UTA Mavs Travel to Austin to Take on No. 6 Texas
By UT Arlington Athletics Department
Posted on December 02, 2014, December 02, 2014

UTA-Basketball

UT Arlington (3-3) at No. 6 Texas (6-0)
Tuesday | 7 p.m. CT | Erwin Center
Longhorn Network | KKGM 1630 AM

UT Arlington returns to the road Tuesday night with another tall task at hand with the sixth-ranked Texas Longhorns on tap. The nonconference matchup between system schools is being televised nationally at 7 p.m. on Longhorn Network.

The Mavericks are 3-3 after dropping road games last week at No. 1 Kentucky and Montana State. The Longhorns (6-0) pose many of the same challenges UTA faced against the Wildcats.

"Texas is playing extremely well," UT Arlington coach Scott Cross said. "I watched the game yesterday against UConn and Coach Barnes drew up an unbelievable play for them to win the game at the very end.

"They're huge, not quite as big as Kentucky, but they're right there. They do a great job pounding the ball inside. They don't try to do too much. They play with speed, move the ball around and play great defense. They're the No. 6 team in the country, so we're going to have to play our best basketball."

Cross is expecting a turnaround effort against Texas, which is playing host to UTA for the fourth consecutive season. The Mavericks are 0-9 all-time in the series, with every game taking place in Austin.

"I'm looking for improvement out of guys defensively and seeing that we're starting to do things the right way," Cross said. "I did not think we did things the right way against Montana State. We need to make sure we get back on track and start doing the little things right."

NOTABLES

  • UTA has dropped 2 in a row since starting season 3-1. Mavs were 2-0 on the road for 2nd time under Scott Cross (other was 2007-08) before losing last 2 away.
  • UTA is 0-9 all-time against Texas. Programs are meeting for 4th straight season.
  • UTA lost 104-81 at Montana State in its last game. MSU drilled a team-record 18 3-pointers. G Lonnie McClanahan tied for team-high scoring honors with 12 points, which was also his 5th straight double-digit effort off bench.
  • G Jamel Outler set career high w/7 3-pointers & tied career high w/26 points in 87-69 win over HBU. Outler's 7 3-pointers tied for 3rd-most in UTA history for a game & 87.5% (7-8) tied for 7th best.
  • Mavs shot 25-41 (61%) on 3-pointers vs. Bradley & HBU. UTA was 23-85 (27.1%) vs. Buffalo, Grand Canyon, Kentucky & MSU.
  • Freshman F Kevin Hervey is averaging team-high 8.3 rpg & has led team in 5 games.
  • Double figure scorers: Bradley (4), Buffalo (3), GCU (2), HBU (4), UK (1), MSU (4).
  • Same starting lineup in all 6 games; 11 Mavs averaging at least 11 minutes per game.
  • Freshmen Hervey, G Erick Neal, G Kaelon Wilson & F Julian Harris averaging combined 20.8 ppg,13.3 rpg & 4.5 apg. Neal (3.0 apg) is team leader. Wilson leads w/7 blocks.
  • Despite coming off bench in all 6 games, McClanahan is team's leading scorer (12.0 ppg).
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