RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A last-second 3-point attempt by Phillip Russell fell short for the UT Arlington men's basketball team on Thursday night as the Mavericks dropped a heartbreaking 64-63 contest on the road to California Baptist in a contest which featured nine lead changes, eight ties and neither team leading by more than six.
 
Trailing by three in the waning moments, Makaih Williams finished a reverse layup with 9.4 seconds remaining to pull the Mavs within one, 64-63. On the ensuing inbound, UTA fouled 85% free-throw shooter Brantly Stevenson, but he missed both attempts to keep it a one-point margin.
 
Off the second miss, UTA grabbed the rebound and pushed into the frontcourt. Russell – the reigning WAC Newcomer of the Week – pulled up from beyond the arc with three seconds remaining, and his attempt was well shy of the rim, handing the Mavs a disappointing setback in a matchup of two of the hotter teams in the league.
 
In his southern California homecoming, Williams led the Mavs with 15 points. Playing in front of roughly 30 family and friends, the Long Beach native and true freshman delivered 13 of those in the 2nd half as he played only 18 minutes due to collecting four fouls.
 
DaJuan Gordon continued his torrid play as the grad transfer notched his fifth-straight double-double and WAC-leading ninth of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
 
For the second-consecutive game, Shemar Wilson missed a double-double by either a single point or rebound as on Thursday he pulled down a career-high-tying 16 rebounds but tallied nine points. The 16 boards for the senior are the most in his career against a Division-I opponent, and he's now the third-different UTA player with 15+ boards in a game this season.
 
In a battle of the WAC's 2nd-highest scoring offense in league action in UTA (77.2) and the WAC's best defense in CBU (63.7), it was the Lancers narrowly getting the better of the Mavs, who still held their fourth-straight opponent under 70 points; the 64 were the fewest allowed by UTA this year to a D-I foe.
 
Also in a matchup of the WAC's top-2 most prolific 3-point shooting teams in UTA (1st in percentage and makes) and CBU (2nd in both), neither team got hot from deep as the Mavs went just 2-12 (17%) and the Lancers 5-17 (29%). Instead, the two sides combined for 74 paint points, with the Mavs holding a 44-30 edge.
 

BOX SCORE NUGGETS

• The loss drops UTA to 11-12 overall and 6-6 in the WAC, while CBU improves to 14-8 and 7-4 in the league.
• Brandyn Talbot netted nine points on a perfect 4-4 from the floor and a game-high plus/minus of +9.
• Russell finished with just seven points – only the fourth time in the last 45 games he's failed to reach 10 points, but now three of those instances have come in the past nine contests.
• Akili Vining posted four points, a game-high-tying four assists and two steals.
• Aaron Cash registered four points and three rebounds.
• CBU was without the WAC's leading scorer in Dominique Daniels Jr. (19.2 per game) with an injury. The junior guard accounts for 28% of CBU's points this season and had a league-most 39 points against Southern Utah on Jan. 20.
• In his absence, Scotty Washington stepped up and scored a game-high 20 points, while Blondeau Tchoukuiegno totaled 18.
• UTA shot 45% (26-58) from the floor while holding CBU to 38% (21-55).
• The Mavs tied a season low with only 11 turnovers (Alcorn State).
• UTA utilized the following starting lineup: Vining, Williams, Gordon, Cash and Wilson; Wilson is the only Mav to start all 23 games this year. Gordon made his 100th career start. Of UTA's 10 different starting lineups this year, that quintet has been called upon a team-high five times.

QUOTABLE
"We fought and did some things well, but certainly there's still room for improvement. I felt like we let one slip away – not taking anything away from CBU because they played a great game – but we just couldn't finish at the end. The last four minutes of the game are so important this time of the year, and on the last play we wanted to get to the rim but Phil pulled up and just didn't make it."
– UTA Head Coach KT Turner
 

GAME FLOW
Gordon began the night with his own personal 6-0 run, forcing CBU into a timeout not even three minutes into the contest. That timeout settled the Lancers down and they eventually tied things back up at 6-6 and took their first lead, 13-12, at the nine-minute mark.
 
That was short-lived, however, as 30 seconds later Talbot converted a putback layup to put the Mavs back in front, 14-13, and they extended back to a six-point edge on multiple occasions before settling for a 28-24 halftime advantage.
 
Twenty-four of those UTA points came in the paint as the Mavs went 0-5 from beyond the arc but connected at a 45% clip (13-29) from the floor while holding the Lancers to just 29% (8-27).
 
CBU started the 2nd half on a 13-4 run – including a 7-0 stretch – to take its biggest lead of the night, 37-32, four minutes into the period. Still trailing by four, 42-38, with just over 12 minutes remaining, Russell rattled off six-straight points to spearhead a 9-2 UTA run, and on a Talbot 3-pointer which was assisted by Russell, the Mavs went back ahead, 47-44, just past the midway point of the stanza.
 
However, behind the hot hand of Washington, CBU orchestrated an 8-0 run a few minutes later and established a 55-51 lead with just more than four minutes showing.
 
Unfazed, the Mavs countered with a 7-0 surge in 90 seconds, capped by a Talbot fastbreak layup, to re-take a 58-55 edge. The two teams then each took the lead in a 30-second stretch with just over a minute remaining, but unfortunately for the Mavs their last time in front would be after a Williams jumper which made it 61-60 with 1:10 left.
 
THIS AND THAT

• This was UTA's first-ever trip to Riverside, and the Mavs are now 0-2 all-time against CBU. The two teams will meet again in Arlington in UTA's regular-season finale on Mar. 7.
• UTA was looking for its first three-game road winning streak since Jan. 16-25, 2020, at Louisiana, ULM and Texas State when they were Sun Belt Conference members.
• UTA is now 9-3 when leading at the half this year.
• The only game in the last 11 that Williams has not reached double-figure points was a nine-point effort at Stephen F. Austin on Jan. 6.
• Only two times all season prior to this current streak of holding four-straight opponents under 70 points had UTA limited D-I foes under 70: 69 both by Alcorn State and Utah Valley.

NEXT UP
UTA faces a quick turnaround as the Mavs will fly back from California on Friday and then face Stephen F. Austin at the College Park Center on Saturday, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m. It will be City of Arlington Day, with all Arlington citizens receiving free tickets by visiting the Box Office the day of the game and showing valid ID. There will also be a postgame autograph signing by members of the team.
 
The Lumberjacks defeated the Mavs on Jan. 6 in Nacogdoches, 93-72, but UTA did not have Russell nor Gordon for that game as both sat out with injuries. SFA is 14-9 overall and 7-5 in the WAC following a 92-84 win Thursday night at home over UTRGV.
   
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
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).