ARLINGTON – Just two days after turning in arguably its best offensive performance of the season, UT Arlington (11-15, 7-8 SBC) went to the complete opposite end of the spectrum on Saturday as the Mavericks struggled significantly from the floor en route to a 58-49 loss to Arkansas State (16-9, 7-6 SBC) on Graduate Day inside the College Park Center.
 
In an 85-70 win over Little Rock on Thursday, UTA registered a season-high 11 3-pointers and notched its most points in a regulation game all year against a Division-I opponent. But on Saturday, the Mavs – who came into the game leading the Sun Belt Conference in scoring in league play at better than 72 per game – tied for their fewest points ever in a Sun Belt game and connected at just 29 percent (19-65) from the floor, which included making five of their final six attempts.
 
Patrick Mwamba and David Azore both scored 11 points to lead the Mavs, who notched 12 points in the final 40 seconds of the game after netting just 37 in the first 39 minutes and 20 seconds.

This marked UTA's eighth Sun Belt loss of the year, and all eight have come by single digits and by an average of just five points.
 
UTA limited A-State to only 2-20 (10 percent) from the 3-point line for the game – the lowest percentage the Mavs had held any opponent to all year – as the Red Wolves connected at 43 percent (22-51) from the floor overall.
 
However, Norchad Omier went 9-11 from the field on his own en route to 22 points and 16 rebounds for the Red Wolves – his 17th double-double of the season and 32nd of his career in not even two seasons.
 
BOX SCORE NUGGETS

• The 58 points UTA held A-State to were tied for its fewest in a loss this year (58-53 at Texas State on Jan. 29).
• Azore reached double-figure points for the 20th time this year.
• Mwamba broke a streak of five-straight single-digit scoring games.
• Nicolas Elame scored eight points and secured a team-best seven rebounds.
• Montez Young Jr. came off the bench to corral six rebounds.
• Javon Levi scored five points, recorded four steals and issued three assists.
• After going 0-2 from the free throw line in the 1st half, A-State went 12-16 from the charity stripe in the 2nd half.
• Desi Sills finished as the lone other double-figure scorer for the Red Wolves with 10.

GAME FLOW
A-State used an 8-0 run midway through the opening half to turn a 15-14 deficit into a 22-15 lead with 7:30 remaining. The Mavs were able to get back within two before eventually settling for just a 26-22 halftime deficit as they shot only 29 percent (8-28) from the floor.
 
After capitalizing with 50 combined points off turnovers in its previous two games, UTA did not register a single point off A-State giveaways in the 1st half.
 
The Mavs got within two, 28-26, a couple of minutes into the 2nd half, but went ice cold after that, scoring just five points over the next 13 minutes. A-State built a 42-31 lead with a little over four minutes remaining before extending to as much as much 16 en route to sweeping the season series from UTA.
 
QUOTABLE
"I didn't think we'd score 49 points today with the way we've been playing offensively recently, and especially the way we played Thursday. No one is to blame, we just didn't execute or play with speed as I hoped we would in transition. I thought we played hard with played well defensively, but we just didn't get shots to fall and unfortunately you're going to have games like this."
– UTA Head Coach Greg Young

THIS AND THAT

• UTA also scored 49 points in a 77-49 loss to Georgia State in 2014.
• UTA was looking to win three-straight games for the first time since starting Sun Belt play 3-0.
• The Mavs finish the season with an 8-4 record at the CPC.
• Among those who were honored as part of Grad Day: Levi, Carson Bischoff, Azore, Jack Hoiberg, Lazaro Rojas, Mwamba and Nathaniel Spurgeon. Those student-athletes are on track to graduate this year with either their undergrad or graduate degrees, but have not necessarily exhausted their playing eligibility.
• The contest also served as Alumni Day for the program with many former players, coaches and staff members in attendance.
• As part of that, former head coach Bob "Snake" LeGrand was recognized with a ball presentation. LeGrand was the first UTA coach to win 100 games as he accumulated 122 victories from 1976-87, leading the Mavs to the 1981 NIT.

 
NEXT UP
UTA concludes the regular season with a pivotal road trip to Alabama. First up, the Mavs will face Troy on Wednesday, Feb. 23, before heading to South Alabama for a matchup on Saturday, Feb. 25.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
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