ARLINGTON, Texas – UT Arlington men's basketball (7-11, 0-4 WAC) is set to host Seattle U (8-10, 3-1 WAC) at the College Park Center on Thursday, Jan. 23. That game tips off at 7 p.m. CT and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Chris Mycoskie (pxp) and David Zimmerman (analyst), and on the radio on the Varsity App, 102.5 FM and KTNO 620 AM with the Voice of the Mavs, Josh Sours.
 
UTA fell 85-83 in overtime last Thursday night against Utah Valley, while the Mavericks' next opponent, Seattle U, is off to a 3-1 start in WAC play following an 82-62 win over Utah Tech on Thursday and a 75-52 win at home against Southern Utah on Saturday.
 
"They're really well-coached," head coach KT Turner said during his weekly press conference on Wednesday. "He [Seattle U head coach Chris Victor] does a heck of a job with coaching them. They play extremely hard and we're going to have to match their intensity and keep them off the glass. We've got to keep them out of the paint [as well]. They're playing good basketball right now, they're 3-1, coming in here hot. Like I've said, our back is against the wall and we've got to climb out of it, which we will."
 
The Redhawks are led by fourth-year head coach Chris Victor, who helped lead Seattle to the CBI title last season. Seattle has won 20-plus games in three straight seasons, the first time in program history since 1957-59. Prior to his time as head coach, Victor spent four seasons as Associate Head Coach, and before that two seasons as an assistant at Eastern Washington. Victor was also the head coach at Citrus College for five seasons, leading the Owls to a pair of CCCAA Final Fours (2010-11 and 2011-12).
 
Seattle U is led by forward Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe, who is averaging a team-high 15.5 ppg and 10.8 rpg. Guards John Christofilis (11.8 ppg) and Paris Dawson (10.5 ppg and 3.4 rpg) are also key fixtures for the Redhawks.
 
"It's a great opportunity again," Turner continued. "We have a great basketball team coming in here and we want these challenges, we want these opportunities. It sounds crazy, we're enjoying this process. We're getting better, we are getting better and better each day. We're learning from every game, I know we've taken a couple of losses, but we're learning from them, and it's going to help us at the end of the season. They're helping us now because we're cleaning up stuff that needs to be cleaned up."
 
Thursday's meeting between UTA and Seattle U will be the seventh all-time, with the two programs splitting the previous six contests.
   
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).