MARCH 13 UPDATE: SFA hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to defeat ACU in the 1st round, 60-57, and UTA will face the Lumberjacks in the quarterfinals.

LAS VEGAS – The hottest men's basketball team in the Western Athletic Conference will begin its 2024 Hercules Tires WAC Tournament on Thursday at 10:30 p.m. CT (8:30 local) from Orleans Arena when #3-seeded UT Arlington faces the winner of #6 Stephen F. Austin and #7 Abilene Christian.
 
UTA received a 1st-round bye as a result of finishing in the top 4 of the league and will commence action in the quarterfinal; SFA and ACU square off on Wednesday night also at 10:30 CT.
 

GAMEDAY INFORMATION
WAC Tournament	#3 UT Arlington (18-13, 13-7 WAC)
Tournament Info	Bracket | Tournament Central
Quarterfinal Coverage	ESPN+ | Audio | Varsity Network | Stats
Tickets	Ticketmaster
Game Notes	UT Arlington Postseason Guide

OPENING TIP(s)

• UTA enters the WAC Tournament having won six games in a row, which is double the next-longest streak in the league (Grand Canyon, three). Additionally, that six-game winning stretch is tied for the 14th longest in the nation at the beginning of the week. This is UTA's longest winning streak since rattling off eight consecutively between Feb. 4-Mar. 2, 2017.
   
• The Mavs are 9-2 over their last 11 games, with both of those losses coming by a combined three points: 64-63 at California Baptist (Feb. 8) and 80-78 versus Tarleton State (Feb. 15). In each of those contests UTA had chances to win or force overtime in the final seconds.
   
• After being picked to finish 8th in the WAC Preseason Coaches Poll, UTA finished five spots better than that in sole possession of 3rd place at 13-7 – the largest jump of any team in the league from predicted to final ranking (next closest: Tarleton, four spots from 6th to 2nd).
   
• With an 18-13 overall record, UTA has already secured its most victories in a year since going 21-13 in 2017-18. With those 18 triumphs, KT Turner has established himself as the winningest first-year head coach in program history, surpassing Chris Ogden's 17-16 mark in 2018-19.
   
• Nationally, Turner's 18 wins are tied for the 8th most among the 31 first-year head coaches. Entering the week, only four of those have reached the 20-win plateau – a milestone Turner can achieve with a pair of victories in the WAC Tournament.
   
• All of UTA's 18 wins have come when the Mavs score at least 70 points. UTA has taken its offense to another level late in the year as four of its five highest-scoring games of the season against Division-I opponents have occurred since the start of February.
   
• Additionally, all four of UTA's best defensive efforts in terms of fewest points allowed versus D-I competition have also taken place since the beginning of February. The Mavs are coming off a season-low 57 points allowed in a 71-57 win over California Baptist on Mar. 7.

TWEETABLES
1) The Mavs have climbed to a season-best NET ranking of 143 entering the week. UTA played the nation's 12th-hardest non-conference schedule, and have faced eight Quad 1 (0-5) or Quad 2 (1-2) opponents.
2) That Q2 win was an 82-62 rout at Seattle U on Feb. 29 – the Redhawks' largest home loss since New Mexico State defeated them by 27, 87-60, in January of 2019.
3) Three of UTA's five lowest-turnover games this season have occurred over the past five contests: Feb. 22 versus Southern Utah (11), Feb. 29 at Seattle U (7) and Mar. 2 at Utah Valley (11).
4) Two other times this year the Mavs have had 11 turnovers: Feb. 8 at CBU and Nov. 22 vs. Alcorn State.
5) UTA has overcome three double-digit deficits this season: 15 versus Southern Utah (Feb. 22), 13 against Utah Tech (Feb. 24) and 11 opposite Oral Roberts (Nov. 6).
 
WAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
This will be UTA's third WAC Tournament appearance, and the Mavs are 2-2 in their two prior trips to WAC Vegas. In 2013, #4-seeded UTA reached the final with wins over #5 Utah State and #9 UTSA before suffering a 64-55 loss to #3 New Mexico State.
 
Last year, the #12 Mavs gave #5 Grand Canyon everything it could handle in the opening round but ultimately dropped an 82-77 decision. The Lopes went on to win the tournament, and claimed the outright regular season crown this year as well.
 
WAC ALL-CONFERENCE WINNERS
Highlighted by Makaih Williams being named WAC Freshman of the Year and Phillip Russell as the Sixth Player of the Year, UTA had a total of four players collect a league-high seven all-conference awards, as released by WAC officials on Monday.
 
