PHOENIX – The UT Arlington men's basketball team embarks on arguably its most challenging road trip of the season this week when the Mavericks face the preseason top-2 teams in the Western Athletic Conference, commencing Thursday against Grand Canyon at 8 p.m. Central (7 local).
 

GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Game 17	UT Arlington (5-12, 0-4 WAC) @ Grand Canyon (11-5, 2-1 WAC)
Date | Time	Thursday, Jan. 12 | 8 p.m. CST
Location	Grand Canyon University Arena (7,000)
Video	ESPN+
Audio	620 AM | Varsity Network App
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	UT Arlington | Grand Canyon | WAC

OPENING TIP(s)

• UTA ranks 2nd in the nation in offensive rebounding at 14.7 per game (1st: Marshall, 14.9), and is averaging a WAC-best 15.5 offensive boards in league games (next closest: 12.5). Those 15.5 boards have yielded an average of 15.5 second-chance points so far in WAC play, accounting for 25 percent of UTA's 62.5 points-per-game average in league contests.
   
• Shemar Wilson is leading the charge as he ranks 7th nationally by averaging 3.9 offensive rebounds per game for the year and 5.3 in WAC tilts (2/game more than anyone else). He has also registered three games of eight offensive boards this year – tied for the most in the country alongside Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe and Long Beach State's Lassina Traore.
   
• Chendall Weaver was named the WAC's Freshman of the Week on Monday after averaging 10.5 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 53.3 percent (8-15) from the floor in a pair of starts. He is the second Maverick to earn WAC Freshman of the Week honors this season as Brandon Walker collected the award on Dec. 5. The two recognitions tie UTA for the most honors of any WAC member this year.

TWEETABLES

1) UTA will be looking to avoid its first 0-5 start to a conference season since 1988-89. That year, the Mavs began Southland Conference play 0-7.
 
2) The Mavs will be facing the preseason top-2 teams in the WAC on the road this week in Grand Canyon (picked 1st) on Thursday and New Mexico State (picked 2nd) on Saturday.
 
3) UTA has just two players averaging double-figure points this season in Wilson (10.8) and Kyron Gibson (10.2). However, the Mavs have had eight different leading scorers in a game this year – the 3rd most in the nation behind only James Madison and Longwood with nine each.
 
4) Wilson is responsible for all five of UTA's double-doubles this year, which rank as the 2nd most among all WAC players (Utah Valley's Aziz Bandaogo: eight).

ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• WAC Preseason Player of the Year Jovan Blacksher Jr. suffered a torn ACL last Thursday at Sam Houston, and he will miss the rest of the year for GCU. The junior guard was averaging 10.7 points over 11 games this season after being named to the WAC First Team in 2021-22.
   
• The Lopes have also been without starter Yvan Ouedraogo since Dec. 20 as the 6-9 forward is out indefinitely with a left-hand fracture. In 12 starts this year, Ouedraogo is averaging 6.1 points and 5.8 rebounds.
   
• While UTA is the nation's 27th-least experienced team in terms of Division-I playing time with an average of 0.91 years per player, GCU is the 44th-most experienced team (2.66), according to KenPom (more UTA experience information later in this release).
   
• GCU began WAC play 2-0 before suffering a 73-68 loss at Stephen F. Austin on Saturday. SFA is one of three common opponents – all with nearly identical results – the Mavs and Lopes have this year as UTA also narrowly lost to SFA, 66-62. Both teams also lost one-possession games to North Texas (UTA: 60-57; GCU: 60-58) and double-figure contests to Nevada (UTA: 62-43; GCU: 59-46).
   
• Ray Harrison leads GCU offensively with 15.1 points per game, while Gabe McGlothan – now that Blacksher Jr. is sidelined – is the only other double-figure scorer at 10.3. McGlothan paces the Lopes on the glass with 8.8 rebounds per outing.
   
