SEATTLE – A trio of double-digit scoring runs in the 1st half combined with a stalwart defensive effort propelled the UT Arlington men's basketball team to a statement road win, 82-62, over a red-hot Seattle U side on Thursday night, spoiling the Redhawks' Senior Night.
 
A 16-0 UTA run in the game's first few minutes opened up a 20-5 lead, a 15-0 stretch created a 36-11 margin and a 10-0 push forged a 31-point edge, 48-17, just 18 minutes into the contest. The Mavericks eventually settled for a 50-21 halftime cushion and didn't allow SU to get any closer than 13 in the 2nd half as UTA extended its season-long winning streak to four.
 
Aaron Cash recorded his 1,000th collegiate point in the 2nd half on his way to an impressive season-high 18-point, 12-rebound double-double. Shemar Wilson led the Mavs offensively with 19 points and seven rebounds, Phillip Russell added 13 points and five assists and Dwayne Koroma posted his 2nd-highest point total of the year with 11 off the bench.
 
With the win, UTA ties SU for 3rd place in the league standings at 11-7, and the Mavs have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Redhawks as a result of sweeping the season series. However, SU will likely remain ahead of the Mavs in the resume-seeding system – which determines WAC Tournament seeding – when the new rankings are released Friday.
 
Thanks to 68% shooting (17-25) from the floor in the 1st half and holding SU to just 27% (7-26), UTA blitzed the Redhawks in the opening frame as 50 points were the most it has scored in the 1st half this season. SU entered the game ranked 23rd nationally and tops in the WAC by limiting opponents to just 40% from the field this season. The Mavs also committed just two turnovers compared with nine for the Redhawks, resulting in a 16-0 advantage in points off giveways.
 
SU pulled within 13, 70-57, with about four minutes remaining in the game, but the Mavs had a response as they picked up their highest-ranked win of the season as SU represented a Quad 2 tilt for UTA with the Redhawks sitting at 114 in the NET entering the evening.
 

BOX SCORE NUGGETS

• The win improves UTA to 16-13 overall and 11-7 in the WAC, while the loss snaps a four-game winning streak for Seattle U and drops the Redhawks to 18-11 and 11-7, respectively.
• Two-time reigning WAC Player of the Week DaJuan Gordon just missed double figures with nine points – the first time he has been held under 10 points in 15 games since not scoring at Texas on Jan. 1.
• Makaih Williams added seven points and equaled Russell's five assists for the most by any player.
• Koroma's 11 points are his most since scoring 10 points at Grand Canyon on Dec. 2 and were one point shy of matching his high of 12 versus Alcorn on Nov. 22.
• UTA finished with a dominant 36-16 edge in paint points and a 20-6 advantage in points off turnovers as the Mavs committed a season-low seven giveaways – the first time they've been in single digits.
• The 50 1st-half points for UTA exceeded the previous high of 47 at Utah Tech in the only other game this year the Mavs used this starting lineup: Russell, Williams, Gordon, Cash and Wilson.
• Cameron Tyson became the first UTA opponent with 30 points this season as he tallied a game-most 32; however, no other SU player scored more than seven.
• UTA held SU to just 35% (20-57) from the floor for the game while finishing at 47% (27-58) itself.

QUOTABLE
"We talked about 'who wants it more' and we couldn't afford to start slow; our guys responded to that. We had to get a signature road win – we had to prove to ourselves that we could get a road victory over a good opponent and we did that tonight."
– UTA Head Coach KT Turner
 

GAME FLOW
An early 8-0 run by UTA – capped by consecutive 3-pointers from Russell and Gordon – pushed the Mavs to a 12-5 lead and forced an SU timeout just four minutes into the contest. That did nothing to quell the UTA insurgence as the Mavs eventually put together the 16-0 run to build a 20-5 edge in just 6+ minutes.
 
During that stretch, Williams got a steal and threw down a fastbreak dunk. On the inbound, SU's 2nd-leading scorer Alex Schumacher (13.9) shoved the ball in Williams' face, resulting in a flagrant 2 and his ejection from the game; Williams received a flagrant 1.
 
After the Redhawks had pulled back within 10, 21-11, UTA responded with an emphatic 15-0 run over the next five minutes to establish an impressive 25-point cushion, 36-11, following a blow-by and one-handed throwdown by Koroma at the 7-minute juncture.
 
That margin grew even larger as the Mavs kept the foot on the accelerator on both ends, extending to a 31-point differential, 48-17, following a 10-0 run, and settled for the 50-21 halftime lead.
 
Expectedly, the hosts on Senior Night came out with some aggression to open the 2nd half, trimming the deficit to 20, 53-33, not even five minutes into the stanza thanks to a 10-0 run. Unfazed, the Mavs countered with nearly their fourth double-figure scoring stretch of the contest, but instead settled for a 9-0 response as they re-built a 29-point lead, 62-33, at the 12:30 mark.
 
One final push by the Redhawks cut a 23-point hole, 70-47, with 5:45 left down to the previously mentioned 13, 70-57, with 3:45 remaining, but a pair of Cash free throws – the latter of which marked his 1,000th point – switched momentum back to the Mavs.
 
THIS AND THAT

• The Mavs are now 7-2 over their last nine games, with their only losses in that stretch coming by a combined three points.
• UTA has now also won four of its last five on the road after starting the season 0-9.
• Cash joins Gordon and Wilson as the third UTA player this season to reach 1,000 career points across all collegiate levels as he now has 1,002.
• This was UTA's sixth win in February – its most since going 7-0 in 2017 en route to a Sun Belt Conference Regular Season Championship with a 14-4 record.
• Neither Russell nor Tyson played in the first meeting this year – an 80-75 UTA win on Jan. 13 in Arlington.

NEXT UP
UTA remains on the road to face an equally hot opponent in Utah Valley on Saturday, Mar. 2, at 3 p.m. CT. The Wolverines – the defending WAC Regular Season Champions and 2023 NIT semifinalist – have won five-straight games to move one game behind the Mavs in the league standings at 9-8.
   
FOLLOW ALONG
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