ABILENE, Texas – The UT Arlington Mavericks (17-13, 9-9 WAC) closed out the regular season with a 64-57 comeback victory over the Abilene Christian Wildcats (13-18, 5-13 WAC) on Saturday night at Moody Coliseum. The win was the second straight for UTA, both of which came on the road against in-state foes.
 
Each of the Mavericks' last six wins this season have now come when holding opponents under 65 points. This time, it was achieved by limiting the Wildcats in the game's late stages. The Mavericks trailed 48-39 with 10:34 remaining before scoring 25 of the final 33 points.
 
UTA finished 24-for-29 from the free throw line. And for the second straight game the clutch free throws were the difference in the outcome. Of UTA's final 20 points, 14 came from the charity stripe.
 
The Mavericks were led by Cash Chavis, who scored 16 points and added six rebounds. He has now had at least 15 points in three straight contests. Tyran Mason totaled 15 points and fell one rebound shy of his first career double-double.
 
The nation's top 3-point defense forced ACU into 2 of 17 shooting from beyond the arc. In addition, the Mavs dominated the Wildcats on the glass, outrebounding ACU 38-27, partly thanks to 11 offensive rebounds.
 
UTA claimed its eighth road win of the season after winning just three away contests a year ago. It also was the ninth time this year that the Mavs have held a team to 60 points or less.
 
"We didn't have a great first half, but we kept fighting," UTA head coach KT Turner said. "I'm proud of how we fought and responded. We put our focus on defending, and started playing."
 
UTA trailed by as many as 11 in the first half. The Wildcats opened an 17-7 lead less than eight minutes into the contest after an 13-0 run and took a 33-25 lead into intermission. The Mavericks made just seven of 24 field goals (29.2 percent) prior to half while turning it over 10 times.
 
UTA will be the No. 4 seed at next week's 2026 Air Force Reserve WAC Basketball Tournament and will begin play next Thursday, March 12 against fifth-seeded Southern Utah (10-21, 6-12 WAC). Game time is set for 8 p.m. (CT)/6 p.m. (PT). Tickets for WAC Vegas are $200 for an all-session (men's and women's) pass and can be purchased here.
   
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