ARLINGTON, Texas – UT Arlington men's basketball improved to 4-1 at home this season with a comfortable win over Evansville, 80-54, on Wednesday night from the College Park Center in Arlington. Forward/Center Lance Ware recorded his first career double-double with 14 points, a career-high-tying 13 rebounds, while forward Diante Smith finished with a season-best 18 points to go along with eight boards.
 
"I was really pleased with how we came out and started the game," head coach KT Turner said following the win. "I really thought we were locked in and focused to what we wanted to do. I feel like our whole team responded to our rebounding problem that we've been having, and guys took it to heart and really went and rebounded the basketball. Lance had a double-double, [Diante Smith] had eight rebounds, Jaxon [Ellingsworth] was really good on the boards, Troy [Hupstead] was good, so that's been the biggest thing. We've been getting stops but not finishing up with rebounding, but I'm really pleased with how the entire team responded. I'm very pleased with the outcome, it wasn't perfect, but we're chasing perfection for sure."
 
UTA opened the game on a 10-2 run, and led wire-to-wire for the second straight game. Unlike Saturday's contest against ULM, the Mavs did not allow their opponent to cut into a big lead, maintaining their distance from the Purple Aces on Wednesday night. The Mavericks led by as many as 24 in the opening half, and never looked back.
 
Ware set the tone on the opening sequence with a steal and breakaway dunk. In addition to his 14 points and 13 assists, Ware also finished with three assists and three steals. Guard Kade Douglas added 10 off the bench, nine of which came in a flash in the first half, hitting three straight 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions. Guard Jaden Wells also scored 12, all in the first half, for the Mavs in the victory.
 
Part of that Douglas barrage of triples was a 15-3 run that stretched the lead out, and the Mavs took a 44-24 lead into the break at halftime.
 
Despite somewhat of a slow start to the second half, UTA flexed its muscle on the glass, outrebounding the Purple Aces 56-26 on the evening. Though Evansville cut the lead to 15, it was Smith who calmed things for the Mavericks, connecting on a pair of second-half threes to put this one out of reach.
 
UTA is now back to .500 at 6-6, and is 4-1 at the College Park Center. The Mavs hit the road for another non-conference battle, this time at Liberty (11-1) on Saturday, Dec. 21, in Lynchburg, Virginia. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and on the Varsity App, 102.5 FM and KTNO 620.


 
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