ARLINGTON – Facing arguably its toughest test of the young season, the UT Arlington men's basketball team struggled to find its offensive footing against a staunch Nevada defense as the Wolf Pack (4-0) claimed a 62-43 win over the Mavericks (2-2) Friday night inside the College Park Center.
 
Despite a poor shooting performance, UTA only trailed by eight, 39-31, with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game, but that's when the Wolf Pack found another gear and outscored the Mavs 17-4 over the next 5+ minutes to ice the contest.
 
In a physical battle on both sides as expected, Nevada lived up to its top-2 defensive billing in the Mountain West Conference as the Wolf Pack held the Mavs to just 18 percent (10-56) from the floor and 12 percent (3-25) from beyond the arc.
 
Entering the game with eight different double-figure scorers through just three games, UTA didn't have a single player reach that mark on Friday as Marion Humphrey led the Mavs with seven points.
 
Shemar Wilson tallied six points, but the sophomore was again impressive on the glass as he corralled a game-best 14 rebounds – seven each on the offensive and defensive end – which also represented his most against a Division-I opponent.

BOX SCORE NUGGETS

• Wilson now has consecutive double-digit rebounding games as he grabbed 16 versus Hardin-Simmons on Tuesday night.
• Thanks to the 14 boards from Wilson and six more off the bench from Chendall Weaver, Nevada only out-boarded the Mavs 44-40.
• Every UTA player who made a field goal had exactly one.
• The Wolf Pack finished with a 34-10 edge in paint points, and a 17-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
• UTA's field goal percentage and field goals made both represented program all-time lows, while the 43 points were tied for the 6th-fewest in any game and 3rd-lowest in a home contest.
• UTA utilized the fourth different starting lineup in as many games to start the year: Marion Humphrey, Taj Anderson, Kyron Gibson, Aaron Cash, Shemar Wilson.

QUOTABLE
"It was obviously an ugly offensive performance and it's all on me. I haven't gotten our guys to a point of understanding how we need to play against really good defensive teams – and they're a good defensive team so give credit to Nevada. We knew it was going to be hard to score and that they would protect the rim, but we don't have a feel yet to be able to move the ball and create some shots.
 
But we had some wide, wide open looks that we just didn't knock down. And a credit to our guys for hanging around, but at some point we've got to be able to score the ball. It's not what I wanted, and it's about as disappointing as I've been in a long time."
– UTA Head Coach Greg Young


GAME FLOW
Ten minutes into the game, the two teams had combined for 14 fouls and just 11 points as the Wolf Pack had a 9-2 lead. In a relative offensive explosion, UTA scored on back-to-back possessions to pull within three, 9-6, at the 9:30 mark.
 
However, that was short-lived as the suffocating Nevada defense fueled its offense and a few minutes later the Wolf Pack clipped off a 9-0 run to open up a 24-8 lead with under five minutes to play in the half.
 
Unfazed, UTA began to come to life with an important end of the stanza, closing on a 10-2 run to cut their 16-point deficit in half to only trail 26-18 heading into the locker room despite shooting just 18 percent (6-33) from the floor.
 
Still leading by eight, 32-24, five minutes into the 2nd half, Nevada methodically added to its advantage and created a 13-point cushion, 39-26, with a little over 11 minutes left. UTA rattled off a 5-0 spurt to get its margin back down to eight, 39-31, but that would be as close as the Mavs would get the rest of the way.
 
THIS AND THAT

• This was finally the return game to complete a home-and-home series that began in Reno during the 2019-20 season (80-73 Wolf Pack win). After the 2020-21 meeting was delayed by COVID, the new date last December also was canceled due to COVID protocols within the Wolf Pack program.
• UTA was the third different WAC school already this year that Nevada has played (Grand Canyon, Utah Tech).
• UTA was looking to start a season 3-1 for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign.

NEXT UP
UTA will head to Florida next week for three games in three games as part of the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, just south of Fort Myers. The Mavs open play on Monday, Nov. 21, at 4 p.m. Central against Drexel. 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).