ARLINGTON – For the first time in 10 days, the UT Arlington men's basketball team returns to the court on Saturday at 4 p.m. when the Mavericks welcome Sam Houston to the College Park Center.
 

GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Game 22	UT Arlington (7-15, 2-7 WAC) vs. Sam Houston (17-5, 7-3 WAC)
Date | Time	Saturday, Feb. 4 | 4 p.m.
Location	College Park Center (7,000)
Tickets	UTATickets.com
Video	ESPN+
Audio	620 AM | Varsity Network App
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	UT Arlington | Sam Houston | WAC

GAMEDAY PROMOS

• Doubleheader
  • Women's basketball vs. Utah Tech at 1 p.m. (separate admission).
• UTA Beats Cancer
  • Two (2) complimentary tickets to those currently battling, or who have already beat, cancer by visiting utatickets.com/promo and using the code STRONG (additional tickets: $5 each).
  • UTA branded black t-shirts in recognition of melanoma – men's basketball's fundraising cause – will be available for purchase, and can also be secured in advance online by visiting the men's shop here.
  • Additionally, monetary donations are being accepted to help the team reach its fundraising goal online by clicking here.
  • Proceeds benefit local cancer patient and outreach platforms in Arlington through a partnership with Moncrief Cancer Institute.
• National Anthem Performance
  • Sam Houston High School Choir
• Halftime
  • Encore School of Dance performance and UTA baseball team recognition.

OPENING TIP(s)

• UTA has not played since Jan. 25 as the Mavs had their game against Tarleton this past Wednesday postponed and rescheduled to Monday, Feb. 6, at 4 p.m. due to the impacts from icy precipitation that has blanketed North Texas the entire week.
   
• UTA ranks 4th in the nation in offensive rebounding at 13.9 per game (1st: Saint Peter's, 14.2). Shemar Wilson is leading the charge as the sophomore is 10th nationally with 3.8 offensive rebounds an outing. He has registered three games of 8+ offensive boards this year – tied for the 3rd most in the country against D-I opponents (leaders: four games).
   
• The Mavs have uncharacteristically allowed three-straight opponents to shoot at least 50 percent from the field. It's the first time since Dec. 5-13, 2008, that UTA has allowed that to occur.
   
• After having just one player reach the 20-point plateau in the first 19 games of the season (Chendall Weaver with 20 versus Southwestern on Nov. 12), the Mavs have had a player get there in three-consecutive games: Aaron Cash (20 vs. UTRGV), Kyron Gibson (20 vs. Abilene Christian; 22 vs. California Baptist).

TWEETABLES

1) Over his last three games, Montez Young Jr. has scored 24 points and grabbed 18 rebounds. Prior to that, he had 20 points and 29 rebounds in 15 games this season.
 
2) UTA made 27 field goals in its 74-66 loss to California Baptist last time out – its most makes in a home setback since Nov. 25, 2020, against Oklahoma State (also 27).
 
3) Wilson – who averages 11.1 points and 8.2 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: 13).
 
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

• This will be the first meeting between old Southland Conference rivals since 2012 when the Mavs departed the league. The series has traditionally been very competitive; in 57 all-time meetings, the longest winning streak either team has had is just four. This will be the first of two matchups in 12 days as the Mavs will head to Huntsville on Feb. 15.
   
• Sam Houston – which is heading to Conference USA beginning this July – is coming off a 67-65 buzzer-beating road victory at UT Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday. With 4.2 seconds left, Cameron Huefner took an inbound pass and drilled a turnaround jumper from the right baseline as time expired to lift the Bearkats to victory.
   
• The Bearkats are currently ranked a WAC-best No. 50 in the NCAA NET Rankings, giving UTA an opportunity to pick up its second Quad 2 win of the year (San Francisco). When the Mavs head to Huntsville in a dozen days, that game is currently a Quad 1 opportunity for UTA.
   
• Sam Houston – ranked #21 in the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll – won at Oklahoma and at Utah in its non-conference schedule.
   
• Sam Houston ranks among the top-10 nationally in scoring margin (3rd, 17.6), 3-point percentage (4th, 39.9), bench points (4th, 33.9), turnovers forced (5th, 18.3), points allowed (7th, 58.8), turnover margin (8th, 4.9) and field goal percentage defense (10th, .390).

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 Utah Valley is in 1st place with an 9-2 league record, Sam Houston (7-3) would be the #1 seed due to accumulating 4.22 points (Utah Valley would still be recognized as the WAC Regular Season Champions). UTA (-5.30) would be the #12 seed despite currently sitting in 10th 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.

FRESHMEN OF THE WEEK

Weaver was named the WAC Freshman of the Week for the second time this calendar year on Jan. 23. 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.

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 secured its second road win of the season over a 2022 NCAA Tournament team 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 program victories. 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: 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 metric).
 
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
  • Leaders – Four Teams: 24

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: 22 (9x – 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 host Tarleton as part of the rescheduled contest on Monday, Feb. 6, at 4 p.m. It will be the second game of a doubleheader as the Lady Mavs will also have their rescheduled game against Southern Utah tip off at 1 p.m. Both games will be free admission.
 
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).