CEDAR CITY, Utah – The UT Arlington men's basketball team begins its longest conference road trip of the season on Thursday when the Mavericks face Southern Utah at 7:30 p.m. CT (6:30 MT).
 

GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Game 21	UT Arlington (9-11, 4-5 WAC) @ Southern Utah (8-12, 3-6 WAC)
Date | Time	Thursday, Feb. 1 | 7:30 PM CT
Video	ESPN+
Radio	620 AM | 102.5 FM
Audio Stream	Varsity Network App | UTAMavs.com
Live Stats	SIDEARM
Game Notes	UT Arlington | Southern Utah | WAC
WAC Rankings	Standings | Seeding System

OPENING TIP(s)

• This will be the first of a three-game road stretch for UTA. When it concludes the Mavs will only have three road games remaining in the regular season.
   
• UTA is 8-2 at home this year, but 0-9 on the road (1-0 neutral site). The Mavs played the nation's 9th-hardest non-conference schedule; Tarleton was the next closest with the 43rd-most difficult. UTA has already faced six NET Quad 1 opponents this year, and all those were on the road. The other 10 WAC teams combined have only faced 20 total Quad 1 foes this season.
   
• The last time UTA started a season with an 0-9 road mark was the 1994-95 season, but the Mavs won their 10th road game that year on Feb. 4, 1995, at Northwestern State.
   
• The Mavs are coming off a disappointing 67-61 loss on Saturday to league-leading Grand Canyon, which is tied for the nation's best record at 19-2. UTA held GCU to just 29.6% from the floor, becoming just the sixth team in the nation to lose this year when holding its opponent under 30%. However, the Mavs committed a season-high 25 turnovers – tied for its 6th most in the last 15 seasons – and five more than its previous high this year.
   
• In both games this year versus GCU, UTA has held double-figure 2nd-half leads and had the game tied in the final 90 seconds. On Dec. 2 in Phoenix, the game was tied with 84 seconds remaining before GCU won, 76-69; on Jan. 27 in Arlington, the contest was knotted with 34 seconds left before the Lopes emerged, 67-61. Two of GCU's three WAC wins by single digits have been against UTA (Stephen F. Austin: two points).

TWEETABLES
1) All nine of UTA's wins this season have come when the Mavs score at least 70 points.
2) UTA has had 11 different players score double-figure points in a game this year, which is tied for the 2nd most in the nation (leader: Texas State, 12). Additionally, eight of those 11 have led the Mavs in scoring.
3) The Mavs have used nine different starting lineups this season, which is tied for the 15th most in the nation (leader: Eastern Michigan, 15). Seven of those lineups have won a game, which is tied for the 5th most in the country (Long Beach State: 9).
4) UTA's 14 double-doubles this season are four more than any other WAC team (California Baptist, 10): Shemar Wilson (7), DaJuan Gordon (6) and Aaron Cash (1). Those 14 double-doubles are more than four teams combined: Seattle U (2), Southern Utah (3), Utah Valley (4) and Stephen F. Austin (4).
 
AMONG THE WAC'S BEST

• In conference games, UTA leads the WAC in assists (14.9), 3-point percentage (36) and 3-pointers made (8.9). The Mavs' 80 triples in league contests are 11 more than any other team, but they do not have a single player in the top 14 in terms of makes (seven players between 6-13 made 3s).
• The Mavs also rank 2nd in the WAC in points (76.2) and field goal percentage defense (41.2), and are 3rd in blocks (4.1) in conference contests. Similar to the 3-point diversity, UTA has the league's 2nd-highest performing offense but doesn't have a single player in the top 12 in scoring.
• Wilson leads the WAC in double-doubles with seven, including three in the last five games, while Gordon boasts the 2nd most with six, including back-to-back games. Wilson also paces the WAC in double-figure rebounding games with 10, three more than anyone else.
• In conference games, Akili Vining 2nd in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9), while true freshman Makaih Williams is 4th in assists (3.8). Wilson is 4th in rebounding (7.6) and tied for 2nd in blocks (2.1); for the entire season, he leads the WAC at 2.2. Gordon is tied for 2nd in the league in steals (2).
• UTA has made 17 (vs. UT Tyler) and 15 (vs. UT Rio Grande Valley) 3-pointers in a game this year; no other WAC team has made more than 15 (California Baptist at Stephen F. Austin on Jan. 27).

ABOUT SOUTHERN UTAH

• Southern Utah started WAC play 1-6, but is now 3-6 after an impressive road sweep in the Lone Star State last week as it picked up a 73-70 win at Tarleton State on Jan. 25 and followed it up with an 82-67 triumph against Abilene Christian on Jan. 27.
   
