ARLINGTON – A back-and-forth contest which appeared over with a handful of seconds remaining resulted in potential overtime-forcing layup missing for UT Arlington as the Mavericks dropped a high-intensity affair to Tarleton State, 80-78, Thursday night inside the College Park Center.
 
In a game which featured eight ties and 12 lead changes, it was Tarleton getting the last of those swings as the Texans used a 7-0 run in a little over 60 seconds to turn a 61-59 deficit into a 66-61 lead with under five minutes remaining.
 
The Texans still held an 80-76 lead with under five seconds to go, but Phillip Russell converted a layup with 4.7 seconds left. On the ensuing Tarleton inbound, the Texans turned the ball over along the baseline and the Mavs got the ball back under the visitor's basket with 4.2 seconds showing.
 
After a long delay to sort through substitutions, UTA finally got the opportunity to inbound. Russell found Gordon right under the basket, and the grad transfer had a good, but contested, look, just fall off the back side of the rim as the Mavs dropped a second two-point contest to the Texans this year.
 
Gordon delivered his WAC-leading 10th double-double of the season with 20 points and 13 rebounds. The 6-5 guard got into double figures for the 11th-straight time and reached the 20-point plateau for just the third time in his career.
 
Makaih Williams reached double-figure points for the 12th time in 13 games this calendar year as the true freshman continued to state his case for WAC Freshman of the Year with 16 points in a starting role while also issuing three assists.
 
Russell rounded out UTA's trio of double-figure scorers with 12 points off the bench. He went 5-6 from the free throw line to aid in an overall UTA effort which saw the Mavs connect on 25 of 28 attempts, with the 89.3% clip ranking as the 5th highest in single-game program history (minimum 20 makes).
 
However, it was the field goal percentage of Tarleton which was the big difference as the Texans shot 50% (26-52) from the floor, which is tied for the highest UTA has allowed to a WAC opponent this year (at Stephen F. Austin). Included in that rate was a 63.6% (14-22) showing in the 2nd half as Tarleton scored 52 points.
 
Entering the game, UTA had held five-straight opponents under 70 points, including the three lowest performances all season versus Division-I competition in each of the last three outings.
 

BOX SCORE NUGGETS

• The loss drops UTA to 12-13 overall and 7-7 in the WAC, while the win improves Tarleton to 18-7 and 11-3, respectively.
• Aaron Cash (9), Shemar Wilson (8), Akili Vining (6), Sterling Gaston-Chapman (4) and Chauncey Gibson (3) completed the UTA scoring.
• Tarleton's 80 points are the 2nd most UTA has allowed to a WAC foe this season (92 at SFA).
• UTA finished with a 34-26 rebounding edge, including a 14-6 advantage on the offensive glass.
• Gordon went 7-9 from the floor for the game and Williams went a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe.
• Lue Williams scored a game-high 22 points for Tarleton, while Jakorie Smith had 18 and Emmanuel Innocenti added 10 for the Texans.
• Neither team led by more than seven points.
• UTA utilized the same starting lineup as it did last time out: Williams, Gaston-Chapman, Gordon, Cash and Wilson.
• For Gaston-Chapman it marks his second-straight start, and Wilson remains the only Mav to start all 25 games.

QUOTABLE
"I wasn't particularly happy with how we started the game; I thought we would be a little more energetic starting the game. But we did a lot of good things, and then we made some mistakes. But I'm proud of how the guys fought; they could have easily given up. We were right there at the end, and the ball bounced their way."
– UTA Head Coach KT Turner
 

GAME FLOW
Both teams came out playing at a fast pace, and the Texans held a 19-16 lead just eight minutes into the contest. However, Tarleton held UTA without a point over the next 6+ minutes before Gordon finally ended the stretch with a 3-pointer in front of the Texans' bench, making it a 23-19 contest.
 
Tarleton answered with a 3-pointer of its own a minute later to forge back in front by seven, 26-19, but it was then UTA's turn to lock in defensively. The Mavs didn't allow a point the next four minutes, rattling off nine unanswered to take a 28-26 advantage following a pair of Williams free throws.
 
Tarleton would answer with a bucket to tie things back up, but a 5-0 surge in the closing 45 seconds by the Mavs – including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Vining – gave them a 33-28 halftime edge thanks to a 14-2 close to the period.
 
The Texans – who are now a perfect 10-0 this year against teams from Texas – came out of the locker room with a response and eventually established a 45-41 cushion just more than five minutes into the stanza.
 
However, the Mavs used a quick 7-0 spurt in 90 seconds to end that and go back ahead, 48-45, with 13 minutes to play, before the Texans countered a few minutes later with an 8-0 stretch of their own to build a 55-50 edge at the midway point.
 
The game on runs continued as UTA used another 7-0 run to re-take the lead, 59-57, but Tarleton – unsurprisingly – answered back, and a couple of minutes later following its own 7-0 run took a 66-61 advantage with under five minutes left before the closing frenetic sequences.
 
THIS AND THAT

• In the prior four games, UTA had only trailed for a total of 12 minutes and 20 seconds, but on Thursday they trailed for 25:39.
• UTA dropped both games to Tarleton this year by a combined four points.
• UTA is now 9-3 at home this year and 10-4 overall when leading at the half.
• The only game in the last 12 that Williams has not reached double-figure points was a nine-point effort at SFA on Jan. 6.

NEXT UP
UTA will face a quick turnaround when it heads to Edinburg on Friday in advance of taking on UT Rio Grande Valley at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17, for the Vaqueros' Homecoming. UTRGV is 6-18 overall and 2-11 in the WAC following an 87-79 loss at home to Abilene Christian on Thursday night.
   
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.
 
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