ARLINGTON – One game. One award.
 
Following a dominant offensive performance in his first game with UT Arlington on Saturday, Phillip Russell has been named the Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Newcomer of the Week, as announced by league officials on Monday.
 
In his UTA debut, Russell lived up to the hype by delivering a game-high 28 points in leading the Mavericks to a 76-73 win over Air Force Saturday afternoon at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth as part of the US LBM Coast-to-Coast Challenge.
 
Following a roller coaster of a week featuring court and NCAA rulings which ultimately culminated in immediate eligibility for multiple-time undergraduate transfers, Russell fell into that category and made an immediate impact for the Mavs in a starting role.
 
He delivered 15 points in only 11 1st-half minutes, and then poured in 13 more in the 2nd half to account for the 2nd-most points any UTA player has scored all year (Shemar Wilson: 29 at New Mexico). He also added two assists and two steals in 29 minutes of action.
 
The 5-10 junior guard went 9-17 from the floor and knocked down a game-most four 3-pointers while going 6-7 from the free throw line as part of a larger 19-22 (86%) effort from the charity stripe by the Mavs.
 
Air Force, which came into the game with a 7-3 record, ranked 17th nationally and tops in the Mountain West Conference at only 62.1 points allowed all season, but behind Russell's offensive prowess UTA surpassed that average with almost 10 minutes remaining en route to the most points surrendered by the Falcons all season.
 
The St. Louis native is now the third different UTA player to win a weekly WAC award this season as DaJuan Gordon (Nov. 13) and Wilson (Nov. 20) claimed Player of the Week honors last month. UTA is the only school in the WAC that has had three different players earn weekly awards this year.
 
Russell and the rest of the Mavs are back in action this Thursday, Dec. 21, at Texas Tech. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.
   
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Secure your seat 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.
 
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