The non-conference portion of the schedule has concluded for both UT Arlington basketball teams, as well as all of the Western Athletic Conference teams, and for both genders the results are mixed. The good news, except for a couple of outliers either way, UTA's fortunes were the same as their conference brethren. I'll get a separate post about the women soon.
On the men's side, they last appeared in The Maverick Rambler right before their Thanksgiving event in Florida. In what I thought would be a good measuring stick on where the Mavs stood, Murray State defeated UTA in a neutral game, 79-66. The Mavericks trailed 14 at the half and won the second by a point. In what will be a trend in losses, they shot poorly behind the arc, four of 17. Transfer Graduate Student forward Lance Ware kept them in it as best he could with 26 points and nine rebounds.
UTA rebounded in the next game, 68-58 against the Atlantic Sun Conference's Austin Peay. The Mavs made five more three's with the same number of attempts. Junior transfer guard Brody Robinson led the way with 16, of which only six points came from three-point land. UTA trailed by as much as five in the second half, got a brief lead after five minutes gone then traded leads for about five minutes. The final portion of the second half was all UTA.
Graduate Senior transfer guard Jaden Wells led the way with 18 in a loss to then-undefeated Rhode Island, 83-78. The Mavs had a brief lead in the second half but gave up a couple of runs along the way. The theme of sub-par three-point percentage in losses reared its head as UTA was 10 of 28. Ware played in foul trouble, which will be a point I'll touch on in a bit.
UTA then went to long-time conference rival Louisiana-Monroe, and a game after that, hosted the Warhawks in an in-season home and home. Both games were close to mirror images as the Mavs won each, 84-70 in Monroe and 77-68 in Arlington. The stats were similar too as UTA was 15-34 from three in the first and ten of 31 in the second. The fact that UTA shot less than a third in the second is a good sign that the Mavs CAN find balance. Ware had 17 in the first game to lead all scores and had the same amount in Arlington to lead the Mavs.
In between the ULM games was another long-time Southland/Sun Belt rival in Arkansas State. The Red Wolves were the preseason pick to win the Sun Belt and in a game I bet UTA wants back, ASU won 83-79. As an aside, now that stAte is winning again, they got a nice crowd of 4,914 and it became easier to see why this was a guarantee game, where ASU paid UTA to play in Jonesboro. UTA has this potential if they could find some consistent winning. In the meantime, the Athletic Department needs to focus on getting them there.
The Mavs had a four-point lead at the half, but a 12-0 Red Wolf run halfway through the second proved to be the difference. Two turnovers, a missed free throw, a foul and a missed three-point attempt sealed the UTA fate in that stretch. Wells had 19 as he was one of five Mavs in double digits. 14 of 30 from behind the arc is one of the rare exceptions of good three shooting in a loss. However, nine of 21 from the charity stripe likely cost UTA there. Meanwhile, the Red Wolves were 31 of 42. The Red Wolves made five of six with under a minute left in the game.
The Evansville Purple Aces came to Arlington to complete the home non-conference schedule. UTA led the whole way en route to an66 80-54 final as the Mavs played their most complete game. 21 of 54 from the field, a little over one-third from three, 11-30, and 27 of 36 from the free throw line. Graduate student transfer forward Diante Smith led the scoring off the bench with 18 to compliment Ware's double-double 14 and 13.
The final two non-conference road games came as UTA went to Lynchburg, Virginia to close the CUSA/WAC scheduling alliance against Liberty. After a field goal to open the scoring, UTA never led in a 79-56 loss. UTA was 31 percent from the field (22-70), ten percent from three (2-20) and a good 83 percent from the free throw line (10-12). The Mavs allowed 53 percent from the field and 47 from three. There's no team that will win with that combination at any level. Ware's 15 points and 11 boards was a rare bright spot.
The final spot was a road trip to San Marcos. The fourth and final game against a former SLC/SBC foe in Texas State ended the non-con on a high note. Ware had a third consecutive double-double, 19 and 12, but Smith's 24 really powered UTA to a 80-72 win. The Mavs shot well in the first, but a near 59 percent field goal percentage in the second took the Bobcats seven point lead to an eight point loss.
At 7-7 overall, 5-7 against NCAA Division I opponents, UTA has had a roller coaster start. I mentioned the team likely wanted another crack at Arkansas State. But you can add Rhode Island and Missouri State from earlier in the year to the mix. But the reality is that the season only counts for two-thirds of Division I when conference play starts. The top five to six conferences need the regular season to be in their favor but the rest need to play well in conference.
It's also not an even comparison when looking at WAC schools, but UTA is second in scoring. Defense has been lacking as the Mavs are seventh of nine in scoring defense. The irony in that last one is that opponents shot worse against UTA than any other conference school. The Mavs run a fast pace allowing higher scoring games overall.
It looks like there are two ways to get an edge on the Mavericks. The first is the free throw line and by proxy drawing fouls. The WAC doesn't track either category, but against DI competition, UTA is 2-6 when they make fewer free throws than their opponents and 2-7 when they attempt fewer than their opponent. When UTA makes and attempts more FT's, they are 3-0.
Turnovers are a little better for UTA, but still a weakness. They average 12.9 turnovers per game, have had double digits TO's in all but one game and had more TO's than their opponent in eight games. One of the non-DI games saw UTA turn it over more. When UTA has more turnovers, they are only 4-4.
When the Mavs opponents have more free throws and less turnovers, UTA is 1-4.
UTA likely will see a lot of conference foes attempt to draw fouls on UTA. They'll also likely target Ware underneath. If he plays in foul trouble, UTA will have trouble compensating. I expect late in conference play that Grand Canyon University, who is king of shaping an offense around drawing fouls in the WAC will go straight at him all game. The good news for the Mav faithful is in nine games played, Ware has only 19 total fouls, a little over two a game.
If UTA shoots lights out from three, they'll win more than they lose. If they are even with their opponent, the results will be similar, a good sign for UTA. If they are cold, the game is likely a loss. UTA is the epitome of live by the three, die by it.
Conference play starts today in Stephenville against Tarleton. The injury prone Texans are 5-10. UTA lost twice in the regular season by a possession before turning the tables in the WAC tournament. UTA is 1-4 against Tarleton since rejoining the WAC.