In voting conducted by WAC coaches, DaJuan Gordon also earned spots on both the First Team and All-Defensive Team, while Shemar Wilson collected positions on the Second Team and joined Gordon on the All-Defensive Team. Additionally, Williams landed on the All-Freshman Team.
 
The seven total player awards are two more than any other WAC team as Grand Canyon and Tarleton State both had five. Furthermore, the four-different players receiving accolades is tied with GCU for the highest total in the conference.
 
This is the first time since the 2017-18 season when the Mavs were in the Sun Belt Conference that they have representation on both the First and Second teams, and it's only the eighth such occurrence since 1975 (14 total times since UTA was a founding member of the Southland Conference in 1963-64).
 
With Williams claiming Freshman of the Year honors, it also marks the second-straight season UTA has laid claim to that honor as Chendall Weaver was the winner in 2023. Williams is now just the eighth UTA product to produce a conference Freshman of the Year campaign.
 
As for Russell, he is the first Mav to ever solicit Sixth Player of the Year. For more information about the accolades, read the full release by clicking here.
 
AMONG THE WAC'S BEST

• In WAC games, UTA was the highest-scoring team in the league at 78 per game. Demonstrating their depth, the Mavs did not have a single individual in the top 7 in scoring, and only one (Gordon – 8th, 15.4) was in the top 18.
   
• UTA also led the conference in 3-point percentage (36.6) and makes (173). Despite making 25 more 3s than the next closest team (Seattle U, 148), the Mavs didn't have a single player in the top 9 in makes as UTA had seven players register between 12 and 32 3-pointers in league action.
   
• UTA ranked 2nd in assists (15.3), 3rd in free throw percentage (74.6), 3rd in field goal percentage defense (41.5) and 4th in field goal percentage (45.0).
   
• In conference action UTA players finished with the following rankings – Gordon: points (8th, 15.4), rebounds (3rd, 8.2), field goal percentage (2nd, 50.8) and steals (1st, 2.2); Wilson: blocks (4th, 1.8) and rebounding (5th, 7.6); Russell: assists (4th, 4.0) and assist-to-turnover ratio (4th, 2.0).

ABOUT THE POTENTIAL MATCHUP

• UTA split the season series with both Stephen F. Austin (17-14, 10-10 WAC) and Abilene Christian (15-16, 10-10 WAC) as the Mavs lost each matchup on the road, but won both at home.
   
• Both of those setbacks came in January, and since the ACU loss on Jan. 20 the Mavs have gone 8-3 with the three losses coming by a combined nine points.
   
• In the UTA loss at SFA, the Mavs were without their two leading scorers in Russell (13.5) and Gordon (12.9) due to injuries. At ACU, the Mavs were without Aaron Cash (7.1 ppg) due to a concussion, trimmed a 14-point 2nd-half deficit down to three, 59-56, with eight minutes left but would not get any closer.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE FORCE
Gordon leads the WAC in double-doubles with 12; combined with Wilson's seven (2nd in the WAC), the 19 double-doubles are four more than three WAC teams total (15): Southern Utah (4), Stephen F. Austin (5) and Seattle U (6).
 
As a team, UTA's 21 double-doubles (Cash has the other two) are seven more than the next closest team (California Baptist, 14).

UTA has had three-different players grab 15+ rebounds in a game this season: Gordon (17 at Utah Tech), Cash (17 vs. UNT Dallas) and Wilson (16 at California Baptist). Wilson (13) and Gordon (12) rank 1st and 2nd in the WAC in terms of double-figure rebound games this year; the next closest player has 10.
 
WELCOME OFFENSIVE OUTBURSTS
Seventeen times already this season UTA has scored 75+ points against D-I competition; the Mavs accomplished that feat just four times all of last year (regular and postseason). Additionally, 11 times this year UTA has registered 80+ points in regulation against D-I competition; that happened just three times total in the previous two regular seasons.
 
In Turner's first season, UTA is currently averaging 75.6 points per game, which would be the Mavs' highest since 2017-18 (77.7).
 
The Mavs scored 89+ points in three-straight regulation games versus D-I opponents from Feb. 17-24 for only the third time in program history: Dec. 1-6, 1990, and Feb. 18-23, 1981. From 2018-23, UTA scored 89+ points against D-I competition three times total.
 
