LAS CRUCES, N.M. – After getting out-scored by 34 points in the 2nd half just two days prior when holding a halftime lead, the UT Arlington men's basketball team completely flipped the script on Saturday night as the Mavericks opened the 2nd half on a 24-4 run to overcome a halftime deficit en route to an impressive 66-55 road win over New Mexico State inside the Pan American Center.
 
Trailing at the break, 33-26, UTA came out firing with a 9-0 start to the 2nd half, led by as much as 17 and picked up a crucial road victory against a New Mexico State team picked to finish 2nd in the Western Athletic Conference despite the Mavs not having their starting point guard Marion Humphrey.
 
Reigning WAC Freshman of the Week Chendall Weaver – who was held scoreless for the first time in his career Thursday at Grand Canyon – delivered a game-high 16 points to pace the UTA offensive attack and also secured seven rebounds as part of a 35-29 edge on the glass for the Mavs.
 
Shemar Wilson narrowly missed what would have been his sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and nine rebounds – four of which came on the offensive end as he entered the night ranked 5th nationally in offensive rebounding at exactly four per game.
 
UTA had a pair of true freshmen in double-figure points as Brandon Walker joined Weaver with 10 points and five rebounds. Kyron Gibson failed to reach double digits in the scoring column for just the second time in the last eight games; however, the junior posted a brilliant all-around performance of eight points, a career-high-tying eight rebounds and six assists.
 
Brandyn Talbot rounded out the quintet of Mavs with eight or more points as he notched exactly that many on the strength of a pair of 3-pointers – his first time this year making multiple 3s in consecutive games.
 
Battling each other for the first time since the 2013 WAC Tournament Final, UTA locked in defensively as well, holding NM State to season lows in points (55), field goal percentage (31.6) and field goals made (18).


BOX SCORE NUGGETS

• With the win, UTA improves to 6-13 and 1-5 in the WAC, while NM State drops to 7-11 and 0-6.
• After shooting just 27.3 percent (3-11) from the free throw line in the 1st half, UTA connected at an 83.3-percent rate (10-12) in the 2nd half.
• After making his Division-I debut in the 2nd half on Thursday, walk-on Shaysten Cornish saw early action on Saturday with UTA depleted at the point guard position. He ended up playing seven minutes, and delivered his first D-I assist in the 2nd half.
• WAC Preseason First Team selection Xavier Pinson led NM State with 12 points. Kyle Feit was the only other double-figure scorer for the Aggies with 11 off the bench.
• UTA utilized its eighth different starting lineup this season and second on the road trip: Gibson, Weaver, Pedro Castro, Aaron Cash and Wilson.

QUOTABLE
"I knew we would be resilient; I knew we would keep chipping away. It's only one game and we have to get better from it, but any time you can go on the road and get a split in conference it's a good win – and against a really talented team in a tough environment. After the 2nd half at Grand Canyon on Thursday, this really shows the resiliency of our players, and I'm proud of them."
– UTA Head Coach Greg Young


GAME FLOW
UTA raced out to a quick 8-0 start just 2:30 into the contest, but NM State responded with its own 8-0 run to tie the contest at the 14-minute mark. After Walker gave the Mavs a two-point lead, 10-8, the two sides alternated one-point advantages on the ensuing seven scoring possessions before the Aggies eventually forged in front by as much as six, 25-19, with 3:30 remaining.
 
A 5-0 spurt by the Mavs got them back within one, 25-24, with under 90 seconds to play, but NM State clipped off an 8-0 surge in a minute to open up the biggest lead either team had in the 1st half at nine, 33-24, before Weaver converted a layup going into the break to make it 33-26.
 
The Mavs trailed by just seven despite missing the aforementioned eight free throws, while the Aggies went 9-11 (82 percent) to represent the biggest discrepancy on the stat sheet at intermission.
 
The 2nd half began exactly the same as the 1st for the Mavs, who came out flying and orchestrated a 9-0 run to take a 35-33 lead on a Cash 3-pointer at the 17-minute juncture – the first advantage UTA had since the 8-minute mark of the opening stanza.
 
After the Aggies stopped the streak, the Mavs commenced another one immediately and rattled off eight unanswered as part of a 17-2 start to the 2nd half, and on a Weaver triple – assisted by Cornish – from the baseline in front of the UTA bench with 13:25 showing built a 43-35 cushion.
 
A few minutes later, Wilson pulled up in transition from well beyond the arc and knocked down just his second career 3-pointer to extend the Maverick lead to 50-37, cap the 24-4 run and force NM State into its final timeout with a little over 10 minutes remaining. From there, UTA didn't allow the hosts to get any closer than nine, and that margin was held for less than a minute.
 
THIS AND THAT

• The win for UTA was its second road victory over an opponent that competed in the NCAA Tournament last year (San Francisco).
• Humphrey injured his knee on Thursday. He averages team bests of 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals, in addition to posting 6.6 points for the year.
• With the win, UTA avoided an 0-6 start to conference play, which would have been the worst beginning to a league slate since 1988-89 when the Mavs opened Southland Conference play 0-7.
• This was the second-straight opponent for UTA picked to finish in the top-2 of the WAC standings as it faced preseason favorite Grand Canyon on Thursday.
• NM State won the WAC Tournament last year and defeated UConn in the NCAA Tournament. This is the Aggies final season in the WAC as they are joining Conference USA next year.
• Beginning with NM State, seven of UTA's next eight opponents entering Saturday were in the bottom half of the conference standings as – on paper – the schedule eases up for the Mavs, who had already faced five of the top-6 teams in the WAC standings.
• The WAC is currently ranked as the 12th-best conference (out of 32) in the nation.

NEXT UP
UTA will return home to face UT Rio Grande Valley on Thursday, Jan. 19, at 7 p.m. inside the College Park Center.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
For updates, behind-the-scenes photos, videos and more engaging and personal content, be sure to follow the men's basketball program on Twitter (@UTAMavsMBB), Instagram (@UTAMavsMBB) and Facebook (/UTAMavsMBB).