ARLINGTON – On a blackout night inside the College Park Center, UT Arlington's shooting was white hot as the Mavericks (11-14, 7-7 SBC) used a 2nd-half blitz to defeat Little Rock (8-15, 3-8 SBC) on Thursday night, 85-70, to pick up their second-straight win and even their Sun Belt Conference record.
 
The three-headed attack of David Azore (20 points), Nicolas Elame (16) and Carson Bischoff (15) led UTA's offensive prowess as the Mavs registered a season high in points in a regulation game. UTA never trailed, led by as much as 18 and knocked down a season-best 11 3-pointers while committing just six turnovers – its second-fewest in a game this year.
 
Combined with forcing the Trojans into 18 turnovers, the Mavs finished with a 26-11 edge in points off giveaways and a 30-10 advantage in points in the paint. UTA connected at a 48-percent rate (31-65) from the floor, issuing assists on 22 of those makes to equal its best performance of the season against a Division-I opponent.
 
Possessing just an eight-point lead, 56-48, with under 14 minutes to play, UTA used a 13-4 surge in a little over three minutes to take a commanding 69-52 advantage and never allowed the Trojans to get any closer than 12 the rest of the night, avenging a 98-96 triple-overtime loss to Little Rock on Jan. 22.
 
Reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week Azore continued to state his case for Sun Belt Player of the Year as the Houston native delivered his ninth 20+ point performance in league play this year in only 12 opportunities. He also pulled down a team-best six rebounds and recorded a career-high four steals.
 
Last Saturday, Elame posted his best scoring effort of the season versus a D-I opponent with 15, but surpassed that by one on Thursday. He also set the tone defensively, helping lock down on Little Rock's leading scorer Isaiah Palermo and holding him to a season-low two points – 10 under his average.
 
When the two teams met in Little Rock last month, Bischoff tied a program record by knocking down nine 3-pointers, and he drilled another five on Thursday – four of which came in a three-minute blitz midway through the 2nd half – to create UTA's winning separation on the way to his most points at the CPC.


BOX SCORE NUGGETS

• Javon Levi posted a 10-assist, zero-turnover game, lifting his career assist-to-turnover ratio to 2.57, which ranks 9th among active D-I players.
• Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu swatted five opposing shots while pick-pocketing two for a season-high seven combined blocks and steals. It is his eighth-career 5+ block performance in just 43 career games; no one else in program history even has four such outings.
• With the 20-point performance, Azore became the Mavs' 7th-leading scorer all-time with 1,310, passing Jeffrey Stewart (1978-82) and Derrick Obasohan (2000-04).
• Jack Hoiberg came off the bench to net seven points and pass out five assists – tied for his season high and one shy of matching his career best.
• Myron Gardner led the Trojans with career highs in points (24), made field goals (nine) and rebounds (11).
• Little Rock shot 50 percent (24-48) from the floor and made 11 3-pointers, but attempted 17 fewer shots than UTA due to the turnovers the hosts forced.
• Little Rock – which has had 11 players combine to miss 115 games this year due to injuries and COVID implications – dressed just nine players and only six of them played multiple minutes.

GAME FLOW
UTA came out of the gate with a massive amount of energy en route to taking a 12-0 lead and turning up the pressure resulting in six Little Rock turnovers just over three minutes.
 
But on the strength of strong outside shooting, the Trojans pulled back within a bucket, 26-24, at the seven-minute mark before the Mavs responded and eventually took a six-point lead, 40-34, into the halftime break.
 
Nine of the 10 UTA players who appeared in the 1st half scored as the balanced attack connected at 49 percent (17-35) from the floor but allowed the Trojans a 50-percent clip (12-24) as Jovan Stulic was responsible for almost half (16) of Little Rock's points. Stulic would be locked down by the Mavs in the 2nd half, scoring just one point.
 
In the 2nd half, Bischoff picked up right where he left off the last time the two teams met as he knocked down his first four 3-point attempts in fueling a blistering start to the stanza as the Mavs quickly expanded to a double-figure edge, 48-38, just three minutes in and the aforementioned 17-point cushion, 69-52, not even at the halfway juncture which for all intents and purposes iced the game.
 
QUOTABLE
"It was a good win against a team that is really hard to guard because of how they play. The game at Little Rock last month was frustrating because we thought we played well enough on the offensive end to win but didn't on the defensive side. Tonight, we were better, and we got 26 points off turnovers; we created offense off of our defense."
– UTA Head Coach Greg Young


THIS AND THAT

• UTA's previous high total in points in a regulation game against a D-I opponent was 83 against Louisiana on Jan. 13. The Mavs also dished out 22 assists in that contest.
• The victory marked the third wire-to-wire victory of the season for UTA (Texas State, Howard Payne).      
• This was UTA's largest margin of victory over a D-I team this season. UTA's first six Sun Belt wins came by an average of 6.5 points; its seven conference losses have been by an average of 4.5 points.
• Little Rock was coming off a win at Troy, which is in 2nd place in the Sun Belt.
• This was the final regular-season meeting between UTA and Little Rock as Sun Belt members; the Mavs are joining the Western Athletic Conference and the Trojans the Ohio Valley Conference effective July 1.
• UTA wore black jerseys at home for the first time this season in conjunction with its UTA Beats Cancer initiative.

 
NEXT UP
UTA's final home game of the season will take place on Saturday when the Mavs welcome Arkansas State for a 2 p.m. tipoff on Grad Day as UTA will honor those players who are scheduled to graduate – not necessarily complete their eligibility – before the game.
 
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).