FORT WORTH – Following a 10-day break for final exams, the UT Arlington men's basketball team returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 16, at 4 p.m. from Dickies Arena when the Mavericks square off against Air Force in the first game of a tripleheader of action at the US LBM Coast-to-Coast Challenge.
 

GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Game 10	UT Arlington (5-4) vs. Air Force (7-3)
Date | Time	Satuday, Dec. 16 | 4 PM (Doors: 3 PM)
Location	Dickies Arena
Tickets	Ticketmaster (UTA Sections: 104 & 105)
Video	ESPN+
Radio	620 AM | 102.5 FM
Audio Stream	Varsity Network App | UTAMavs.com
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	UT Arlington | Air Force | WAC

Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster, and UTA's dedicated sections are 104 and 105. The game is presented by LBL Architects. Following the UTA-Air Force contest, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt will face off at 6:30 p.m., and then TCU takes on Arizona State at 9 p.m. Tickets are good for all three games.
 
Prior to the game, a Forth Worth Maverick Takeover alumni event as part of the UTA Athletics DFW Tour takes place from 1:30-3:30 p.m. at Chimy's (1053 Foch St.). Click here to RSVP for the pre-game event and for more information.

OPENING TIP(s)

• UTA is coming off a dominant 74-37 win over UNT Dallas on Dec. 6. In that contest, the Mavs had 26 offensive rebounds to tie for the 6th most in single-game program history and most in any game since 1996. Of those 26 o-boards, 25 were secured by players (one team rebound) to represent the 4th-most offensive rebounds by any team in the nation this year: South Dakota (28), Texas A&M (26), South Carolina State (26).
   
• Individually, Aaron Cash – who had 17 points and 17 rebounds – was responsible for 12 offensive rebounds to tie for the most in program lore with Johnny McDowell (1992) and Sam Norton (1984). Those dozen o-boards are also the most by any player in the nation this year (two players with 11; two with 10).
   
• Defensively, the 37 points UTA held UNT Dallas to are its 2nd fewest all-time behind only a 36-point performance against SMU in 1989 – a game the Mavs actually lost, 36-31. Those are the only two times in the 64+ years of the program UTA has held a team under 40 points.
   
• UTA and Air Force, on paper, are evenly matched as the Mavs enter with a NET ranking of #173 while the Falcons are #164. However, UTA boasts the nation's 14th-hardest non-conference schedule, while Air Force's ranks 343rd (out of 362).
   
• Of UTA's seven Division-I opponents this year, five of them played in the postseason last year, and the Mavs are 2-3 versus the group: (W) Oral Roberts (NCAA), (W) Alcorn State (NIT), (L) #3 Arizona (NCAA), (L) New Mexico (NIT) and (L) Grand Canyon (NCAA).
   
• UTA boasts the following top-45 team and individual national rankings:
  Team
  Assists: 24th (17.8)
  Rebound Margin: 30th (+8.9)
  Rebounds: 30th (41.6)
  Offensive Rebounds: 45th (13.3)
  
  Shemar Wilson
  Offensive Rebounds: 17th (3.7)
  Double Doubles: 25th (4)
  Rebounds: 35th (9.2)
  Free Throws Attempted: 43rd (63)
   
  DaJuan Gordon
  Defensive Rebounds: 37th (6.6)
  Double-Doubles: 45th (3)

TWEETABLES
1) DaJuan Gordon reached 1,000 career points in the game against UNT Dallas and now has 1,004. Gordon is a New Mexico State grad transfer who began his UTA career this year with 910 points across stops at Kansas State, Missouri and NM State.
2) With Cash scoring a team-high 17 points versus UNT Dallas, UTA has now already had 10 different players reach double-figure points in a game this year and five different leading scorers.
3) Cash also played all 40 minutes in that UNTD contest, becoming just the third UTA player in the last 13 seasons to log all 40 minutes of a regulation game (Erick Neal and Lonnie McClanahan).
4) This will be the second-straight year that UTA plays in Dickies Arena. Last December the Mavs and long-time rival Texas State contested a touch, physical battle with the Bobcats claiming a 71-65 triumph.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• UTA and Air Force have met twice previously, with the Mavs winning both games in 1997 in Arlington (73-66) and 1998 in Colorado Springs (87-78).
   