• As a team, the Lopes rank 19th nationally in field goal percentage defense (38.5) and 26th in points allowed (61.5)
  

BACK TO THE WAC

After spending the previous nine seasons (2013-22) as a Sun Belt Conference member, UTA officially re-joined the Western Athletic Conference on July 1, 2022. UTA was a member of the WAC for one year previously in 2012-13 following 48 years in the Southland Conference (1963-2012) – of which it was a founding member.
 
Last year, the WAC ranked as the 15th-best men's basketball conference in the country (out of 32) – two spots ahead of the Sun Belt (17th). So far this year, the WAC ranks as the 12th-best league in the country, while the Sun Belt is 15th.
 
In men's basketball, the WAC has sent at least two teams to the NCAA Tournament in 28 of the past 46 seasons. In an effort to continue enhancing its at-large prospects and protecting top seeds in March, a résumé-seeding system will be used to determine how teams are placed at this year's WAC Tournament (men and women).
 
An algorithm will rate performance against all D-I teams faced in the regular season, not just conference play. That will rank teams for the conference postseason tournament. Using this résumé-seeding system, teams will receive more credit for scheduling and playing stronger opponents than weaker ones. This should help the WAC have higher NET rankings, a key-criteria used by the NCAA basketball selection committees.
 
WAC Commissioner Brian Thornton and WAC Associate Commissioner of Basketball Drew Speraw worked with Ken Pomeroy of kenpom.com to put together the formula. To see the current standings, click here.

BY THE NUMBERS

4: The Mavs posted four top-10 single-game program ranks in their 99-41 win over Howard Payne on Nov. 28: rebound margin (T-1, +36), points allowed (T-5, 41), blocks (T-5, 9), margin of victory (T-7, +58).
 
4: The Mavs made just four 3-pointers in their win at San Francisco on Dec. 19, representing their fewest in a road non-conference victory since knocking down three at Grand Canyon during a 66-64 triumph in November of 2014.
 
7: UTA has already had seven different occasions of a player grabbing 7+ offensive rebounds in a game this year: Wilson versus Hardin-Simmons (7), Nevada (7), Howard Payne (7), North Texas (8), Stephen F. Austin (8) and Utah Valley (8); Dario Domingos against Northern Kentucky (7).
 
7: UTA is just seven wins shy of 800 all-time victories in program history (793-995). The Mavs are in their 64th season, with UTA's inaugural campaign taking place in 1959-60.
 
8: Against UNT on Dec. 6, Wilson grabbed eight rebounds, and all of them were offensive. Over the last 6+ seasons – since the start of the 2016-17 campaign – he is now one of only seven players nationally to secure at least eight offensive rebounds and zero defensive boards in a game.
 
16: UTA's wire-to-wire 68-63 win at San Francisco on Dec. 19 ended the Dons' 16-game home non-conference winning streak and was the Mavs' first NET Quad 2 or better non-conference win since an 89-75 victory at BYU (Quad 1) in November of 2017. Two days later, USF defeated then-#25 Arizona State, 97-60.
 
17: In its 60-56 win over Northern Kentucky on Nov. 22, UTA committed 17 turnovers – at the time its most in a victory over a D-I opponent since the Mavs had 18 in a 75-70 overtime triumph at Cal Poly on Dec. 21, 2018. NKU was installed as the Horizon League preseason favorite, and the Norse had defeated Cincinnati – picked to finish 3rd in the American Athletic Conference – two games prior by 13 points.
 
18: UTA committed 18 turnovers against San Francisco – its most in a road non-conference regulation victory since giving the ball away 19 times in a 77-61 win at North Texas in December of 2016.
 
19: The Mavs recorded 19 steals against Southwestern on Nov. 12, which tied for the 3rd most in single-game program lore (22 versus University of Dallas in 1990 and 21 against Huston-Tillotson in 1991). Marion Humphrey was responsible for six of those thefts, equaling the 10th-highest total by a UTA player in a single game.
 
27: UTA is the least experienced team in the WAC and 27th nationally (337th of 363) this year based off prior D-I playing experience with an average of just 0.91 years per player (KenPom).
 