• Dominique Ford scored 23 points in both of those victories, and was rewarded by being named WAC Player of the Week on Monday.
   
• Ford leads SUU in scoring for the season at 17.2 per game which ranks 4th in the WAC. Para Fallah (14.2) is 9th in the league as the Thunderbirds and Grand Canyon are the only teams in the league with multiple players in the top 10 in scoring for the entire season. Fallah paces the conference in field goal percentage (58), which also is the 42nd-best mark in the country.
   
• Zion Young (13) and Braden Housley (12.1) are the other double-figure scorers for SUU, which is averaging 72.7 points in league action.
   
• For the year, SUU leads the WAC in free throw percentage at 74.5 and ranks 26th nationally with an average of 17 free throw makes per game. The Thunderbirds also commit the fewest turnovers in the league at only 11.5 (comparatively, UTA commits the 2nd most at 16.4).

SCORING DEPTH
The Mavs have already had 11 players reach double-figure points in a game this year (highs): Wilson (29), Phillip Russell (28), Gordon (24), Williams (24), Kade Douglas (20), Vining (16), Cash (17, 2x), Fabio Basili (15), Brandyn Talbot (14), Dwayne Koroma (12) and Freds Pauls Bagatskis (11).
 
Of those 11, Wilson (4x), Russell (3x), Gordon (4x – 1 tie), Douglas (3x), Williams (3x – 1 tie), Cash (2x), Basili (1x) and Vining (1x) have led UTA in scoring.
 
CLEANING UP THE WEEKLY AWARDS
UTA has had three-different players win either WAC Player of the Week or Newcomer of the Week this season: Gordon (Player, Nov. 13), Wilson (Player, Nov. 20) and Russell (Newcomer, Dec. 18). UTA and Grand Canyon are the only schools in the WAC with three-different players earning weekly awards this year.
 
Gordon and Wilson 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.
 
PROLIFIC OFF THE BENCH
Gordon is one of just five players this year versus a D-I opponent to come off the bench and record at least 15 points and 15 rebounds in a game when he accomplished that feat against Air Force on Dec. 16.
 
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 tie for the 8th-most offensive rebounds by any team in the nation this year.
 
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 (five players with 11; 11 with 10). The 17 total rebounds are the most by any player in the WAC this season.
 
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.
 
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 two 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 undergoing surgery in mid-December. He is expected to be out the rest of the season.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
2) Two times this year Wilson and Gordon have both recorded double-doubles in the same game: at New Mexico and Jan. 20 at Abilene Christian.
 
6) UTA is a perfect 6-0 this season when Talbot makes at least two 3-pointers in a game.
 
9) Nine times already this season UTA has scored 75+ points against D-I competition; the Mavs accomplished that feat just four times all of last year (regular and postseason). Furthermore, UTA has tallied 80+ in regulation six times this year; that occurred three times total in the previous two regular seasons.
 
15) UTA knocked down 15 3-pointers (15-36, 42%) against UTRGV on Jan. 18 to tie for the 5th-most makes all-time and match the 3rd-most triples in program lore versus a D-I foe.
 
36) UTA had a stretch of 36 days in-between home contests from Dec. 6 to Jan. 11. That was the second-longest break in-season by any team in the nation this year, trailing only Delaware's 38-day gap.
 
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. The Lobos – who used a buzzer-beating layup to beat the Mavs, 82-80 – are now ranked in the Associated Press and Coaches polls at #25.
 
57) Opposite Abilene Christian on Nov. 29, 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.
 
85) 85% of Douglas's points (99 of 117) this year have come via the 3-pointer (33 makes); he has five games of 3+ triples.
 
90) UTA went 24-25 (96%) from the free throw line on Jan. 18 against UTRGV. That is the 2nd-best percentage (minimum 20 makes) in single-game program history, bested only by a 96.4% (27-28) showing on Feb. 22, 1968, at then-#1 Houston. It is also the 5th-best percentage in the nation this year among teams that have made at least 24 free throws (best: UNC Asheville going 24-24 versus USC Upstate).
 
600) Gordon eclipsed 500 career rebounds in the season opener, and now boasts 641 for his career.
 
1,000) Shemar Wilson reached 1,000 collegiate points with a free throw in the UTRGV contest with just over a minute remaining. He had 375 points in one junior college season and now 600+ in 2+ years with UTA.
 
NEXT UP
UTA continues its road trip when it heads even farther south in Utah to face Utah Tech in St. George on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT (3 MT).
   
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.

FOLLOW ALONG
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