UTA Battles Texas Tech, But Falls Short After Late Red Raiders’ Surge

Thursday, December 21

Lubbock, TX

1 PM

University of Texas Arlington

6-5,1-1WAC

Texas Tech

9-2,0-0Big 12

Team	1	2	F
UT Arlington	25	41	66
Texas Tech	39	38	77

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UTA Battles Texas Tech, But Falls Short After Late Red Raiders’ Surge

12/21/2023 4:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: By: Jason MacBain (@JaBain)

LUBBOCK, Texas – The UT Arlington men's basketball team trailed Texas Tech by only six points with six minutes remaining on Thursday, but a late surge by the Red Raiders was too much for the Mavericks in a 77-66 loss inside United Supermarkets Arena.

After trailing by as much as 20 in the 2nd half, UTA fought back and only faced a 64-58 deficit with six minutes to play after a Dwayne Koroma layup. However, an 11-2 run by Tech over the next four minutes created a 15-point edge, 75-60, that the Mavs weren't able to overcome.

Playing in just his second game with the Mavs after getting eligible last week, Phillip Russell delivered a team-high 18 points – 16 of which came in the 2nd half. The junior guard also issued a game-best seven assists and recorded three steals to surpass 100 for his career.

Entering the game with just nine made 3-pointers on the season, Akili Vining tallied a season-high-tying four en route to a season-most 16 points to go along with a season-high eight rebounds and a season-establishing three steals off the bench.

Shemar Wilson delivered a performance not done by any other player in the nation so far this season with eight points, 11 rebounds, five blocks and three steals; he is the first person at the Division-I level this year with at least those totals in a game. He finished two points shy of what would have been his conference-leading fifth double-double of the season, but notched his seventh double-figure rebounding game of the year. The three steals and five blocks for the 6-9 forward are his most at the D-I level.

UTA was without Brandyn Talbot (7 ppg) following a concussion suffered in the Air Force game on Saturday. Talbot's 16 3-pointers this year are the 2nd most on the Mavs.

In both halves, UTA surrendered late runs which made the difference in the game. In the 1st half, the Mavs trailed by just four, 27-23, with 4:30 remaining, but Tech closed on a 12-2 run to take a 14-point lead into intermission. That preceded the aforementioned 11-2 2nd-half stretch by Tech after the Mavs had pulled within six, 64-58, with six minutes left.

BOX SCORE NUGGETS

The loss drops UTA to 6-5 overall, while the win improves Tech to 9-2.
True freshman Kade Douglas came off the bench and once again knocked down a pair of 3-pointers on his way to eight points – the fourth time in the last five contests he's scored 8+ points.
DaJuan Gordon registered seven points and had a pair of rebounds and steals.
Aaron Cash recorded a career-high four steals to lead all players as part of UTA's 13 total, which represented a season most. Cash also scored two points.
Koroma tallied four points and four rebounds, and true freshman Makaih Williams added three points.
Russell now has 102 career steals after entering the afternoon with 99.
After allowing Tech to shoot 59% (17-29) from the floor in the 1st half, UTA held the Big 12 member to just 33% (11-33) in the 2nd half. UTA finished at 40% (24-60) for the game, while Tech went 45% (28-62).
Both teams totaled 17 turnovers, and UTA actually finished with more points (20) off those giveaways than Tech (18).
UTA also posted a 16-8 edge in second-chance points, but Tech held a 37-32 advantage overall on the glass.
After neither team attempted a free throw in the 1st half, UTA went 10-13 (77%) and Tech went 11-13 (85%) in the 2nd half. Russell led that charge for the Mavs by going 8-10.
Joe Toussaint (19) and Pop Isaacs (18) led a quartet of double-figure scorers for the Red Raiders.
UTA used a different starting lineup for the fifth-straight game: Russell, Williams, Gordon, Koroma and Wilson.

QUOTABLE
"They're a really good team, but we didn't play our best today – and we're trying to get to a point where we can play with a Big 12 team, which hopefully is by the NCAA Tournament. We can do it in spurts, but we have to learn how to do it for a full 40 minutes."
– UTA Head Coach KT Turner

GAME FLOW
Gordon scored the first five points of the day for the Mavs to give the visitors a 5-4 lead a few minutes into the contest. Tech responded with a 6-0 run and eventually established a lead as large as nine on multiple occasions, the last of which came at 24-15 with nine minutes remaining.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Douglas and Vining pulled UTA within three, 24-21, and the Mavs remained down by only four, 27-23, following a Koroma layup at the 4:30 mark.

However, from that point Tech closed the half on an extended 12-2 run to take a 39-25 advantage into the locker room on the strength of 59% shooting (17-29) from the floor and the Mavs committing 11 turnovers.

Tech came out of intermission and extended its edge to 20, 53-33, not even five minutes into the stanza. Unfazed, UTA cut that lead all the way down to seven, 53-46, with a 13-0 run in three minutes.

The deficit remained just seven, 57-50, at the midway point of the half, but a sequence which resulted in UTA receiving a technical foul and a flagrant foul yielded a five-point possession for Tech and a 62-50 cushion. UTA wouldn't go away, though, and following a 6-0 run a few minutes later trailed by only six, 64-58, with six minutes remaining before the late Tech push to put the game on ice.

THIS AND THAT

This was the first meeting between UTA and Tech since 2010 and only the second in the last two decades.
This was Gordon's fourth time playing Tech and third time at United Supermarkets Arena as the former Kansas State guard suited up against the Red Raiders in 2020 and 2021.
Texas Tech (42nd) was 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).
The Red Raiders have now won 28 straight non-conference home games, and Tech is now 86-2 in those games since the start of the 2013-14 season.

NEXT UP
UTA will face a quick turnaround when the Mavs head to Denton to face North Texas on Saturday, Dec. 23, at 1 p.m.

-- #BuckEm --

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