ARLINGTON – A strong 1st half which produced a 14-point halftime lead for UT Arlington (9-13, 5-6 SBC) ended up being for naught as Sun Belt Conference leader Appalachian State (15-10, 9-3 SBC) stormed back with a furious 2nd half to claim a 70-61 win Saturday inside the College Park Center.
 
UTA held a 34-20 lead at the break, but App State out-scored the Mavericks in the 2nd half, 50-27, to claim its first-ever win in Arlington despite another stalwart offensive performance from David Azore.
 
The Sun Belt's leading scorer, Azore dislocated a finger on his shooting hand just three minutes into the game, but popped back to register his fourth 30-point performance of the conference season already with 36; the rest of the league combined has just one such outing. The 36 points for Azore were one shy of matching his career high set last month.
 
Unfortunately for the Mavs, that effort wasn't enough as they allowed the defending Sun Belt Tournament Champions to shoot 53 percent (17-32) from the floor in the 2nd half after holding App State to just 29 percent (8-28) in the 1st half.
 
UTA committed 16 crucial turnovers – its most in any game since the Sun Belt opener versus South Alabama (17). Those giveaways were converted into 19 points by App State as the Mountaineers finished with a +14 edge in points off turnovers.


BOX SCORE NUGGETS

• Azore dislocated the middle finger on his left shooting hand pulling down a rebound, but missed just a few minutes while it was popped back in and returned on an offensive tear, nearly out-scoring App State on his own in the 1st half (17 to 20).
• He finished 14-28 from the floor, 6-6 from the free throw line and also pulled down four rebounds in 33 minutes of action.
• Javon Levi scored just two points but secured five rebounds and issued a game-high nine assists.
• Patrick Mwamba netted eight points to go along with a pair of steals.
• Lazaro Rojas secured a team-best eight rebounds for UTA; Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu added seven rebounds.
• UTA finished the game at 38 percent (22-58) from the floor while App connected at 42 percent (25-60). The Mavs went a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line.
• The 20 points UTA held App to in the 1st half were the 2nd-fewest the Mountaineers have scored in any half this year (19 in the 1st half vs. Louisiana on Dec. 30).
• The 50 points UTA allowed App in the 2nd half were the most points the Mavs have surrendered in a half in any game this year.
• CJ Huntley led a quartet of double-figure scorers for App State with 19 points. Adrian Delph came off the bench to register a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Michael Almonacy added 17 points and Donovan Gregory netted 13.

GAME FLOW
Both teams got off to a slow start on a cool day as they combined for only 13 points in the first nine minutes with App State holding an 8-5 lead at that juncture.
 
However, UTA caught fire – not coincidently at the same time as Azore returned – and rattled off a 10-0 run as part of a larger 19-5 push to take the first double-digit lead of the game, 24-13, at the 4:30 mark after an Azore 3-pointer. The Mountaineers briefly trimmed the deficit back inside single digits, but the Mavs rebutted and Azore scored seven of UTA's final 10 points of the half as the hosts carried the 14-point edge into the halftime break.
 
However, after scoring just 20 points in the first 20 minutes, App scored 25 in the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half and completely erased that 14-point deficit to take a 45-44 lead at the midway point of the stanza.
 
The Mountaineers remained hot, and later in the half used a quick 7-0 spurt in not even 90 seconds to turn a 53-52 lead into a 60-52 edge at the 3:30 mark – their largest lead of the day to that point.
 
Azore tried to keep the Mavs in the contest as he scored all of UTA's final 13 points, pulling the Blue and Orange to as close as five, 66-61, with 40 seconds remaining, but that would be as close as they got.
 
QUOTABLE
"It was disappointing the way we played in the 2nd half; it's been a problem all year. To defend and play as well as we did in the 1st half and then deviate from that in the 2nd half is on me and I've got to get our guys better. We just haven't finished possessions or plays or halves, and it all starts with us being able to defend. But credit to App State – they've got good players, are well-coached and there's a reason they're in 1st place and won a championship last year."
 
– UTA Head Coach Greg Young
 

THIS AND THAT

• All six of UTA's Sun Belt losses have been by single digits. Three of the setbacks have come in overtime, and two of those were decided by a total of three points. UTA's average conference loss is only 4.8 points per game.
• UTA still leads the all-time series with App State, 11-4.
• This was App State's first-ever win in Arlington (6-1).
• The game served as the 10-year anniversary celebration of the College Park Center, which opened on Feb. 1, 2012. In that time, UTA now has a home record of 102-43 (.702).
   

NEXT UP
UTA will head back on the road when the Mavs head to ULM for a 6:30 p.m. start on Thursday, Feb. 10. The Warhawks are coming off a weekend road sweep at Arkansas State and Little Rock.
 
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