Early Returns

I intentionally wanted to wait a few games after the UT Arlington mem's basketball match-up with Oral Roberts as I was very excited after the UTA Mavericks defeated the Golden Eagles 75-71. There was an excitement around this team that I haven't felt in a half decade. Of course, much of it had to do with the hiring of K.T. Turner as the head man, but many of the folks I've talked to have said the head man assembled a very talented team.

I also fully expected a home loss to ORU, as they have been one of the top mid-major basketball teams the last few years. They have a sweet sixteen appearance three years ago and won the Summit League with a perfect conference record en route to 30 wins last year. The conference expected them to repeat the championship this year.

The Mavs went toe-to-toe with the Golden Eagles in the first half before a late spurt gave ORU a five-point lead. In recent years, Mav fans would have been happy with a moral victory of hanging tough with a quality opponent. But that's not what the team was thinking this time. 

After a rough start to the second half, where Oral Roberts extended their lead to 11, UTA began chipping away before permanently getting the lead with five minutes remaining. Every opponent run was answered quickly and I haven't seen UTA trade blows like this in quite a while.

I knew DaJuan Gordon was good from his days at New Mexico State, but the graduate transfer was locked in the whole game. 24 points and 14 rebounds was nice to watch. Akili Vining, the Texas Wesleyan transfer added 14 while Brandyn Talbot put in 11. Shemar Wilson struggled a bit offensively, only notching eight, but picked up where he left off on the glass, grabbing 14 boards. 

The Mavs played UT Tyler next and I don't take stock in any non-DI game, but they won and did so like they should have, 95-64.

The first road swing showed promise as UTA went to New Mexico first. The Lobos were seemingly in control the whole way, but the game was within single digits early. UNM got their lead to as much as 12 and with six minutes left in the game were up ten. The Mavs chipped away and with roughly five seconds left, freshman Makaih Williams hit a three to tie the game. Credit to the Lobos and Donovan Dent, with momentum squarely in the Mavs favor, Dent drove the length of the floor to retakes the lead with a few tenths left and a long Maverick basket missed and UTA walked away with a moral victory in the 82-80 loss.

Wilson had his first monster game of the year, 29 points and eleven rebounds. That output tied his career high in scoring and came against a quadrant 1 team. Gordon also had a double-double with 13 scored and 14 boards. Williams was the other double-figure Mav with 10.

In the hardest single-game opponent played in decades, the Mavs went to Tucson, Arizona and played one of heck of a first half, had a six- point lead on two occasions early, a five-point lead past the mid-point of the first and were tied with a minute and half left. A short spurt by the Wildcats in the last minute and a half saw the Mavs trail by six. 

As good as the first half was, they no-showed in the second. The Wildcats have a tradition were the fans stand at the start of both halves until the opponent scores. They stood for the first five minutes until Dwayne Koroma scored on a dunk. Unfortunately for Mav Nation, Arizona did not have the same issue and scored 14-0 to start the second, which ultimately was a 20-0 run over both halves. The offensive, and really defensive woes, continued, culminating in a 101-56 loss. Wilson's 19 accounted for the only Mav in double digits but was shut down on the boards, getting only three. Gordon had five boards and Koroma had four, the only Mavs ahead of Wilson. No other Mav scored within a basket of double digits.

The hardest road swing was over when the Mavs returned home against Alcorn State. They got a decent lead early but could never get it in gear to take it to the next level. In fact, the lead was only three at half time.  

In the second half, Alcorn actually took the lead with 14 minutes remaining. Kade Douglas, the second true freshman on the team, immediately took the lead back with a three-pointer before the Braves regained the lead the next possession with a three on their own end. Douglas sank another three to take the lead for good. The spurt spurred the Mavs on, who then took a double-digit victory. The 82-69 win was the third time the Mavs scored 75 or more, equaling last year's amount.

Douglas led all scorers with 20 off the bench, going 6-12 from the three-point line. Wilson did his double-double thing, 14 points and 12 rebounds. Talbot and Koroma also joined the double-digit club.

In the most recent game, it was the tale of three games rolled into one. The Mavs looked dominant in a 9-0 start that turned into a 15-8 Mav lead, looked inept in the ensuing 22-1 Bobcat run that saw a 30-16 deficit, then played toe-to-toe with TXST in an eventual 73-66 loss. 

Wilson's fourth double-double in a row lead the Mavs in points (21) and rebounds (13). Williams and Vining added 14, though Vining scored six in the final 30 seconds when the game was in hand and the Bobcats were guarding against the three,

What we learned early was the Mavericks this year are not the Mavs of recent seasons. They played above their reach much of the year. Oral Roberts has been head and shoulders better in recent years. The Mavs beat San Francisco in a guarantee game last year, but as a whole have never had two buy games look so good in a stretch that I can recall. The ending was a heartbreak at New Mexico, but overall, they played better than the vast majority would have expected. To have a lead so far into the game against the third-ranked team in Division I was impressive. Three good halves out of four where they played in front of 10,000 opposing fans was better than most of expected.

Conversely, they should have throttled Alcorn a little more. The Braves won the Southwestern Athletic Conference regular-season championship last year, but I feel the Mavs program at this time should be where UTA dominates any SWAC school. It turned into a double-digit win, but they trailed in the second half. Then there's Texas State. Good lord how I despise Texas State. I enjoyed what the rivalry turned into, but they cost us in the SBC tourney with our best all-time team. Now they've shot our ranking 20 slots in the NET and a home loss will hurt the WAC resume seeding system for the conference tournament.

It is apparent early that when Gordon goes, so do the Mavs. He only scored three in the win over the Braves, which might attribute the smaller than desired winning margin. In the loss to Texas State, he attempted only three shots, all threes, in a scoreless game. He did add eight boards and has been a big reason for the following disparity:

In the early returns, this club rebounds like crazy. The Mavs have out-rebounded the Golden Eagles (55-34), the Patriots (48-33), the Lobos (45-36), the Braves (45-24) and the Bobcats (34-30). Only the Wildcats have controlled the boards, 31-46, but it was just 15-16 at the half.

More importantly, there's a palpable sense of excitement I haven't seen in a while. These players play for forty minutes and appear well-coached.

Up next, conference play starts Wednesday at College Park Center against Abilene Christian, followed by a road contest at Grand Canyon Saturday. Non-conference play resumes after that with the final non-DI game against North Texas-Dallas and Air Force at Dickie's Arena.