ARLINGTON – A resilient and balanced UT Arlington men's basketball team battled through a combined 54 fouls in a physical contest Saturday afternoon inside the College Park Center en route to an 80-75 win over Seattle U which evened the Mavericks' WAC record.
 
Trailing by one, 64-63, with under five minutes remaining, Makaih Williams – one of many UTA starters impacted by fouls – checked back in and knocked down a jumper on the first possession to give the Mavs a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
 
The true freshman's bucket spearheaded a 7-1 UTA run in which five of the points came from Williams, pushing the Mavs to a 70-65 advantage with 2:30 remaining, and SU got no closer than three the remainder of the day.
 
Aaron Cash tied a season high and finished three points shy of matching his Division-I high with 17 points on 7-10 shooting while also adding five rebounds in 33 minutes before fouling out. Ten of those points came in the first 14 minutes of the contest when the Mavs were mired in foul trouble, pivotally keeping UTA in the contest in the 1st half.
 
The grad student was one of a season-most five UTA players to reach double-figure points as the aforementioned distribution of points also came from DaJuan Gordon (16), Shemar Wilson (13), Brandyn Talbot (11) and Williams (11). Williams also fouled out of the contest, while Gordon finished the afternoon with four whistles against him.
 
Akili Vining also had four fouls, and his season-high-tying eight assists along with five rebounds and nine points fell just one shy of what would have been the first occurrence of a UTA squad having six double-figure scorers since November of 2021 against Mary Hardin-Baylor.
 
Coming off its 2nd-best point total (83) and field goal percentage (49%) performance of the season in a 14-point win over reigning WAC Regular Season Champion Utah Valley on Thursday, UTA shot The Rock even better on Saturday. The Mavs connected at a 54% rate (25-46) from the floor to establish a new 2nd-best mark this year (best: 57% versus Abilene Christian on Nov. 29).
 
Making the performance even more impressive for the Mavs was that UTA was without its leading scorer (15 ppg) and distributor (4.4 apg) in Phillip Russell for a third-straight game with a left ankle sprain. On Seattle U's side, the Redhawks also didn't have the services of their leading scorer Cameron Tyson (17.3 ppg) with an ankle injury.
 

BOX SCORE NUGGETS

• The win moved UTA's overall record to 8-9 and leveled its WAC mark at 3-3, while the loss dropped SU to 10-7 and 3-3, respectively.
• Gordon added a team-best eight rebounds and Wilson corralled six as UTA posted a 33-27 rebounding edge.
• Cash's previous high this year in points against a D-I opponent was eight in the ACU contest. He also grabbed five rebounds versus the Redhawks.
• Talbot reached double-figure points for the first time since notching a season-best 14 versus ACU.
• Both teams attempted 30+ free throws with UTA going 23-32 (72%) and SU 22-30 (73%) as the fouls were even at 27 each.
• UTA committed 19 turnovers which led to 18 SU points as the Redhawks posted a +9 advantage in that category.
• The Mavs held SU to 41% (22-53) from the floor. John Christofilis led the Redhawks with 22 points, while Alex Schumacher added 21 to finish as the lone double-figure scorers.
• UTA used the same starting lineup as it did on Thursday: Vining, Williams, Gordon, Cash and Wilson. Wilson is the only Mav to start all 17 games this year.

QUOTABLE
"I'm really happy with how our guys have responded after starting conference play 1-3. We always talk about responding when things don't go well – not just in basketball but in life as well – and they could have folded but they have high character and I'm proud of them. They've stuck together, and we've started to share the ball, get paint touches and guard. I'm happy for them right now."
– UTA Head Coach KT Turner
 

GAME FLOW
Saddled with significant foul trouble early in the contest, UTA had its top-3 scorers this year after Russell all pick up two fouls in the first 10 minutes, and Wilson, Gordon and Williams all sat significant time on the bench. Gordon, who was whistled for his fouls not even two minutes into the day, eventually returned near the midway point of the stanza.
 
Despite key pieces sidelined, UTA fought back from a seven-point hole, 22-15, to tie things up at 27-all with just more than five minutes remaining. A back-and-forth 1st half which featured six ties and four lead changes – despite UTA only being in front for two minutes – ended with SU ahead, 36-34.
 
The Mavs shot 57% (12-21) in the opening frame while holding the Redhawks to just 36% (10-28), but 12 UTA turnovers proved to be the difference as SU took advantage of those to the tune of a 10-2 edge on points off giveaways.
 
In the 2nd half, neither team led by more than five until UTA built a seven-point margin with 17 seconds remaining. UTA had the last of those five-point cushions, 63-58, with six minutes remaining before the Redhawks clawed back and took a 64-63 lead on the strength of a 6-0 run.
 
Williams was on the bench much of the 2nd half, but he checked back in with the score at 64-63 and 4:30 to play, and made the aforementioned immediate impact to start the game-deciding run.
 
THIS AND THAT

• Russell remains day-to-day with his injury.
• Williams has now reached double-figure points in four of the last five games, with the one exception being a nine-point outing at Stephen F. Austin on Saturday.
• All eight of UTA's wins this season have come when the Mavs out-rebound their opponent.
• UTA is now 7-1 at home this season compared with an 0-8 mark on the road (1-0 neutral site).
• The Mavs have posted back-to-back 80+ point performances versus D-I competition for the first time this season.
• Wilson moved within 11 points of 1,000 across his entire collegiate career: 375 in one junior college season and now 614 in 2+ years with UTA.
• UTA coaches and staff wore green bracelets and lapel pins in conjunction with Champions for Literacy. For more information, visit championsforlit.org.

NEXT UP
UTA concludes its three-game homestand on Thursday, Jan. 18, against UT Rio Grande Valley (5-11, 1-4 WAC) at 7 p.m. That contest will represent the first home game for the Mavs with students in class since Nov. 29. The game is presented by the Arlington Sports Commission, and it will also be ARL Night (Apartment & Residence Life) with student-focused promotions.
   
PURCHASE TICKETS
Secure your seat to see the re-energized UTA men's basketball program in action at the College Park Center. Purchase 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).