LUBBOCK, Texas – Winners of two straight, the UT Arlington men's basketball team begins a challenging end to its non-conference schedule on Thursday afternoon at Texas Tech with a 1 p.m. tipoff.
 

GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Game 11	UT Arlington (6-4) @ Texas Tech (8-2)
Date | Time	Thursday, Dec. 21 | 1 PM
Video	ESPN+
Radio	620 AM | 102.5 FM
Audio Stream	Varsity Network App | UTAMavs.com
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	UT Arlington | Texas Tech | WAC

OPENING TIP(s)

• Phillip Russell was named the Western Athletic Conference's Newcomer of the Week on Monday after scoring 28 points in a 76-73 UTA win over Air Force on Saturday at Dickies Arena in his Maverick debut. Russell dressed for the first time following court and NCAA rulings last week which granted immediately eligibility to all multiple-time undergraduate transfers.
   
• Russell became the third different UTA member to win a weekly WAC award this season as DaJuan Gordon (Nov. 13) and Shemar Wilson (Nov. 20) claimed Player of the Week honors. UTA is the only school in the WAC that has had three different players earn weekly awards this year.
   
• Gordon became just the sixth player in the nation this year – and only the fourth versus a Division-I opponent – to come off the bench and record at least 15 points and 15 rebounds in a game when he accomplished that feat on Saturday. Furthermore, he's now only the second player to achieve those totals off the bench in a winning effort against a D-I foe (Missouri State's N.J. Benson with 17 points and 16 rebounds in an 87-69 victory over fellow WAC member Abilene Christian on Nov. 20).
   
• Texas Tech (42nd) will be the first of three straight top-100 KenPom opponents for UTA, and also the first of three consecutive NET Quad 1 or 2 opportunities for the Mavs (at Tech: Quad 1, at North Texas: Quad 2 and at Texas: Quad 1). UTA has already played the nation's 27th-hardest schedule; of its eight D-I opponents, five were in either the NCAA Tournament or NIT last year and the Mavs are 2-3 against that group (more info: page 5).
   
• UTA boasts the following top-45 team and top-60 individual national rankings:
  Team
  Assists: 26th (17.7)
  Rebound Margin: 33rd (+8.4)
  Offensive Rebounds: 44th (13.1)
  Rebounds: 45th (40.6)
  
  Shemar Wilson
  Offensive Rebounds: 17th (3.7)
  Double Doubles: 30th (4)
  Rebounds: 51st (8.9)
  Free Throws Attempted: 56th (66)
  
  DaJuan Gordon
  Defensive Rebounds: 20th (7.0)
  Double-Doubles: 30th (4)
  Rebounds: 43rd (9.0)

TWEETABLES
1) DaJuan Gordon – coming off a 15-point, career-high 15-rebound double-double against Air Force – needs 17 rebounds for 600 in his career, and Russell is one steal shy of 100 for his career.
2) With Russell scoring a game-high 28 points versus Air Force, UTA has now had 11 different players reach double-figure points in a game this year and had six different leading scorers (more info later).
3) UTA's nine double-doubles leads the WAC: Wilson (4), Gordon (4) and Aaron Cash (1). The next closest teams are Grand Canyon and Tarleton State with six each. Additionally, those nine are two more than five schools combined: Stephen F. Austin (1), Abilene Christian (1), Seattle U (1), Southern Utah (2) and Utah Valley (2).
4) Against Air Force, the Mavs forced the Falcons into a season-high 19 turnovers which led to a season-most 25 points for UTA.
 
ABOUT TEXAS TECH

• Texas Tech played in the game after UTA-Air Force at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth on Saturday, claiming a 76-54 win over Vanderbilt.
   
• Tech is led by new head coach Grant McCasland, who last year oversaw North Texas to the NIT title. UTA had a last-second shot fall short against UNT last season in a narrow 60-57 loss to the Mean Green.
   
• The Red Raiders have won 27 straight non-conference home games, and Tech is 85-2 in those games since the start of the 2013-14 season.
   
• Tech and UTA have a similar opponent this year with very similar outcomes: the Mavs defeated Oral Roberts on Nov. 6, 75-71, and the Red Raiders beat the Golden Eagles on Dec. 12, 82-76.
   
• Typically a staple of McCasland and the Red Raiders, Tech allows just 65.5 points per game to rank 55th nationally. Air Force entered Saturday's game ranked 17th nationally at only 62.1 points allowed, but UTA surpassed that average with almost 10 minutes remaining en route to the most points surrendered by the Falcons all season (76).
   
• Joe Toussaint leads Tech with 14.9 points per game and 4.2 assists; Warren Washington paces the Red Raiders on the glass at 8.7.

HISTORICAL PERFORMANCES
In its 74-37 win over UNT Dallas on Dec. 6, 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 5th-most offensive rebounds by any team in the nation this year: South Dakota (28), Saint Mary's (28, 2OT), Texas A&M (26) and South Carolina State (26, OT).
 
Individually, 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 (three players with 11; four with 10).
 
Defensively, the 37 points UTA allowed were 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.
 
SCORING DEPTH
The Mavs have already had the aforementioned 11 players reach double-figure points in a game this year (highs): Wilson (29), Russell (28), 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 11, Wilson (3x), Gordon (2x), Douglas (2x), Russell (1x), Basili (1x) and Cash (1x) 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 Erick 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 eight 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 D-I competition; the Mavs accomplished that feat just four times all of last season (regular and postseason). Furthermore, UTA has tallied 80+ in regulation three 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).
 
40) Cash played all 40 minutes in the UNT Dallas 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).
 
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 (82-80) 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 face a quick turnaround when the Mavs head to Denton to face UNT on Saturday, Dec. 23, 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.

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