LAS VEGAS – The #3-seeded UT Arlington men's basketball team squares off with #1 Grand Canyon in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Final on Saturday at 10:30 p.m. CT (8:30 local) from Orleans Arena.

The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN2, streamed on ESPN+ and also heard nationally on SiriusXM 380/970, in addition to locally on 102.5 FM, 620 AM and the Varsity Network App.

BIG STORYLINES

• UT Arlington will be looking for its first WAC Championship in its third season in the league (2012-13, 2022-present).
• UTA reached the WAC Tournament Final in its first year in the conference in 2013, falling to New Mexico State, 64-55.
• This will be UTA's first conference tournament final appearance since going back-to-back in 2018 and 2019 as a Sun Belt Conference member.
• The Mavericks will be looking for their second all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and conference tournament title as they won the Southland Conference Tournament in 2008.
• UTA and GCU met in the WAC Tournament First Round last season when the Mavs were a 12 seed and the Lopes a 5 seed; UTA gave GCU everything it could handle before suffering an 82-77 loss to the eventual champs.

SEMIFINAL TAKEAWAYS

• UTA overcame its fourth double-figure deficit of the season to win as the Mavs erased a 13-point hole, 56-43, with 16 minutes remaining to knock off #2 Tarleton State in the semifinals on a Brandyn Talbot 3-pointer, 87-84, with 3.3 seconds remaining.
• The other double-figure deficits overcome this year: 15 vs. Southern Utah (Feb. 22), 13 against Utah Tech (Feb. 24) and 11 opposite Oral Roberts (Nov. 6).
• The victory avenged two regular-season losses by a combined four points to Tarleton.
• UTA shot 56.1% (32-57) from the floor – its 3rd-best mark of the season after notching a season-high 58.7% (37-63) in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
• The Mavs are now a perfect 10-0 this season when Brandyn Talbot makes 2+ triples in a game.
• Shemar Wilson tied a career high with 29 points; he also had 29 points earlier this season on Nov. 29 at New Mexico.
• DaJuan Gordon registered a double-double – his WAC-leading 13th of the campaign – with 16 points and a game-most 11 rebounds.
• Dwayne Koroma continued his late-season offensive emergence with a season-high-tying 12 points. That is now the fourth time in the last five outings he's reached double-figure points after accomplishing the feat just twice in the season's first 27 contests.

STREAKING MAVS

• UTA's eight-game winning streak is its longest since equaling that total Feb. 4-Mar. 2, 2017; the Mavs had an 11-game winning streak earlier that same season from Nov. 21-Jan. 2.
• That eight-game winning streak is tied for the 6th longest active stretch in the nation.
• UTA's ninth-straight win would represent the 3rd-longest winning streak in program history behind only a 16-game stretch in 2011-12 and the aforementioned 11-game run in 2016-17.
• All 20 of UTA's wins this year have come when it scores at least 70 points.
• This is UTA's first 20-win season since going 21-13 in 2017-18.
• The Mavs are now 11-2 over their last 13 games, with the only losses in that stretch coming by a combined three points.
• Six of UTA's seven highest-scoring games of the season against Division-I opponents have taken place since the start of February.
• UTA has now scored 80+ points in a regulation game 13 times this season versus a D-I foe; the Mavs accomplished that just three times total in the previous two regular seasons.
• UTA is 15 3-pointers shy of tying the all-time single-season program record of 310 set in 2016-17. The 295 triples this season are already the 3rd most; 2nd: 307 in 2015-16. The Mavs have made 15+ 3s three times this season, and have made 10+ on 12 occasions.
• Five of UTA's seven lowest-turnover games this season have now taken place over the past seven contests: Friday night (11), Thursday night (10), Feb. 22 versus Southern Utah (11), Feb. 29 at Seattle U (7) and Mar. 2 at Utah Valley (11).
• The Mavs have jumped 16 spots in the NET rankings since arriving in Vegas from an already season-best #145 to now #129. That is UTA's highest ranking this late in a season since finishing the 2019-20 season at #129, and the last time the Mavs had a better ranking was the conclusion of the 2017-18 campaign at #112.

GCU RECAPS FROM THE REGULAR SEASON
In both meetings this year, UTA held double-figure 2nd-half leads with around 12 minutes to play, and had each contest tied with 90 seconds left before late surges by GCU both times resulted in a 76-69 win in Phoenix on Dec. 2 and a 67-61 triumph on Jan. 27 in Arlington.
 
RECORD-SETTING QUARTERFINAL
In UTA's 109-78 quarterfinal win over Stephen F. Austin on Thursday night, the Mavericks established the following records:

• 109 Points
  • Broke the previous WAC Tournament record of 107 by Boise State in a triple overtime contest in 2008 against New Mexico State.
  • Most points in a postseason game in program lore; the previous was 105 at BYU in the 2017 NIT. It is also UTA's most points in a conference tournament game, besting the prior record of 98 established in double overtime against Sam Houston in the 2001 Southland Conference Tournament.
  • 2nd-most points at a neutral site in program history (113 versus San Francisco in 1991).
  • Tied for the 13th most in program history in a regulation game versus a Division-I opponent.
     
• 19 3-Pointers
  • Surpasses the previous WAC Tournament record of 17 by New Mexico State in 2019.
  • Two more than UTA's previous single-game record of 17, which had been reached twice previously – including earlier this season versus UT Tyler.
  • Tied for the most by any team in the nation this season against a D-I opponent.
     
• 26 Assists
  • Tied for the most in a WAC Tournament game (Hawaii issued 26 helpers against TCU in 2001).
  • The most by UTA this season against a D-I foe; tied for the most overall (26 vs. UT Tyler).
     
• 61 2nd-Half Points
  • The most in any half of any WAC Tournament game (previous: 59 by New Mexico State in the 2nd half of a 1987 contest).
     
• Phillip Russell's 7 3-Pointers
  • Tied for the 3rd most in a WAC Tournament game; the all-time record is eight by two players in 2015 and 1997.
  • Equaled the 5th most triples in program history (record: nine, 3x).

QUARTERFINAL TAKEAWAYS

• WAC Sixth Player of the Year Phillip Russell delivered a season-high 30 points in only 19 minutes against SFA; his previous high was 28 in his Maverick debut Dec. 16 versus Air Force. That also marked his fifth 30-point game of his career.
• UTA shot a season-best 58.7% (37-63) from the floor.

 
FOLLOW ALONG
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