EVANSVILLE, Indiana – UT Arlington men's basketball (4-1) won its third straight, knocking off Evansville (2-3) 84-76 on Tuesday night from the Ford Center in the Hoosier State. The Mavericks were scorching from the field, shooting a season-best 62.2% (28-for-45). Senior forward Raysean Seamster finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists, while sophomore guard Tyran Mason had a career-high 19 on 8-of-10 shooting to go along with four rebounds and three steals.

"I'm really glad we got the win," head coach KT Turner said following the game. "We fought through and won a tough game, but we've got a lot of stuff we've got to clean up. Offensively we're getting better – I thought we started off a little slow but got in rhythm. They did a really good job of not letting us get in rhythm by switching up defenses also, so I give credit to them. We've got to clean those turnovers up, we were turning the ball over left and right. That's the one thing we talked about before the game was not turning it over. We've got to do a way better job of limiting those turnovers for sure. [Defensively] we guarded and we did a good job of executing that. When we didn't turn the ball over, I felt like we were guarding like we should. And we can get better – that's the biggest thing is the ceiling is still high defensively, we can get a lot better." 

UTA withstood a slow start, and eventually got to halftime with a 35-34 lead, despite 16 first half turnovers. The Mavs shot 63.2% from the field, including 4-of-9 from distance, and were paced by Seamster's 15 first half points. The senior forward hit 6-of-8 from the floor in the first stanza to help lift the Mavericks to their one-point advantage.
 
Seamster knocked down a pair of threes in the first half, and finished a three-point play through contact to put UTA up 35-32 in the final minute of the first. Mason chipped in with nine first half points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting, including a stretch of three-straight buckets in a 7-0 UTA run.
 
Mason was instrumental to another Mavs run, helping stretch the lead to seven, Mason hit a three-pointer to make it 61-54. The North Texas transfer hit 3-of-4 from distance on Tuesday night.
 
UTA, who entered the day ranked fourth nationally in rebounding margin, and equaled their season average of +18.0 against the Purple Aces, outrebounding Evansville 35-17. UTA utilized the offensive glass to routinely get second and third chances, pulling down 13 offensive boards.
 
In addition to the hot shooting from the floor overall, the Mavs were 50% from three (8-for-16), and 83.3% from the free throw line (20-of-24). UTA also solved its first half turnover problem (16) in the locker room and only committed five in the second half, allowing the Mavericks to stretch their lead.
 
UTA led by as many as 15, and defeated the Purple Aces for the second time in as many seasons, also knocking off Evansville in 2024 (80-54 in Arlington).
 
Mason's three late in the clock lifted the Mavs' lead to 78-64, and they never saw that lead fall below eight.
 
The Mavs remain on the road and travel to Ogden, Utah, for the Junction City Jam. UTA takes on Campbell on Friday, Nov. 21, at 2 p.m. CT from the Dee Events Center on the campus of Weber State. That game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and on the radio on the Varsity Network App with the Voice of the Mavs, Josh Sours. UTA also takes on host Weber State, on Saturday night at 8 p.m. CT.
   
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