 attempts tying for the 5th most in program history.
4) Through just two games, UTA has already had six different players reach double-figure points, and two others (
Kyron Gibson,
Dario Domingos) have tallied nine points.
ABOUT THE MATCHUP
- Hardin-Simmons opened the season with a 91-63 win against Texas Lutheran on Friday, Nov. 11, but followed it up with a 76-68 loss to Schreiner the next day.
- Through the first two games of the year, Steven Quinn is leading the Cowboys at 14.5 points per game. He's followed closely by double-figure scorers Will Bartoszek (12.5) and Austin Brewer (11). Bartoszek and Brewer lead HSU in rebounding at 8 per game, with Quinn passing out a team-best 4.5 assists per contest.
- HSU was picked to finish 3rd in the American Southwest Conference (ASC) Preseason Poll, with Steven Quinn, Will Bartoszek and Aidan Walsh all named to the ASC Preseason Player to Watch list.
- Hardin-Simmons was a Division-I member until 1990, and the Abilene-based school and UTA have a long history as this will be the 41st all-time meeting (UTA leads, 22-18).
- The last time the two teams met was on Dec. 11, 2020, with UTA claiming a 91-66 victory. The only current UTA player who appeared in that game was Brandyn Talbot, and the Canadian scored 12 points in 24 minutes off the bench.
WHAT'S LOST/BACK
UTA returns just four players from last year's roster (games started):
Pedro Castro (9),
Montez Young Jr. (5),
Shemar Wilson (4) and
Brandyn Talbot (3). Castro started the first nine games of the year before suffering a season-ending back injury which required surgery.
The Mavs welcome 10 newcomers to this year's roster, with all four academic classifications represented: freshman (4), sophomore (2), junior (3), senior (1).
With such a large roster turnover, UTA brings back 25 percent or less of its points, rebounds, assists and blocks from last season:
- Points: 19% (367 of 1,948)
- Rebounds: 25% (263 of 1,067)
- Assists: 15% (60 of 405)
- Blocks: 16% (21 of 123)
Newcomers & 2021-22 Notes
- #00 R-Sr. Aaron Cash
Helped Texas A&M to the NIT Final; 11 rebounds vs. Kentucky (Jan. 19).
- #1 Fr. Chendall Weaver
Led Mansfield Timberview High School to the 5A State Final; All-State & unanimous District 8-5A MVP.
- #2 Fr. Brandon Walker
Consensus top-35 recruit in Texas; two-time 4A All-State selection and won the 4A State Championship.
- #3 Jr. Taj Anderson
JUCO All-American Honorable Mention; Region XI First Team.
- #4 Jr. Kyron Gibson
JUCO All-American Second Team; Region XIV First Team.
- #10 R-So. Shaysten Cornish
Walk-on who enrolled at UTA in the spring; transferred from Tarrant CC and Dallas College – Mountain View.
- #12 Fr. Damonze Woods
District 3-5A First Team; Region 1-5A First Team and lost in the state semifinals to Weaver's team.
- #14 R-Fr. Cash Clayton
Walk-on who transfered from Texas Tech; all-district high school selection.
- #23 So. Dario Domingos
All-conference JUCO Honorable Mention.
- #55 R-Jr. Marion Humphrey
Led Salt Lake Community College to the JUCO National Final and a 35-2 record.
CHALLENGING THEMSELVES
UTA is one of only three schools in the nation which have finished with a top-40 NET non-conference strength of schedule in each of the past three seasons, joining Central Arkansas and Texas Southern.
UTA
2019-20: 3rd
2020-21: 37th
2021-22: 13th
Central Arkansas
2019-20: 6th
2020-21: 9th
2021-22: 27th
Texas Southern
2019-20: 2nd
2020-21: 25th
2021-22: 16th
Yet again this year, the Mavs are poised to finish with likely one of the country's most-challenging non-league schedules. Based off last year's final NET rankings, UTA has the 4th-hardest non-conference slate in the nation (average NET opponent ranking):
1) Nicholls (47)
2) Saint Mary's (72)
3) Seton Hall (83)
4) UT Arlington (88)
5) Alabama (92)
PRESEASON INFO
After spending the previous nine seasons (2013-22) as a Sun Belt Conference member, UT Arlington officially joined the Western Athletic Conference on July 1, 2022. UTA was a member of the WAC for one year previously in 2012-13 following 48 years in the Southland Conference (1963-2012) – of which it was a founding member.
Since the start of the 2015-16 season, UTA boasts the 3rd-best average annual NET/RPI ranking of all current WAC members at #146. New Mexico State (#83) leads the pack, followed by Grand Canyon (#138). With a final ranking of #40 in 2016-17, UTA is responsible for the best single-year NET/RPI by any current WAC school over the past seven seasons. Additionally – in that same timeframe – UTA, NMSU and Sam Houston are the only WAC institutions without a single season NET/RPI above #250.
UTA was picked by the WAC coaches to finish in 11th place in the league this year. The last time the Mavs were tabbed for an 11th-place finish in the preseason polls came in advance of the 2018-19 season when UTA faced similar roster turnover.
Instead of finishing 2nd-to-last that year, UTA tied for 2nd in the Sun Belt with a 12-6 league record, earned the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament and advanced to the Sun Belt Tournament Final.
