ARLINGTON – The UT Arlington men's basketball team commences an important three-game homestand on Wednesday at 7 p.m. when the Mavericks welcome California Baptist to the College Park Center.
GAMEDAY PROMOS
- Military Appreciation Night
- All current and former military receive two (2) free tickets using the promo code HERO at utatickets.com/promo (additional tickets: $5 each).
- Superhero Night
- For only $10, fans can get one (1) game ticket and one (1) UTA Superhero t-shirt using the promo code SUPERHERO at utatickets.com/promo.
- The first 50 UTA students in attendance receive a UTA Superhero t-shirt.
- Halftime
- Ring presentation for the women's tennis team's 2022 conference championship.
- Men's and women's tennis team recognition.
- Lamar ViQueens Drill Team performance.
OPENING TIP(s)
- UTA is coming off a peak and valley week. In an 85-73 win over UT Rio Grande Valley on Thursday, UTA established season highs against a Division-I opponent in points, field goals made (31), 3-pointers made (11) and assists (26). On Saturday in an 84-68 loss at Abilene Christian, the Mavs allowed season highs in points (84), field goal percentage and makes (63.3, 31-49), 3-point percentage (58.8, 10-17) and assists (20).
- Chendall Weaver was named the Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week for the second time this month on Monday after averaging 8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in those two games. Weaver also claimed the award on Jan. 9, and he is one of just two players (Grand Canyon's Kobe Knox) in the WAC to have won twice this year. Along with Brandon Walker collecting the honor on Dec. 5, UTA has a league-high three Freshman of the Week recognitions this season.
- UTA ranks 4th in the nation in offensive rebounding at 14.1 per game (1st: Saint Peter's, 14.6). Shemar Wilson is leading the charge as the sophomore is 9th nationally with 3.8 offensive rebounds an outing. He has registered three games of 8+ offensive boards this year – tied for the 2nd most in the country against D-I opponents with Long Beach State's Lassina Traore (leader: Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe with four).
TWEETABLES
1) Over his last two games,
Montez Young Jr. has scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Prior to that, he had 20 points and 29 rebounds in 15 games this season.
2) Entering last Thursday's matchup with UTRGV, only Weaver had scored at least 20 points in a game for UTA all season (exactly 20 on Nov. 12 versus Southwestern).
Aaron Cash tallied 20 on Thursday, and
Kyron Gibson netted 20 on Saturday at Abilene Christian.
3) Wilson – who averages 10.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game – is responsible for all five of UTA's double-doubles this year, which rank as the 2nd most among WAC players (Utah Valley's Aziz Bandaogo: 10).
4) The Mavs have had 11 different players reach double-figure points in a game this year, and also have had eight different leading scorers – the 3rd most in the nation behind only James Madison and Longwood with nine each.
ABOUT THE MATCHUP
- California Baptist has won four of its last five games, including a home sweep last week of Grand Canyon (79-74) and Tarleton (77-48). The Lancers own a non-conference victory over Washington (73-64) and lost by one in overtime to Minnesota (62-61).
- CBU and UTA are similarly balanced on offense as both teams have just two players averaging double-figure points – all four between 10.1 and 10.8 – and each side also has six players averaging at least 6 points per game. The Lancers have six players who have made double-figure 3-pointers this year; the Mavs have five.
- The Lancers are 15th in the country in opponent 3-point percentage at just 28.8 percent. They also rank in the top-40 nationally per game in 3-point attempts (28th, 25.9), bench points (33rd, 26.6) and points allowed (40th, 63.7).
- This will be the first-ever meeting between CBU and UTA. The Lancers are one of three current WAC members the Mavs have never played, with the others being Southern Utah and Utah Tech.
- CBU was a Division-II member until 2018-19, and in its first two seasons at the D-I level won a combined 37 games – by far the most in NCAA history for a program's first two years at the D-I level (the previous record was held by fellow WAC member Grand Canyon with 32 from 2013-15).
- Now in its fifth D-I season, California Baptist has never had a losing campaign and is a combined 80-59.
WAC STANDINGS
Click Here To View The Updated WAC Standings
The top-12 teams based off WAC record advance to the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas (as of today, New Mexico State would not qualify). Once those 12 participants are decided, a résumé-seeding system will be used to determine how teams are seeded at the WAC Tournament (
denoted by WAC Points in this link; higher point total = a better seed).
For example, right now even though Seattle U is the only undefeated team in the WAC, Utah Valley would be the #1 seed due to accumulating 4.09 points compared with the Redhawks' 4.03, which would make them the #2 seed. UTA (-4.54) would be the #12 seed despite currently sitting in 11th place.
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 rewarding the best teams throughout the entire season, the résumé-seeding system was introduced.
It is an algorithm that rates performances against all D-I teams faced in the regular season, not just conference play. Teams receive more credit for scheduling, and beating, stronger opponents than weaker ones – particularly on the road. This should help WAC members have higher NET rankings, a key-criteria used by the NCAA Selection Committee.
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.
BY THE NUMBERS
1: UTA picked up a 60-56 win over Horizon League preseason favorite Northern Kentucky on Nov. 22. NKU had defeated Cincinnati – picked to finish 3rd in the American Athletic Conference – two games prior by 13 points.
2: UTA picked up its second road win of the season over an NCAA Tournament team from last year when the Mavs took down New Mexico State, 66-55, on Jan. 14. The first came on Dec. 19 at San Francisco, 68-63.
5: UTA is just five wins shy of 800 all-time victories in program history. The Mavs are in their 64th season, with UTA's inaugural campaign taking place in 1959-60.
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).
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 one of only seven players nationally to secure at least eight offensive rebounds and zero defensive boards in a game.
10: Marion Humphrey had six steals against Southwestern on Nov. 12 to tie for the 10th most in single game program history.
12: Kyron Gibson passed out a season-best 12 assists versus UTRGV on Jan. 19, representing the most helpers by any WAC player in a game this year against a D-I opponent.
16: UTA's wire-to-wire win at San Francisco 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.
26: The 26 assists UTA issued against UTRGV were the most at home against a D-I foe in nearly six years – since the Mavs passed out 27 on Jan. 23, 2017, versus Louisiana.
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).
55: The 55 points UTA limited New Mexico State to represented just the second time in the last six seasons that the Mavs have held an opponent to 55 or fewer points on the road (52 at Arkansas State on Jan. 2, 2020). Prior to that, the last time the Mavs did it was on Dec. 16, 2016, when they permitted Bradley to score just 51.
AMONG THE NATION'S BEST PERFORMANCES
UTA has numerous single-game performances which register among the best of any team in the country so far this year:
- T-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
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 11 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:
Kyron Gibson: 20 (8x – Includes 2 Ties)
Chendall Weaver: 20 (3x)
Aaron Cash: 20 (2x – Includes 1 Tie)
Taj Anderson: 19 (1x)
Shemar Wilson: 18 (5x – Includes 1 Tie)
Marion Humphrey: 17 (3x – Includes 1 Tie)
Brandon Walker: 17 (1x – Tied)
Brandyn Talbot: 15 (1x)
Montez Young Jr.: 14
Dario Domingos: 12
Pedro Castro: 12
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 had 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)
NEXT UP
UTA will have a rare weekend off before returning to the College Park Center to face Tarleton next Wednesday, Feb. 1, at 7 p.m.
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).