• A member of the Mountain West Conference, Air Force brings back four starters this season and has used the same starting lineup all 10 games. Seven players on the roster hail from Texas, the most of any state, and Air Force does not have a senior – its first seniorless team since 1987.
   
• Air Force leads the MW and ranks 17th nationally in fewest points allowed (62.1). Additionally, the Falcons pace the league and are 38th in the country in blocks per game (5). Junior guard Ethan Taylor leads the nation in minutes played with an average of 39 per game; he also makes the 8th-most 3-pointers per contest in the country (3.7).
   
• The Falcons have improved their win total each of the past two seasons, and last year Air Force posted a NET ranking of 152 – an improvement of 112 slots from 2021-22.
   
• UTA assistant coach Cody San Miguel was an assistant coach/video coordinator with Air Force during the 2019-20 season.
   
• Air Force head coach Joe Scott is actually 3-0 all-time against UTA as he was the former head coach of Denver from 2008-16. The Mavs and Pioneers met in 2008 in a non-league tilt, and then both programs were WAC members in 2012-13 when Denver won both matchups en route to a regular-season title.

SCORING DEPTH
The Mavs have already had 10 players reach double-figure points in a game this year (highs): Wilson (29), Gordon (24), Kade Douglas (20), Cash (17), Fabio Basili (15), Akili Vining (14, 3x), Brandyn Talbot (14), Makaih Williams (14), Dwayne Koroma (12) and Freds Pauls Bagatskis (11).
 
Of those 10, Wilson (3), Gordon (2), Douglas (2), Basili (1) and Cash (1) have led UTA in scoring.
 
CLEANING UP THE WEEKLY AWARDS
With Gordon (Nov. 13) and Wilson (Nov. 20) claiming WAC Player of the Week honors, the duo became the first set of UTA teammates to be named conference Player of the Week in the same season since 2017-18 when Kevin Hervey and Neal both received the recognition when the Mavs were in the Sun Belt Conference. Furthermore, since the WAC began issuing Player of the Week honors in 1982-83, that was just the sixth occurrence of the same school winning each of the season's first two awards:
 
1984-85: San Diego State
1998-99: New Mexico
1999-00: SMU
2015-16: New Mexico State
2017-18: Utah Valley
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE
Gordon is one of only two UTA players in program history to begin his tenure with the Mavs by posting three-straight double-doubles. The only other was Damon Johnson in 1994 (Nov. 26-Dec. 2). No player has ever had four-consecutive double-doubles to begin a UTA career.
 
RECORD-TYING 3-POINT PERFORMANCE
UTA tied a single-game program record with 17 made 3-pointers on Nov. 11 against UT Tyler. That mark had only been reached once previously – on Dec. 8, 2015, against Bradley. Those 17 triples are three more than any other WAC team this year.
 
LONG-RANGE THREAT SIDELINED
In that UT Tyler contest, Bagatskis knocked down three 3-pointers and scored 11-straight points for UTA in the 1st half. However, the Georgia Tech transfer has not played in a game since then after suffering a left ankle injury in practice the week of Nov. 13, and he will be out indefinitely.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
0) Vining did not have a turnover while issuing eight assists against Alcorn State on Nov. 22, becoming just the fourth UTA player since 2010 to have at least eight assists and zero turnovers versus a D-I foe, joining Javon Levi, Brian Warren and Neal. Additionally, with seven points and five rebounds to go along with the eight assists and no turnovers, Vining was the first player in the nation to finish with at least those totals coming off the bench since Feb. 26, 2022; dating back to 2017, only seven other players in the country have registered that stat line against a D-I opponent.
 
