STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The UT Arlington men's basketball team tips off its Western Athletic Conference schedule on Thursday, Dec. 29, at 7 p.m. when the Mavericks face off against Tarleton.
 

GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Game 14	UT Arlington (5-8) @ Tarleton (6-6)
Date | Time	Thursday, Dec. 29 | 7 p.m.
Location	Stephenville, Texas | Wisdom Gym (3,000)
Video	ESPN+
Audio	620 AM | Varsity Network App
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	UT Arlington | Tarleton | WAC

OPENING TIP(s)

• This will be UTA's first WAC game since its one previous year in the league in 2012-13 when the membership looked drastically different. In that 2012-13 campaign, the Mavs went 11-7 in the conference and reached the WAC Tournament Final before falling to New Mexico State, 64-55, in the title game.
   
• UTA ranks 6th in the country with 14.5 offensive rebounds per game (Marshall is 1st at 15.5); individually, Shemar Wilson is 19th nationally with 3.5 offensive rebounds per outing. Overall, the Mavs are 45th in the country with 39.6 rebounds per contest.
   
• The Mavs challenging non-conference slate featured a stretch of four-straight games earlier this month against teams that played in either the NCAA Tournament or NIT last year. They lost the first three by a combined 13 points: LSU (63-59), North Texas (60-57) and Texas State (71-65) before picking up a massive NET Quad 2 win at San Francisco, 68-63. Two days later, the Dons – the only team to beat 10-1 UNLV this year – defeated #25 Arizona State by 37 points, 97-60.
   
• UTA's wire-to-wire win against San Francisco ended the Dons' 16-game home non-conference winning streak and was the Mavs' first Quad 2 or better non-conference win since an 89-75 victory at BYU (Quad 1) in November of 2017. The win also jumped UTA 45 spots in the NET Rankings.

TWEETABLES

1) UTA concluded its non-conference slate with a 73-51 setback at California on Dec. 21. The Mavs entered the game ranked 43rd nationally in field goal percentage defense by limiting foes to just 39 percent, but allowed the Golden Bears to shoot a season-best 57 percent – 11 percent higher than any other UTA opponent this year (East Carolina: 46 percent).
 
2) By securing his team-leading third double-double of the year with a team-best 14 points and game-high 11 rebounds against Cal, Shemar Wilson finally became UTA's only player averaging double-figure points this year with exactly 10.
 
3) However, the Mavs have six players averaging between 7-10 points per game. Additionally, UTA has 10 players who have already reached double-digit points in a game this season.
 
4) This will be UTA's first game this year on a Thursday; the only other day of the week the Mavs have yet to play is Sunday.

ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This will be the first meeting between UTA and Tarleton since 1986. The Mavs lead the all-time series, 8-1, with the lone setback coming by a 66-64 margin in Arlington on Nov. 26, 1984.
   
• Tarleton ranks 5th in the nation in turnovers forced at 20.6 per game, helping lead to an average of 26.9 free throw attempts (3rd nationally) and 17.8 free throw makes (13th in the country) per outing.
   
• Tarleton is in its third season as a Division-I member and is in the midst of its required four-year NCAA reclassification period. The Texans are eligible to compete in the WAC Tournament, but are ineligible for the NCAA Tournament due to the NCAA mandate.
   
• The Texans were an NAIA member until 1994 when they joined the Division-II ranks, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament at that level 14 times in a 16-year stretch.
   
• Head coach Billy Gillispie has been at the helm of the program since it moved to D-I. Prior to that, the former head man at UTEP (2002-04), Texas A&M (2004-07), Kentucky (2007-09) and Texas Tech (2011-12) was leading the Ranger Junior College program (2015-20).
   
• 2022 WAC Freshman of the Year Freddy Hicks has not played the last three games with an apparent hand/wrist injury. He is Tarleton's leading scorer (17.9), rebounder (6.4) and assist (3.0) man this year, and had a 30-point performance against Drake on Nov. 21.
   
• Jackorie Smith (11.5) and Lue Williams (11.1) are the other double-figure scorers for the Texans, who defeated Boston College and Belmont in their non-league docket and had a narrow 62-59 loss in the season opener at Arizona State.

BACK TO THE WAC

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.
 
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.
 
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.

BY THE NUMBERS

4: The Mavs posted four top-10 single-game program ranks in their 99-41 win over Howard Payne on Nov. 28: rebound margin (T-1, +36), points allowed (T-5, 41), blocks (T-5, 9), margin of victory (T-7, +58).
 
4: The Mavs made just four 3-pointers in their win at San Francisco on Dec. 19, representing their fewest in a road non-conference victory since knocking down three at Grand Canyon during a 66-64 triumph in November of 2014.
 
