PENSACOLA, Fla. – The 9th-seeded UT Arlington men's basketball team will begin its 2022 Sun Belt Conference Tournament with a first-round matchup against 8th-seeded Louisiana on Thursday, Mar. 3, at 11:30 a.m. from the Pensacola Bay Center.
 
The Mavericks won both regular-season matchups against the Ragin' Cajuns. The first was an 83-73 decision in Arlington on Jan. 13 in a game in which Sun Belt First Team selection David Azore did not play for the Mavs due to COVID protocols. The second came in Lafayette on Feb. 12 in overtime, 80-77, as that contest featured 15 lead changes alone in the 2nd half and extra period.
 
With a win over Louisiana, UTA would advance to face top-seeded Texas State in the quarterfinals on Saturday, Mar. 5, also at 11:30 a.m. from the Pensacola Bay Center.
 

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UTA Sun Belt Tournament Notes

 
Tickets to the Sun Belt Tournament are still available. Any Maverick Club members and season-ticket holders who have questions are asked to contact Maverick Club Director Kyle Callender at kyle.callender@uta.edu or 817-272-0694.
 
Individual ticket prices range from $15 to $60 for adults and $5 to $30 for children 12 years and younger, and are available through Ticketmaster.
 
Additionally, ticket booklets to all sessions of the men's and women's tournament (which will be contested Mar. 2-7) are available through Ticketmaster and range in price from $30 to $120 (for children) to $100 to $300 (for adults).
 
THE OPENING TIP(s)

• UTA will be competing in its ninth, and final, Sun Belt Tournament as the Mavs are joining the Western Athletic Conference on July 1.
   
• This will be the third time UTA faces Louisiana in the Sun Belt Tournament, and they have each come in four-year increments: 2014 quarterfinal loss, 91-85; 2018 semifinal win, 71-68.
   
• All 10 of UTA's Sun Belt losses this year came by 10 points or less, and nine were by single digits – 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's average loss in conference play this year was just 5.6 points per game.
   
• UTA's NET Ranking entering this week is #232 as the Mavs have nine total victories over Division-I opponents this year. The only non-Power 6 team with fewer D-I wins ranked ahead of UTA is #230 Kennesaw State with eight. The only other teams with fewer than nine D-I wins ranked ahead of the Mavs: #215 Georgia (six), #197 Georgetown (six) and #164 Nebraska (eight).
   

TWEETABLES
1) UTA has defeated the #1 (Texas State), #3 (Georgia State), #4 (Troy) and #5 (South Alabama) seeds, but has lost to the #10 (Georgia Southern), #11 (ULM, 2x) and #12 (Little Rock) seeds. The only top-5 seed that UTA did not beat was #2 App State (70-61), and the Mavs had a 34-20 halftime lead in that contest.
 
2) UTA finished the regular season by holding each of its last three opponents under 65 points for the first time in program history: 62 at South Alabama, 59 at Troy and 58 versus Arkansas State.
 
3) The Mavs will be looking to duplicate the performance of App State as the Mountaineers last year entered the tournament with a losing conference record (7-8) and won four games as the #4 seed in the East Division (equivalent to an 8 seed overall) to win the 2021 Sun Belt Championship.
 
4) UTA finished the Sun Belt season ranked in the top-3 in league games in points (3rd, 68.9), assists (2nd, 14.2), steals (2nd, 7.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3rd, 1.1).
 
5) Azore ranks 9th nationally in free throws made (149), Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu is 25th in blocks per game (2.5) and Javon Levi is 30th in assists per game (5.1).
 
AZORE ALL-SUN BELT FIRST TEAM
Coming off a season in which he led the Sun Belt Conference in scoring by a considerable margin, David Azore was named to the league's First Team on Monday.
 
A graduate student, Azore led the Sun Belt in both overall scoring for the year (19.8) and conference-only scoring (23.9) – nearly five points better than Conference Player of the Year Norchad Omier (19.1). The 19.8 average ranks 25th nationally, and the 6-foot-4 guard had four 30-point games in Sun Belt play; the rest of the league combined had just three such outings.
 
For more information about Azore, read the full release by clicking here.

UTA IN THE FINAL SUN BELT RANKS
David Azore
Points Per Game: 23.9 (1st)
Free Throw Percentage: 84.9 (3rd)
Field Goal Percentage: 44.1 (T-6th)
 
Javon Levi
Assists Per Game: 5.4 (1st)
Assist-To-Turnover Ratio: 2.6 (1st)
Steals Per Game: 1.9 (1st)
 
Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu
Blocks Per Game: 2.2 (1st)
 
Carson Bischoff
3-Pointers Made Per Game: 1.9 (T-8th)
 
EXTRA TIME
UTA has already played a program-record six overtime games this season, and five came in conference action – also a single-season program record. In the previous five seasons (2016-21), UTA played just six total overtime contests. Additionally, UTA is closing in on the all-time single-season NCAA D-I record for overtime games of eight (including the postseason) set by Western Kentucky in 1977-78, Portland in 1983-84 and Valparaiso in 1992-93.
 
