TROY, Ala. – In a Sun Belt Conference season literally completely full of single-digit losses, UT Arlington once again suffered a narrow defeat, this time coming at Troy on Wednesday night, 59-53, as the Mavericks let a late lead slip away.
 
With UTA holding a 48-45 advantage and under four minutes remaining, Troy countered with a 10-0 game-deciding run over the next three minutes to open up a 55-48 lead with just over 30 seconds left. After the Mavs pulled within five, 55-50, Troy missed not one, but two, front ends of 1-and-1 free-throw opportunities, giving UTA a chance to potentially tie the contest, but both offensive possessions yielded no points.
 
Nicolas Elame tied a career high with 17 points and also secured a team-high six rebounds in a starting role, but it was once again David Azore continuing his Sun Belt Player of the Year campaign with a game-high 24 points – his 10th performance of 20+ in conference action this year. Azore also corralled five rebounds.
 
The back-and-forth affair featured 17 lead changes, and the contest was tied on seven occasions as UTA was handed its ninth conference loss (every single defeat) of the season by less than 10 points – extending the single-season program record for single-digit league losses in any year.
 
The Mavs forced Troy into 22 turnovers compared with committing just 11 giveaways of their own, finishing with an 18-11 edge in points off those Trojan miscues. However, the key statistic from the night came on the glass as Troy dominated to the tune of 46-24 – including 16-5 on the offensive side – to post a +11 advantage in 2nd-chance points, 15-4.
 
BOX SCORE NUGGETS

• UTA falls to 11-16 overall and 7-9 in the Sun Belt, while Troy improves to 19-9 and 10-5.
• UTA was without its leading offensive rebounder Montez Young Jr. (3.3 PPG, 4.2 RPG) due to a non-COVID illness. His 46 offensive boards were the most on the team entering the game, and he is responsible for half of UTA's double-figure rebounding performances this season.
• Javon Levi finished with five points, a game-best six assists, four rebounds and a pair of steals for the Mavs.
• Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu had four blocks and three steals.
• UTA tied a season high with 13 steals.
• The Mavs used their 13th-different starting lineup of the season, tied for the 7th-most of any team in the nation: Akobundu-Ehiogu, Levi, Carson Bischoff, Azore and Elame.
• Both UTA and Troy shot 37 percent from the floor (UTA: 19-51, Troy: 19-52).
• Zay Williams led the Trojans with 15 points, while Desmond Williams was their lone other double-figure scorer with 11.
• Efe Odigie pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds off the bench to pace the Trojans.

GAME FLOW
The 1st half featured 13 lead changes and three ties as neither team led by more than seven points. That seven-point margin was held by Troy, 28-21, with just over a minute to play before Azore knocked down a 3-pointer to create the halftime margin of 28-24.
 
Both teams shot in the 30-percent range (UTA: 34.6; Troy: 37.0) from the floor in the opening half, but the Mavs couldn't convert enough off 14 Trojan giveaways as UTA turned those into just five points and were out-rebounded in the stanza, 25-10, which led to a +8 margin in 2nd-chance points for the hosts.
 
After UTA had pulled within three early in the 2nd half, Troy responded with an 8-0 push to open up a 39-28 lead which was finally halted by an Elame baseline 3-pointer to make it 39-31 with just over 14 minutes to play.
 
UTA head coach Greg Young immediately called a timeout after Elame's triple went through the net and the Mavs responded, using a 13-0 run over the next six minutes to completely erase the 11-point deficit and take a 41-39 lead on an Azore pull-up jumper from the elbow.
 
With the game knotted at 45-all with just over five minutes to play, Carson Bischoff knocked down a 3-pointer from the baseline to put the Mavs in front, 48-45. However, 90 seconds later after it appeared UTA forced a Troy turnover, Zay Williams banked in a desperation 3-point heave as the shot clock expired to re-tie the contest, 48-48, with 3:30 remaining.
 
That shot spearheaded the aforementioned 10-0 run for the Trojans which for all intents and purposes sealed the win.
 
QUOTABLE
"Another heck of an effort by our guys tonight; I'm really proud of them to come on the road late in the season and play as hard as we did and have a chance to win it late. But we got beat on the glass – we have to get better at that, and our inability to rebound defensively was the biggest Achilles heal for us tonight. We defended, we turned them over, but Troy made the plays at the end and we didn't."
– UTA Head Coach Greg Young
 

THIS AND THAT

• The nine single-digit Sun Belt losses for UTA are the most in any conference season in program history (previous: seven in 1982-83, 2009-10 and 2010-11 when UTA was in the Southland Conference).
• UTA and preseason favorite Georgia State (five losses) remain the only Sun Belt teams without a double-figure loss in league play this year; every other team except Louisiana and South Alabama has at least two double-figure SBC losses.
• UTA's average loss in conference play this year is just 5.1 points per game.
• UTA won the first meeting with Troy, 62-57, in Arlington on New Year's Day, erasing a five-point deficit with just over two minutes remaining after leading for nearly 30 minutes.

 
NEXT UP
UTA wraps up the regular season on Friday, Feb. 25, at South Alabama with a 7 p.m. tip.
 
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