PHOENIX, Arizona - A gutty effort lifted UT Arlington to 66-64 comeback win over Grand Canyon before a raucous Thursday night crowd at GCU Arena.

The Mavericks improved to 2-1, with both conference victories coming on the road. UTA trailed at halftime before regaining the lead with a 9-0 run midway through the second half and held on in the first ever meeting between the two programs.

"I'm proud of our guys," UT Arlington coach Scott Cross said. "Grand Canyon played extremely hard. Our guys made big free throws down the stretch and got the big rebounds when we needed to. It's a huge win for us."

UTA guard Lonnie McClanahan scored a team-high 19 points off the bench. The senior made 11 of 13 free throws, several in the closing minutes. Junior guard Johnny Hill scored 11 and freshman forward Kevin Hervey grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds.

The Mavericks outrebounded GCU 47-32 and shot 53.8 percent (14-26) in the second half. UTA also outscored the Antelopes 32-20 in the paint.

The Mavericks took an early behind Hill, going up 13-7 eight minutes into the game. UTA was controlling the boards, got into the penalty early and took its largest lead of the half at 19-12.

The Antelopes (1-2) took advantage of UTA dry spell and took their first lead late in the first half. A pair of 3-pointers left the Mavericks down 29-24 and GCU took a 31-27 edge into halftime.

UT Arlington shot just 24.1 percent (7-29) over the opening 20 minutes, and missed eight of 10 3-pointers. Hill had six points and McClanahan scored five off the bench. The Antelopes were shooting 39.3 percent (11-28) at the break.

Senior forward Anthony Walker's slam dunk out of the first timeout of the second half tied the game 38-38 on and UTA took a two-point lead on guard Jamel Outler's fastbreak layup.

The Mavericks regained the lead (44-43) Julian Harris' 3-pointer from the corner. GCU coach Dan Majerle called timeout with 10:46 left after back-to-back layups from guard Erick Neal and guard Kaelon Wilson made it 48-43.

UTA would go up 50-43 to finish off a 9-0 spurt on McClanahan's crossover layup. The Mavericks made 10 of their first 14 shots in the second half to regain control and momentarily silence the student-led throng of 5,207 fans.

The Mavs were clinging to a 65-63 lead with 31.3 seconds left and GCU inbounding the ball under its basket. Antelopes guard Jerome Garrison was fouled by McClanahan, but made one of two free throws.

McClanahan followed with one free throw for another two-point lead with 17.5 second left. Garrison was fouled driving to the basket with 1.9 remaining and missed the first free throw. He intentionally missed the second, but GCU was unable to get off a good shot as the two teams battled for the loose ball.

The Mavericks return to College Park Center on Saturday for Homecoming against Houston Baptist. Tip is at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are available at UTATickets.com.