The nine-spot improvement from preseason to final regular-season finish in 2018-19 was tied for the best in the nation along with Siena, which was picked 11th in the MAAC (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) and finished in a four-way tie for 2nd.
NEUTRAL-SITE ACTION
UTA is scheduled to play four regular-season neutral-site games this year, three of which will take place as part of the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla., just a few miles south of where Hurricane Ian made landfall outside Fort Myers. The other will be another edition of the UTA-Texas State rivalry as the former Sun Belt foes will square off for the 79th time at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.
The four neutral-site contests will be tied for the most UTA has ever played in a regular season:
2005-06
BCA Classic – Seattle, Wash. (3 Games)
Lobo Invitational – Albuquerque, N.M. (1 Game)
1993-94
River City Classic – Cape Giradeau, Mo. (1 Game)
Big Island Invite – Hilo, Hawaii (3 Games)
1986-87
Running Joe Classic – Jonesboro, Ark. (1 Game)
Holiday Classic – Edinburg, Texas (2 Games)
Heritage Classic – Des Moines, Iowa (1 Game)
TOP-10 SINGLE-SEASON RECORDS
UTA posted top-10 finishes in single-season program history last year in four categories:
Opponent Points Per Game: T-5th (68.7)
- The third time in the last four years that the Mavs have registered a top-10 defense.
- 2018-19: 9th (69.8)
- 2019-20: 4th (68.4)
Opponent Field Goal Percentage: 7th (.413)
- The fourth-straight year that UTA has secured a top-10 showing.
- 2018-19: T-8th (.423)
- 2019-20: T-5th (.412)
- 2020-21: T-8th (.423)
UTA Fewest Turnovers: 5th (406)
- In terms of per-game average, the Mavs only turned the ball over 14 times a contest, ranking as the 7th best in single-season program history. The top-2 averages have occurred in the previous two years:
- 2019-20: 11.2
- 2020-21: 12
UTA Total Blocks: T-3rd (123 – 29 Games)
- 2017-18: 1st (143 – 34 Games)
- 2020-21: 2nd (124 – 26 Games)
- 2011-12: T-3rd (123 – 33 Games)
- 2013-14: 5th (120 – 32 Games)
BY THE NUMBERS
6: UTA set a single-season program record by having six games go to overtime in 2021-22 – just two shy of tying the all-time NCAA record.
9: After starting Sun Belt play 4-1 last year, the Mavs finished 7-10. Every single one of those losses came by 10 points or less, and only by an average margin of 5.6 points. Nine of those setbacks in league play were by single digits, representing the most in a single season in program history.
11: UTA is just 11 wins shy of 800 all-time victories in program history (789-984). The Mavs are in their 64th season, with UTA's inaugural campaign taking place in 1959-60.
94: During its nine years in the Sun Belt, UTA accumulated 94 conference wins. Only Georgia State (107) and Louisiana (98) had more league victories in that timeframe than the Mavs.
BACK TO THE WAC
In its lone previous campaign in the WAC in 2012-13, UTA went 11-7 in the league to tie for 4th in the regular-season standings before reaching the WAC Tournament Final and falling to New Mexico State, 64-55, in the championship game.
New Mexico State, UTA and Seattle U are the only three current WAC schools that were also members of the league in 2012-13.
2012-13 WAC Membership (Current Affiliation)
Denver (Summit)
Idaho (Big Sky)
Louisiana Tech (Conference USA)
New Mexico State
San Jose State (Mountain West)
Seattle U
Texas State (Sun Belt)
Utah State (Mountain West)
UT Arlington
UTSA (Conference USA)
2022-23 WAC Membership
Abilene Christian
California Baptist
Grand Canyon
New Mexico State
Sam Houston
Seattle U
Southern Utah
Stephen F. Austin
Tarleton
UT Arlington
UT Rio Grande Valley
Utah Tech
Utah Valley
Last year, the WAC ranked as the 15th-best men's basketball conference in the country (out of 32) – two spots ahead of the Sun Belt (17th).
In men's basketball, the WAC has sent at least two teams to the NCAA Tournament in 28 of the past 46 seasons. In an effort to continue enhancing its at-large prospects and protecting top seeds in March, a résumé-seeding system will be used to determine how teams are placed at this year's WAC Tournament (men and women).
An algorithm will rate performance against all D-I teams faced in the regular season, not just conference play. That will rank teams for the conference postseason tournament. Using this résumé-seeding system, teams will receive more credit for scheduling and playing stronger opponents than weaker ones. This should help the WAC have higher NET rankings, a key-criteria used by the NCAA basketball selection committees.
WAC Commissioner Brian Thornton and WAC Associate Commissioner of Basketball Drew Speraw worked with Ken Pomeroy of kenpom.com to put together the formula. To read more about the system – and to see how teams would have been seeded last year as opposed to straight conference record –
click here.
Celebrating its 60th anniversary during the current 2022-23 academic year, the WAC has officially opened its conference headquarters in the city of Arlington, less than five miles from UTA's campus. It was the first such move for the league in a generation after the WAC had been anchored in Denver for all but a brief stretch of its initial 60 years of existence.
NEXT UP
UTA will play its third-straight home game when the Mavs face a stern test in the Nevada Wolf Pack at the College Park Center on Friday, Nov. 18, at 7 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).