44: UTA went just 8-18 (44.4 percent) from the free throw line on Jan. 5 against Utah Valley, marking its worst performance from the charity stripe when attempting at least 18 free throws since going 9-23 (39.1 percent) in a 62-61 win versus Georgia Southern on Dec. 30, 2014.
 
48: UTA went 30-48 from the free-throw line versus Southwestern on Nov. 12, with the 48 attempts tying for the 5th most in program history.
 
49: The Mavs shot 49 percent (25-51) from the floor in a 71-65 loss to Texas State on Dec. 10 – only the fourth time in the last 8+ seasons (since 2014-15) that UTA has shot at least that percentage and lost:

• Nov. 21, 2017: 51.7% @ Alabama (77-76)
• Jan. 4, 2020: 50% @ Little Rock (92-89)
• Feb. 10, 2022: 50% @ ULM (74-71)

100: The Mavs scored 100+ points in back-to-back games for the 10th time in program history with 103 on Nov. 12 against Southwestern and 100 versus Hardin-Simmons on Nov. 15. Five of the all-time occurrences came between 1990-92, and the last time UTA did it was in 2020 on Dec. 17 and 22 against Dallas Christian (109) and Howard Payne (117).

AMONG THE NATION'S BEST PERFORMANCES

UTA has numerous single-game performances which register among the best of any team in the country this year:

• 7th – Free Throws Attempted: 48 vs. Southwestern
  • Leader – Tennessee State: 54 vs. Brescia
     
• T-8th – Rebounds: 63 vs. Howard Payne
  • Leader – Sam Houston: 70 vs. LeTourneau
     
• T-13th – Steals: 19 vs. Southwestern
  • Leader – Four Teams: 24

UTA's 63 rebounds on Nov. 28 against Howard Payne represented the most in any game for the Mavs since at least the 2009-10 season. In that same timeframe, the 83 field goal attempts against Hardin-Simmons were the 2nd most in any UTA game, bested only by 87 versus Howard Payne in 2020.

INSIDE THE DOUBLE-FIGURE SCORERS

Two years ago, UTA tied for the national lead by having 13 different players score double-figure points in a game. Last season, the Mavs had 12 different double-figure scorers – tied for the 3rd most in the nation. So far this year, UTA already has 10 different double-figure scorers.
 
Below is a list of those double-figure players, their respective season highs and how many times they have led UTA in scoring:
 
Chendall Weaver: 20 (2x)
Kyron Gibson: 19 (6x – Includes 2 Ties)
Taj Anderson: 19 (1x)
Shemar Wilson: 18 (4x – Includes 1 Tie)
Aaron Cash: 18 (1x – Tied)
Marion Humphrey: 17 (3x – Includes 1 Tie)
Brandon Walker: 17 (1x – Tied)
Brandyn Talbot: 15 (1x)
Dario Domingos: 12
Pedro Castro: 11

CHALLENGING THEMSELVES

UTA is one of only three schools in the nation to have finished with a top-40 NET non-conference strength of schedule in each of the past three seasons, joining Central Arkansas and Texas Southern.
 
UTA
2019-20: 3rd
2020-21: 37th
2021-22: 13th
 
Central Arkansas
2019-20: 6th
2020-21: 9th
2021-22: 27th
 
Texas Southern
2019-20: 2nd
2020-21: 25th
2021-22: 16th
 
Yet again this year, the Mavs are poised to finish with likely one of the country's most-challenging non-league schedules. Based off last year's final NET rankings, UTA has the 4th-hardest non-conference slate in the nation (average NET opponent ranking):
 
1) Nicholls (47)
2) Saint Mary's (72)
3) Seton Hall (83)
4) UT Arlington (88)
5) Alabama (92)

Additionally, KenPom currently lists UTA with the 23rd-ranked non-conference strength of schedule in the nation this season.

NEXT UP

UTA will head to Las Cruces to face New Mexico State – picked to finish 2nd in the WAC – on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 8 p.m. Central (7 local). The Aggies are off to an unexpected 0-4 league start as well after winning the WAC Tournament last year and defeating UConn in the NCAA Tournament.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
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