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES
Against Little Rock on Jan. 22, Azore tied for the 10th-most points in single-game program history with a career-high 37. He made 17 free throws in that game – tied for the 3rd-most by any player in the nation this year, the most by a UTA player since 1979 and tied for the 4th-most in program history.
 
In that same game against the Trojans, Carson Bischoff tied a single-game program record with nine made 3-pointers, reaching double-figure points for the first time in his UTA career with 27. The nine 3s are the most by a Sun Belt player in any game this year and tied for the 10th-most in the country this season.
 
NOTEWORTHY

• Azore has tied a single-season program record with two 35+ point games this year (career-high 37 at Georgia Southern; 36 versus App State). His four 30-point contests are tied for the 5th-most in single-season program history behind Eddie Stallings (5) in 1967-68 and 1968-69, Sam Norton (6) in 1983-84 and Marquez Haynes (7) in 2009-10.
   
• Levi recorded just the third triple-double in program history with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Louisiana on Jan. 13. Erick Neil had UTA's only other two triple-doubles before Levi's performance: Nov. 27, 2017, versus UT Dallas (10p, 10r, 13a), and Jan. 28, 2016, at ULM (27p, 10r, 12a).

JOINING THE WAC
On Jan. 21, UT Arlington officially accepted an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference effective July 1, 2022, making UTA the 15th member of the WAC and eighth school based in Texas during the 2022-23 academic year.
 
UTA was a member of the Southland Conference from 1963-2012, a one-year former WAC member in 2012-13 and has been a Sun Belt institution since 2013-14.
 
NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE STRENGTH
UTA played the 11th-hardest non-conference schedule of any team in the nation (toughest of any Sun Belt team). The Mavs faced five Quad 1 opponents; no other team in the league faced more than three as UTA was responsible for nearly a quarter of the Sun Belt's 23 combined Quad 1 games. In fact, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Troy, South Alabama and Coastal Carolina have combined for just three Quad 1 games – two fewer than UTA on its own.
 
KEY NUMBERS
2: UTA lost its then-2nd-leading scorer Pedro Castro for the season after he underwent back surgery on Dec. 18 following an injury suffered at Oral Roberts two days prior.
 
4: UTA committed just four turnovers against Troy on Jan. 1 – tied for the fewest in program history in the last 10 years (Louisiana on Jan. 31, 2020).
 
5: Akobundu-Ehiogu recorded his ninth-career game of 5+ blocks against South Alabama on Feb. 25; no other player in program history has more than three such games, and Akobundu-Ehiogu has played just 46 contests with UTA.
 
6: Six of UTA's 11 wins this year have come when scoring in the 50s, 60s, 70, 80s, 90s or 100s.
 
8: UTA played the most non-conference opponents in the nation that participated in the NCAA Tournament last year with incredibly eight. Of the nine D-I foes the Mavs faced in their non-league schedule only one (Lamar) didn't play in March Madness in 2021.
 
9: The Mavs played four-straight games from Jan. 6-15 with just nine scholarship players due to injuries and COVID protocols. UTA was without Jack Hoiberg and Bischoff at Georgia State and Georgia Southern and without Azore and Lazaro Rojas versus Louisiana and ULM.
 
13: UTA has already used 14 different starting lineups in 28 games – tied for the 5th-most combinations of any team in the nation (18: Alabama State; 17: Coppin State; 16: Memphis, Little Rock; 14: Eastern Illinois, Stony Brook).
 
39 – Percentage of UTA's total minutes this season which have been played by its bench (non-starters), the 34th-most of any team in the nation.
 
51: UTA pulled down 51 boards on Jan. 6 in out-rebounding Georgia State, 51-32. That's the most caroms for the Mavs versus a D-I opponent since 55 against Troy on Mar. 5, 2016. Additionally, 18 of those came on the offensive glass – UTA's most against any D-I team in more than a decade.
 
100: With a 62-57 win over Troy on Jan. 1, UTA claimed its 100th all-time victory in the College Park Center (100-41, .709). The first game took place on Feb. 1, 2012, with 2012-13 being the first full season of the CPC.
 