1) UTA defeated Oral Roberts in the season opener on Nov. 6, 75-71. It was the only game in the last 13 years that the Mavs won, scored at least 70 points and shot less than 35% from the field.
 
2) Both Wilson (29 points, 11 rebounds) and Gordon (13 points, 14 rebounds) recorded double-doubles at New Mexico on Nov. 16 to become the first UTA players since Nov. 28, 2020, to accomplish the feat.
 
3) The Mavs had three players secure double-figure rebounds versus Oral Roberts: Wilson (14), Gordon (14) and Koroma (11). That marked just the second time since 1990 that UTA had three players with 10+ boards in a game (2016 vs. Arkansas State). There have only been two games in program history – both against non-DI opponents – in which four UTA players grabbed double-figure rebounds.
 
5) Five times already this year UTA has scored 75+ points against Division-I competition; the Mavs accomplished that feat just four times all of last season (regular and postseason). Furthermore, UTA has tallied 80+ in regulation four times this year; that occurred three times total in the previous two regular seasons.
 
7) UTA connected a 54.5% clip (12-22) from 3-point range against Abilene Christian on Nov. 29 in the WAC opener to tie the 7th-best percentage in single-game program history (minimum 10 makes).
 
8) Gordon did not score against Texas State on Nov. 25, but pulled down eight rebounds before fouling out. He is just the fifth UTA player since 2010 to secure 8+ rebounds in a game and not score (Montez Young Jr., Jabari Narcis, Hervey and Stuart Lagerson).
 
17) Talbot has made 17-straight free throws dating back to Nov. 12 of last season when he missed late in the 2nd half against Southwestern.
 
25) The Mavs distributed the ball to the tune of 25 assists on 27 made field goals versus Abilene Christian. Only three other teams in the nation since 2015 have had 25+ assists on 27 or fewer makes: Minnesota in March of 2023, Davidson in February of 2020 and Pittsburgh in February of 2017.
 
38) Against Grand Canyon on Dec. 2, UTA shot 46.2% (24-52) from the floor while holding the Lopes to 37.5% (21-56) – representing just the second time since 2010 the Mavs lost a road game when shooting at least 46% and holding their opponent under 38% (Mar. 5, 2015, at Georgia Southern, 76-64).
 
46) The Mavs shot 46% from the field and finished +9 in the rebounding column (45-36) at New Mexico, representing their only non-conference loss since 2010 when shooting at least 46% and posting at least +9 on the glass.
 
57) Opposite ACU, UTA shot a season-best 57% (27-47) from the floor – the best any Maverick team has shot against a D-I opponent since 2018.
 
75) UTA's 75 points against Oral Roberts were its most in a season opener against a D-I opponent since notching 85 against Loyola Marymount in 2017.
 
80) Versus New Mexico, UTA lost a road non-conference game when scoring 80+ points for the first time since a 90-81 setback to Creighton on Dec. 18, 2017.
 
86) The 86 points UTA scored in its 86-71 win over Abilene Christian were its most in any regulation conference game since a 91-86 win over Sun Belt Conference member Louisiana on Jan. 15, 2021. The Mavs scored 86 despite no player making more than five field goals.
 
NEXT UP
UTA will close non-conference play with the first of three challenging opponents, all of which will take place on the road. First up is a trip to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech on Thursday, Dec. 21, at 1 p.m.
   
PURCHASE TICKETS
Secure your seat(s) all season long to see the re-energized UTA men's basketball program in action at the College Park Center. Purchase single game or season tickets at UTATickets.com, call 817-272-9595 or email boxoffice@uta.edu.

FOLLOW ALONG
For updates, behind-the-scenes photos, videos and more engaging and personal content, follow the men's basketball program on X (formerly Twitter) (@UTAMavsMBB), Instagram (@UTAMavsMBB) and Facebook (/UTAMavsMBB).