ABILENE, Texas – An atypical poor shooting performance played a big role in the UT Arlington men's basketball team having its three-game winning streak stopped at Abilene Christian, 78-67, Saturday inside Moody Coliseum.
 
UTA dug itself a 14-point 2nd-half deficit, but fought back to only trail by three, 59-56, with just under eight minutes remaining. However, the Mavericks couldn't get over the hump despite a pair of double-double performances from Shemar Wilson and DaJuan Gordon.
 
Wilson delivered his WAC-leading seventh double-double of the campaign with 11 points and a game-high-tying 12 rebounds, while Gordon notched his fifth of the season to tie for the 2nd most in the league thanks to 13 points and 11 rebounds.
 
True freshman Makaih Williams continued his stout play with a team-leading 17 points, and Akili Vining netted 11 to round out the quartet of double-figure scorers for the Mavs.
 
Coming one point short of that mark was Phillip Russell, who tallied nine. That marked just the third time in the last 41 games that the junior guard has been held to single digits.
 
After shooting 96% (24-25) from the free throw line just two days prior – the 2nd-best mark in program history – UTA went just 19-31 (61%) on Saturday. Also on Thursday the Mavs knocked down 15 3-pointers – tied for the 3rd most ever against a Division-I opponent – but struggled mightily from beyond the arc at ACU by connecting on just 6-27 (22%).
 
Despite all of that, the Mavs found themselves down just eight, 74-66, with a little over two minutes remaining, and had several opportunities over the next 90 seconds on the offensive end to potentially take the lead.
 
After two missed free throws by UTA which could have made it a 74-68 game with 2:15 remaining, the following sequences played out:
 
ACU: Turnover
UTA: Missed 3-Pointer, Offensive Rebound
UTA: Missed 3-Pointer
ACU: Turnover
UTA: Missed Layup
ACU: Turnover
UTA: Missed Jumper
 
All told, had UTA converted those chances, the Mavs would have had a 75-74 lead with 55 seconds remaining. Instead, UTA couldn't cut into the deficit at all, and ACU marched to the charity stripe to ice the contest in the closing minute.
 

BOX SCORE NUGGETS

• The loss dropped the Mavs to 9-10 overall and 4-4 in the WAC, while the win improved ACU to 7-11 and 2-5, respectively.
• UTA was without Aaron Cash (5.1 pgg, 3.2 rpg) for the second-straight game due to concussion protocols. He scored a team-high 17 points in his last game on Jan. 13 versus Seattle U.
• Wilson had six offensive rebounds – his most since the third game of the year at New Mexico when he corralled a season-high seven.
• Gordon had four steals and Vining added three as UTA recorded its 2nd-most thefts of the season with 12.
• UTA shot its 2nd-lowest field goal percentage of the year at 32% (21-65). Meanwhile, ACU connected at a 43% clip (26-60) and 50% (7-14) from 3-point range; five of those makes came in the 1st half.
• Airion Simmons posted a double-double of his own with 23 points and 12 rebounds to pace ACU. Ali Abdou Dibba matched those 23 points, and Hunter Jack Madden registered 18 as all but five of ACU's points came from its starters.
• UTA utilized the same starting lineup as it did in Thursday's 91-73 win over UT Rio Grande Valley: Vining, Williams, Brandyn Talbot, Gordon and Wilson. Wilson is the only Mav to start all 19 games this year.

QUOTABLE
"We just didn't come to play. We still haven't passed a road test, and we have to get there and have a killer mentality coming out to start games. We've tried different routines, but we've got to figure it out quickly. We didn't shoot well, either, especially from the free throw line; 19-31 is just unacceptable. And on offense I thought we took too many contested shots early in the shot clock."
– UTA Head Coach KT Turner
 

GAME FLOW
Williams hit a 3-pointer on UTA's first possession, but a 7-0 response by ACU put the Wildcats in front by four, 7-3, and they led for the final 39 minutes. The lead got as large as 12 in the opening stanza on multiple occasions, the last of which was 28-16 at the midway point of the half.
 
The Mavs fought back and got that deficit down to six a couple of times, including with the ball and under 20 seconds remaining, but a costly turnover resulted in a fastbreak bucket for ACU and a 41-33 halftime lead.
 
Turnovers and fastbreak points plagued UTA in the opening 20 minutes as ACU converted seven UTA giveaways into 13 points (compared with four for the Mavs) and the Wildcats posted an 11-2 edge in fastbreak points. Those numbers, combined with 63% (5-8) 3-point shooting by the hosts, resulted in the halftime margin.
 
UTA once again made it a six-point differential to open the 2nd half, but ACU responded by building its largest lead of the day at 53-39 with under 14 minutes remaining.
 
Battled-tested on the road this year despite not having won a game, the Mavs had a rebuttal and used a 9-0 run to get back within five, 53-48, with just over 10 minutes showing – the closest UTA had been since it was 15-10 with 13 minutes remaining in the 1st half.
 
The Mavs finally made it a one-possession contest a couple of minutes later at the aforementioned 59-56 scoreline on a Russell transition triple following a Wilson chase-down block. But, an important 3-pointer just 20 seconds later by ACU's Hunter Jack Madden put the Wildcats back up six, 62-56, and UTA didn't get any closer than five the rest of the afternoon.
 
THIS AND THAT

• Williams has now reached double-figure points in six of the last seven games, with the lone exception being a nine-point outing at Stephen F. Austin on Jan. 6.
• Talbot turned 23 years old on Saturday.
• The two teams split the season series as UTA defeated ACU in the WAC opener in late November, 86-71.
• UTA had scored 80+ in all three games during its winning streak.
• The Mavs are now 0-9 on the road this season, but they have played six NET Quad 1 opponents away from home.

NEXT UP
UTA will have a week off before returning to the College Park Center for an extremely stern test next Saturday, Jan. 27, at 2 p.m. against Grand Canyon. GCU is currently 17-1 overall and 7-0 in the WAC, ranked as the #1 mid-major team in the nation and is just outside the national top-25 poll. The Lopes have won 14-straight games entering a road tilt with Seattle U on Saturday night.
 
UTA had a 67-62 lead at GCU on Dec. 2 with under four minutes to play, but the Lopes closed the game on a 14-2 run to claim a 76-69 win – the smallest winning margin by GCU in conference play.
   
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).