1,000: Azore reached 1,000 career points with a free throw in the 1st half of UTA's contest at Oklahoma on Dec. 19, becoming the 28th member of UTA's 1,000 Point Club. Levi crossed off the milestone on a layup at Georgia Southern on Jan. 8; 918 of the grad transfer's points came at UTRGV.
 
AMONG THE NATION'S ELITE
Levi spent the previous four seasons at UTRGV, accumulating statistical numbers which place him among the best guards in the nation. Levi ranks in the top 10 among all active D-I players in the country in career steals (3rd, 293), assists (4th, 742) and assist-to-turnover ratio (9th, 2.53). Additionally, Levi ranks 7th in career steals per game at 2.2.
 
MOVING ON UP
Azore is 3rd on UTA's all-time program list for made free throws with 416, and currently ranks tied for 7th in free throw percentage at 80.6.
 
Akobundu is 4th on UTA's all-time program list for blocked shots with 130 in 46 games.
 
DEPTH ON DISPLAY
UTA tied for the national lead last season by having 13 different players score double-figure points in a game. So far this year, the Mavs have had 12 different double-figure scorers – tied for the 3rd-most in the nation (Bowling Green, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi each with 13). Below is a list of those players, their respective season highs and how many times they have led UTA in scoring:
 
David Azore: 37 (19x – Includes One Tie)
Carson Bischoff: 27
Patrick Mwamba: 22 (4x – Includes One Tie)
Pedro Castro: 17 (3x)
Nicolas Elame: 17, 3x (1x)
Shemar Wilson: 15 (1x)
Javon Levi: 14, 2x
Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu: 14
Brandyn Talbot: 13
Montez Young Jr.: 12 (1x)
Lazaro Rojas: 12, 2x
Jack Hoiberg: 11
 
RE-TWEETS

• Akobundu-Ehiogu posted a career-high 14 points, pulled down six rebounds and blocked six shots against Lamar on Dec. 11. The six blocks were tied for the most by any Sun Belt player this year and are tied for the 5th-most in single-game program history. He went 7-7 from the floor thanks to six alley-oops – tied for the 6th-most makes without a miss in program history (minimum five makes).

• The Mavs were scheduled to face Nevada (NET #126 – Quad 3 opponent at home) on Tuesday, Dec. 7; however, that contest was canceled due to COVID protocols within the Wolf Pack program.
   
• UTA won at UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 29, 70-62, snapping the 6th-longest home winning streak in the country at 20 in a row dating back to 2019. UCSB was the last of five-straight opponents – and six-straight D-I foes for UTA – which played in the NCAA Tournament last year.
   
• UTA's win at UCSB (ranked #93 at the time by KenPom) was its first road non-conference win over a KenPom top-100 team since the Mavs took down BYU (then #73) on Nov. 18, 2018.
   
• Castro was held scoreless at Utah State, his first pointless game since he was a redshirt freshman with the Mavs (two schools in-between) on Mar. 16, 2019, in a Sun Belt Tournament semifinal win over Georgia Southern. He bounced back impressively with a team-high 16 points at UC Santa Barbara two days later.
   
• UTA shot 64.2 percent (43-67) from the floor on Nov. 13 against Mary Hardin-Baylor, which was tied for the 7th-best mark in single-game program history. It was the 2nd-highest percentage in program history when making at least 40 shots (66 percent, 40-62, at Texas Wesleyan on Jan. 2, 1965).
   
• Shemar Wilson led the way with that shooting percentage as he went a perfect 6-6 from the floor – tied for the 10th-most makes in program history without a miss.
   
• Levi posted his seventh-career double-double with 12 points and 10 assists against UMHB. It was the first points-assists double-double by a UTA player since Brian Warren had 15 and 12 versus Arkansas Tech on Nov. 24, 2019.
   
• Greg Young secured his first-career win at the D-I level with the 104-75 victory over Mary Hardin-Baylor. Young – who was named the ninth head coach in program history this past spring following 12 seasons on the UTA sidelines as either an assistant (2009-13) or associate head coach (2013-21) – had previously served as a junior college head coach for 10 seasons, accumulating an overall record of 168-139. His first-career victory over a D-I opponent came on Nov. 29 at UC Santa Barbara.
   
• The Mavs had six different players reach double-figure points against Mary Hardin-Baylor. The last time UTA had exactly six in double figures was an NIT Second Round victory over Akron on Mar. 20, 2017. UTA had eight double-figure scorers in a 117-53 win opposite Howard Payne on Dec. 22, 2020.
   
• The Mavs handed out 28 assists against UMHB, one shy of cracking the top-10 single-game program record list.

 
FOLLOW ALONG
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