GORDON PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For the third time this season, Gordon was named WAC Player of the Week on Feb. 26. The Chicago native is now the first UTA member since Marquez Haynes in 2009-10 to be named conference Player of the Week three times in the same season; Haynes won the award four times that year in the Southland Conference on his way to an All-American Honorable Mention campaign. It is believed that is the single-season program record (weekly award records date to 1994-95).
 
UTA has had three-different players win either WAC Player of the Week or Newcomer of the Week this season: Gordon (Player, Nov. 13, Feb. 19 and Feb. 26), Wilson (Player, Nov. 20) and Russell (Newcomer, Dec. 18 and Feb. 5). The six total selections are the 2nd most in the WAC this year behind Grand Canyon's 13.
 
LUCKY THIRTEEN
All 13 UTA players who dressed – currently the entire healthy roster – scored at least one point on Feb. 17 at UT Rio Grande Valley. No other team in the nation this season has had that many players or the entirety of the roster score in a game against a D-I opponent. Below are those teams that have had 100% of their players in uniform score against a D-I foe:
 
13: UT Arlington @ UTRGV (Feb. 17)
11: Creighton vs. Central Michigan (Dec. 9)
10: Creighton vs. Florida A&M (Nov. 7)
9: Oakland vs. IUPUI (Feb. 17)
7: Charleston Southern vs. USC Upstate (Jan. 13)
 
SCORING DEPTH
The Mavs have already had 11 players reach double-figure points in a game this year (highs): Wilson (29), Russell (28), Gordon (24), Williams (24), Kade Douglas (20), Akili Vining (16), Cash (18), Fabio Basili (15), Brandyn Talbot (14), Dwayne Koroma (12) and Freds Pauls Bagatskis (11).
 
Those 11 different double-figure scorers are tied for the 2nd most in the nation (leader: Texas State, 12).
 
Of those 11, Gordon (6x – 1 tie), Wilson (6x), Williams (6x – 1 tie), Russell (5x), Douglas (3x), Cash (3x), Basili (1x) and Vining (1x) have led UTA in scoring.
 
STARTING LINEUP ROTATIONS
UTA has used 11 different starting lineups this season, which is tied for the 14th most in the nation (leader: Eastern Michigan, 20). Nine of those lineups have won a game, which is tied for the 5th most in the country (three teams, 11).
 
RECORD-TYING 3-POINT PERFORMANCE
Eleven times already this season UTA has made double-figure 3-pointers in a game; the Mavs made double-figure 3s in a game 10 times the last two seasons combined. UTA has reached that threshold three times in the last four games, including consecutively for the first time this year on Feb. 22 (11 vs. Southern Utah) and Feb. 24 (10 vs. Utah Tech).
 
UTA tied a single-game program record with 17 made 3-pointers on Nov. 11 against UT Tyler. That mark had only been reached once previously – on Dec. 8, 2015, against Bradley. Those 17 triples are two more than any other WAC team this year; CBU had 15 at Stephen F. Austin on Jan. 27, and the Mavs also had 15 versus UT Rio Grande Valley on Jan. 18.
 
The 15 3-pointers (15-36, 42%) against UTRGV tied for the 5th-most makes all-time and matched the 3rd-most triples in program lore versus a D-I foe.
 
LONG-RANGE THREAT SIDELINED
In that UT Tyler contest, Bagatskis knocked down three 3-pointers and scored 11-straight points for UTA in the 1st half. However, the Georgia Tech transfer has not played in a game since then after suffering a left ankle injury in practice the week of Nov. 13 and undergoing surgery in mid-December. He is expected to be out the rest of the season.
 
HISTORICAL PERFORMANCES
In its 74-37 win over UNT Dallas on Dec. 6, the Mavs had 26 offensive rebounds to tie for the 6th most in single-game program history and most in any game since 1996. Of those 26 o-boards, 25 were secured by players (one team rebound) to tie for the 9th-most offensive rebounds by any team in the nation this year.
 
Individually, Cash – who had 17 points and 17 rebounds – was responsible for 12 offensive rebounds to tie for the most in program lore with Johnny McDowell (1992) and Sam Norton (1984). Those dozen o-boards are also the most by any player in the nation this year (six players with 11). The 17 total rebounds are tied for the most by any player in the WAC this season along with teammate Gordon.
 
Defensively, the 37 points UTA allowed were its 2nd fewest all-time behind only a 36-point performance against SMU in 1989 – a game the Mavs actually lost, 36-31. Those are the only two times in the 64+ years of the program UTA has held a team under 40 points.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
1) The Mavs held Stephen F. Austin to just 1-15 from 3-point range in a 71-63 overtime triumph on Feb. 10. That was just the second time since 2015 that UTA limited an opponent to one 3-pointer (Coastal Carolina: 1-13 on Mar. 7, 2020).
 