5: The Mavs have already had five different occasions of a player grabbing 7+ offensive rebounds in a game this year: Shemar Wilson versus Hardin-Simmons (7), Nevada (7), Howard Payne (7) and North Texas (8); Dario Domingos against Northern Kentucky (7).
 
7: UTA is just seven wins shy of 800 all-time victories in program history (793-991). The Mavs are in their 64th season, with UTA's inaugural campaign taking place in 1959-60.
 
8: Against UNT on Dec. 6, Shemar Wilson grabbed eight rebounds, and all of them were offensive. Over the last 6+ seasons – since the start of the 2016-17 campaign – Wilson is now only the seventh Division-I player to secure at least eight offensive rebounds and zero defensive boards in a game.
 
17: In its 60-56 win over Northern Kentucky on Nov. 22, UTA committed 17 turnovers – at the time its most in a victory over a Division-I opponent since the Mavs had 18 in a 75-70 overtime triumph at Cal Poly on Dec. 21, 2018. NKU was installed as the Horizon League preseason favorite, and the Norse had defeated Cincinnati – picked to finish 3rd in the American Athletic Conference – two games prior by 13 points.
 
18: UTA committed 18 turnovers against San Francisco – its most in a road non-conference regulation victory since giving the ball away 19 times in a 77-61 win at North Texas in December of 2016.
 
19: The Mavs recorded 19 steals against Southwestern on Nov. 12, 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.
 
48: UTA went 30-48 from the free-throw line versus Southwestern on Nov. 12, with the 48 attempts tying for the 5th most in program history.
 
49: The Mavs shot 49 percent (25-51) from the floor in a 71-65 loss to Texas State on Dec. 10 – only the fourth time in the last 8+ seasons (since 2014-15) that UTA has shot at least that percentage and lost:

• Nov. 21, 2017: 51.7% @ Alabama (77-76)
• Jan. 4, 2020: 50% @ Little Rock (92-89)
• Feb. 10, 2022: 50% @ ULM (74-71)

100: The Mavs scored 100+ points in back-to-back games for the 10th time in program history with 103 on Nov. 12 against Southwestern and 100 versus Hardin-Simmons on Nov. 15. Five of the all-time occurrences came between 1990-92, and the last time UTA did it was in 2020 on Dec. 17 and 22 against Dallas Christian (109) and Howard Payne (117).

AMONG THE NATION'S BEST PERFORMANCES

In addition to its overall national rankings, UTA has numerous single-game performances which register among the best of any team in the country so far this year:

• 6th – Free Throws Attempted: 48 vs. Southwestern
  • Leader – Tennessee State: 54 vs. Brescia
     
• T-8th – Rebounds: 63 vs. Howard Payne
  • Leader – Sam Houston: 70 vs. LeTourneau
     
• T-12th – Steals: 19 vs. Southwestern
  • Leader – Four Teams: 24
     
• T-18th – Field Goals Attempted: 83 vs. Hardin-Simmons
  • Leader – Eastern Kentucky: 93 vs. Boyce
     
• T-22nd – Free Throws Made: 30 vs. Southwestern
  • Leader – Tennessee State: 44 vs. Brescia

UTA's 63 rebounds on Nov. 28 against Howard Payne represented the most in any game for the Mavs since at least the 2009-10 season. In that same timeframe, the 83 field goal attempts against Hardin-Simmons were the 2nd most in any UTA game, bested only by 87 versus Howard Payne in 2020.

INSIDE THE DOUBLE-FIGURE SCORERS

Two years ago, UTA tied for the national lead by having 13 different players score double-figure points in a game. Last season, the Mavs had 12 different double-figure scorers – tied for the 3rd most in the nation. So far this year, UTA already has 10 different double-figure scorers.
 
Below is a list of those double-figure players, their respective season highs and how many times they have led UTA in scoring:
 
Chendall Weaver: 20 (2x)
Kyron Gibson: 19 (4x – Includes 1 Tie)
Taj Anderson: 19 (1x)
Aaron Cash: 18 (1x – Tied)
Marion Humphrey: 17 (3x – Includes 1 Tie)
Brandon Walker: 17 (1x – Tied)
Shemar Wilson: 16 (2x)
Brandyn Talbot: 15 (1x)
Dario Domingos: 12
Pedro Castro: 11

CHALLENGING THEMSELVES

UTA is one of only three schools in the nation to 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)

NEXT UP

UTA will face a quick turnaround when it heads back home for its first game at the College Park Center in nearly four weeks with a 1 p.m. tipoff against Stephen F. Austin on Saturday, Dec. 31.
 
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).