EDINBURG, Texas – UT Arlington men's basketball (7-3) was led by four in double figures to overcome a double-digit deficit in the second half to defeat the UTRGV Vaqueros (3-6) 58-50 from the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg, Texas, on Thursday night. At 7-3, UTA is off to its best start since 2017-18, when the Mavs opened the year at 8-3.
 
"Our guys were tough and again ground out another win," head coach KT Turner said following the win. "I'm proud of them, they stayed together and it took the whole team. A lot of guys played and a lot of guys had their hand in this win. I've been telling the team and told them before the game that it's who we are. We are a defensive team and our defense is going to create offense and we've got to live by it. It's just who we are. We've got to guard people and get stops."
 
Senior guard Marcell McCreary led the way for the Mavs with 14 and seven rebounds, while senior forward Raysean Seamster scored 12 and pulled down seven boards. Senior guard Marcus Rigsby, Jr. led the way early for the Mavs, scoring all 12 of his points in the first half. He was 5-for-7 from the floor to start, keeping UTA in the game early. Sophomore forward/center Cameron Jackson finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
 
"That last loss [at Arkansas State] kind of left a bad taste in our mouth," Rigsby, Jr. said after the win. "So we just wanted to make sure we stayed locked in this week and getting back to how we know we can play. I just think we need to keep locking in on little details and eliminate those things that cause us to lose. I feel like as long as we do that, we'll be fine – I like our chances against anyone."
 
Despite a quick start that saw the Mavs get out to a 10-4 lead in the first five minutes, the Mavericks struggled to score in the opening half, and only scored 12 points the rest of the way. UTRGV was able to hold UTA to just 35% shooting from the field in the first period, and the Mavs entered the break trailing 27-24. The Vaqueros shot well from distance early, hitting three-pointers at a 44% clip (4-for-9).
 
UTRGV came out of the half with a quick 10-3 run, which pushed their lead to 37-27. UTA outscored the Vaqueros 31-13 the rest of the way en route to the Mavs' third win on the road this season, equaling their road win total from last year. McCreary hit three triples in the second half, including one that put the Mavs in front for good at 41-40.
 
McCreary hit another three-pointer to push the lead to six at 47-41, and the Mavs were able to hold on, thanks to a key Seamster putback, a few timely field goals by Jackson in the paint and another triple from McCreary, to hold off the Vaqueros and pick up the Mavs' third win in their past four games.
 
The win over UTRGV was the Mavs' 18^th in the past 21 meetings in the series, dating back to Dec. 9, 1989.
 
The Mavs will remain on the road for their next game at ACC foe Stanford on Wednesday, Dec. 17. That game will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra and on the radio on the Varsity Network App with Will Conerly.
   
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