2) Two times this year Wilson and Gordon have both recorded double-doubles in the same game: at New Mexico on Nov. 16 and at Abilene Christian on Jan. 20.
 
4) Gordon had 15 points, 17 rebounds and six assists at Utah Tech on Feb. 3 to become one of only four players in the nation this year against a D-I opponent with at least a 15-17-6 stat line.
 
4) Four of UTA's seven WAC losses have come against the current top-2 teams: Grand Canyon (2x) and Tarleton State (2x). Those four losses came by an average of 4.2 points. The Mavs were tied with GCU both times with under 90 seconds remaining, and had final shots to win – or force overtime – against Tarleton.
 
6) Gordon is one of just six players in the nation this year versus a D-I opponent to come off the bench and record at least 15 points and 15 rebounds in a game when he accomplished that feat against Air Force on Dec. 16.
 
8) The Mavs are a perfect 8-0 this season when Talbot makes at least two 3-pointers in a game.
 
12) Williams is one of only 12 true freshmen nationally with at least 345 points and 85 assists this season. He also leads all WAC true freshmen in scoring (11.2).
 
13) Gordon collected 13 rebounds on Mar. 2 at Utah Valley, and all of them came on the defensive end to tie for the 5th most in single-game program history (record: 14, four times). Additionally, the 13 defensive rebounds without an offensive rebound are tied for the 7th most by any player in the nation this season (most: Siena's Michael Eley with 16 at Manhattan).
 
20) UTA has won two road games by 20+ points in the same season (87-66 at Utah Tech; 82-62 at Seattle U) for the first time since 2019-20; since 2012, the Mavs only have eight such victories (including the two this year).
 
33) UTA went 33-40 (82.5%) from the free throw line versus Utah Tech on Feb. 24, representing its 2nd-most free throws made in a game since 2012 (34 vs. Little Rock in 2019). Additionally, UTA is one of 16 teams this season to make 33+ free throws and shoot 82%+; Stephen F. Austin also did it against Utah Tech on Mar. 9 (35-42, 83.3%).
 
36) UTA had a stretch of 36 days in-between home contests from Dec. 6 to Jan. 11. That was the second-longest break in-season by any team in the nation this year, trailing only Delaware's 38-day gap.
 
46) The Mavs shot 46% from the field and finished +9 in the rebounding column (45-36) at New Mexico, representing their only non-conference loss since 2010 when shooting at least 46% and posting at least +9 on the glass. The Lobos – who used a buzzer-beating layup to beat the Mavs, 82-80 – have been ranked in the Associated Press and Coaches polls during the season.
 
57) Opposite Abilene Christian on Nov. 29, UTA shot a season-best 57% (27-47) from the floor – the best any Maverick team has shot against a D-I opponent since 2018.
 
78) UTA lost when scoring 78+ points in regulation at home for only the third time in the last 15 years when the Mavs dropped an 80-78 decision to Tarleton State on Feb. 15; the other two occurrences: 85-78 to FGCU on Dec. 9, 2017, and 92-89 to Louisiana on Feb. 6, 2014.
 
85) 85% of Douglas's points (105 of 123) this year have come via the 3-pointer (34 makes); he has five games of 3+ triples.
 
90) UTA went 24-25 (96%) from the free throw line on Jan. 18 against UTRGV. That is the 2nd-best percentage (minimum 20 makes) in single-game program history, bested only by a 96.4% (27-28) showing on Feb. 22, 1968, at then-#1 Houston. It is also the 11th-best percentage in the nation this year among teams that have made at least 24 free throws (best: Niagara going 27-27 at Quinnipiac on Feb. 18).
 
700) Gordon eclipsed 500 career rebounds in the season opener, and now boasts 737 for his career.
 
1,000) Gordon reached 1,000 career points on Dec. 6 versus UNT Dallas, Wilson got to 1,000 collegiate points across all levels on Jan. 18 against UTRGV and Cash eclipsed the milestone mark on Feb. 29 at Seattle U.
 
NEXT UP
A UTA victory would send the Mavs to the semifinals where they would face #2 Tarleton State on Friday night at 10:30 CT. That contest will be broadcast live on ESPNU, streamed on ESPN+ and also heard nationally on SiriusXM 380, in addition to locally on 102.5 FM, 620 AM and the Varsity Network App.
   
FOLLOW ALONG
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