ST. GEORGE, Utah – The UT Arlington men's basketball team never trailed, shot 48 percent and dominated the rebounding battle on its way to an emphatic 87-66 win over Utah Tech Saturday afternoon, completing a road conference sweep for the first time since 2021.
 
Two days removed from leading by double figures for 28 minutes and by as much as 20 in a 76-68 win over Southern Utah, UTA led by double figures for 31 minutes and by as much as 25 on Saturday as the Mavericks buzzed their way to a Beehive State sweep.
 
DaJuan Gordon recorded his fourth-straight double-double in emphatic fashion with 15 points and a career-high 17 rebounds – the most by any player in the WAC this year versus a Division-I opponent. The 6-5 guard also passed out a career-high six assists to become only the third player in the nation this season to post at least a 15-17-6 stat line versus a D-I foe.
 
Gordon highlighted a quintet of double-figure scorers for UTA, which had all five starters score at least 10 points. Gordon broke himself out of a tie with teammate Shemar Wilson for the most double-doubles in the WAC this year with now eight, but Wilson finished one rebound shy on Saturday of joining Gordon at the top as he scored a game-high 16 points to go along with nine rebounds.
 
Phillip Russell returned to the starting lineup for the Mavs, netting 15 points, four assists and three steals in only 22 minutes.
 
True freshman Makaih Williams reached double-figure points for the ninth time in the last 10 games with 14 on 5-8 shooting before fouling out in 20 minutes of action. The California native also added four rebounds.
 
It was Williams who set the tone on UTA's first offensive possession of the day, knocking down a 3-pointer from the wing to give the Mavs a 3-0 lead just 20 seconds into the game. That three-point deficit would actually be the smallest Utah Tech faced all night as the Mavs led by at least five for the final 37 minutes on their way to the 3rd-highest point total of the year (most: 95 versus UT Tyler).
 
Aaron Cash rounded out the double-figure scorers for UTA with 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Meanwhile, Akili Vining was one point short of making it six double-figure scorers for the Mavs with nine in addition to seven rebounds.
 
UTA shot 48% (31-65) from the floor while holding Utah Tech to just 38% (20-53). The +12 differential in field goal attempts was in part due to forcing the Trailblazers into 18 turnovers compared with just 13 for the Mavs, producing a +7 edge in points off giveaways, 22-15.
 

BOX SCORE NUGGETS

• The win evens UTA's overall record at 11-11, and pushes the Mavs above .500 in the WAC at 6-5. Meanwhile, the loss drops Utah Tech to 8-14 and 4-7, respectively.
• UTA held a 47-33 halftime lead, and the 47 points represented its most in an opening half this season versus a D-I opponent (previous: 43 vs. UTRGV; most: 50 vs. UT Tyler).
• The Mavs dominated the glass, posting a 46-32 rebounding margin.
• Sterling Gaston-Chapman and Dwayne Koroma both finished with four points to round out the UTA scorers.
• UTA issued 20 assists for the sixth time this year, but just the second in the last 13 games.
• Jaylen Searles led Utah Tech with 15 points, while Noa Gonsalves added 14 and Tanner Christensen had 11 to complete the Trailblazers' double-figure scorers.
• UTA utilized its 10th-different starting lineup of the season, which is tied for the 11th most in the nation: Russell, Williams, Gordon, Cash and Wilson; Wilson is the only Mav to start all 22 games this year.
• Additionally, that is now the eighth-different starting lineup to win a game for UTA this season, one shy of the national leaders (Long Beach State and Kansas City both with nine).

QUOTABLE
"I'm really excited with how our guys played – they played the right way. We had a great week of practice leading up to the trip, and we talked about coming out here and sweeping and that's exactly what we did. Offensively we've got several guys who can put up a lot of points, and if we can share the ball we've got a pretty potent attack."
– UTA Head Coach KT Turner
 

GAME FLOW
UTA raced out to a 6-0 start after a traditional three-point play from Russell, who moments later was whistled for consecutive fouls, sending UTA's leading scorer (15.6) to the bench not even 90 seconds into the contest.
 
Unfazed, the Mavs received scoring contributions from five different players to open the game and built a 13-2 lead just more than five minutes into the tilt. Russell checked back in coming out of the under-12 media timeout as the Trailblazers had cut the deficit to 15-10, but he picked up his third foul on a few minutes later and went to the bench at the 8:40 mark for the rest of the half.
 
Once again UTA didn't miss a beat, and between offensive rebounding and 3-point shooting the Mavs extended their cushion to 31-18 after a Gordon triple, forcing Utah Tech into its second timeout just 12 minutes into the game.
 
That margin ballooned to 16, 36-20, for the Mavs before a sequence resulted in a seven-point possession for Utah Tech to make it a single-digit margin, 36-27. That was short-lived, however, as Williams converted a layup on UTA's next offensive trip and the Mavs maintained a double-figure advantage the rest of the half, taking a 47-33 lead into intermission.
 
Russell started the 2nd half and made an immediate impact, knocking down back-to-back-to-back 3 pointers early in the period – the last of which swelled the UTA edge to a then-game-most 23 points, 58-35, not even three minutes into the stanza.
 
The Trailblazers would cut into that deficit and get it down to 15, 62-47, with a little under 12 minutes remaining, but that would be as close they would get the rest of the contest.
 
THIS AND THAT

• This was UTA's first-ever trip to St. George, and the Mavs are now 2-0 all-time against Utah Tech. The two teams will meet again in Arlington in just three weeks on Feb. 24.
• This was UTA's first road weekend sweep in conference play since Jan. 8-9, 2021, at ULM when they were in the Sun Belt and played back-to-back days at the same venue in response to COVID.
• UTA is now 9-2 when leading at the half this year.
• All 11 of UTA's wins this season have now come when the Mavs score at least 70 points. Additionally, this is now the 11th time this year UTA has scored 75+ against a D-I opponent after reaching that mark just four times in all of 2022-23.
• The only game in the last 10 that Williams has not reached double-figure points was a nine-point effort at Stephen F. Austin on Jan. 6.

NEXT UP
UTA concludes its three-game road trip next Thursday, Feb. 8, at California Baptist (13-7, 6-3 WAC) for a 9 p.m. CT tipoff. The Lancers currently boast the WAC's longest winning streak at five in a row entering a home contest with Seattle U on Saturday night.
   
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).