Starting Strong

If you asked the average UT Arlington fan about their expectations for the 2025/26 men's basketball season, I'm not sure there would have been a consistent consensus. I know some eternally optimistic fans who believe every year is UTA's year. Conversely, I've seen the opposite end of the spectrum where some are of the opinion this will be a disaster.

For those in the middle or those like me who give it an honest attempt at as close to an unbiased look as possible, it is difficult. In the portal era where UTA has seen over 80 percent roster turnover in consecutive seasons, having any kind of expectation either way is increasingly less certain than a Las Vegas roulette table. 

This summer, Athletic Director Jon Fagg told me he thought the team had a high ceiling and would get some wins. Well, the early returns show he may have had the best take. To be fair, I don't get to watch practice and see how the new team looks. 

The Mavericks are 7-3 to this point in the regular season, exactly one-third the way through. While the two non-Division I games went as expected, the 5-3 record against the other part of the schedule has been welcomed for sure.

UTA was 5-2 when I last spoke about the team in the Maverick Rambler. There was a looming date with Stephen F. Austin on the horizon, the last game in College Park Center for a month.

UTA played streaky, something to be expected with a team that is somewhat young and still trying to gel. UTA and SFA traded buckets early before the Lumberjacks seized control, built a multi-possession lead with over 13 minutes left in the first half that they would not relinquish. UTA trailed 26-33 at the break.

I'm not sure what transpired in the locker room, but the tentativeness and slight disfunction started to dissipate. UTA used a 9-4 run to open the frame to narrow the gap. It resumed a back-and-forth game for the next several minutes. Finally, sophomore center Miles Goodman scored near the hoop for a 44-43 UTA lead, the first since a 5-4 advantage. There were six lead changes after that point and no team could get a lead beyond a possession.

As weird as it sounds from a decades-long Mav fan, and especially against SFA, I was strangely confident at this point in the game. I can't tell you why exactly. The Mavs looked confident and consistent and it just appeared they didn't want to lose. There was an answer for everything and the players were working very well together.

Sophomore center Cam Jackson, one of two returnees from last year's roster, scored in the paint at the five-and-a-half-minute mark. Senior forward Raysean Seamster followed up a Lumberjack miss with a fastbreak layup to give UTA a lead they would not relinquish.

In a mark that this year's team is different, free throws proved the key. Whereas the 2024/25 version may have made 50 percent (seemed worse in some cases), against SFA down the stretch, the team went ten of 12 at the charity stripe to end the game. The end result was a 66-61 UTA win. SFA was 5-1 entering the game and are currently 7-2 at the writing of this entry. Make no mistake, home or away, this was a quality win.

Seamster and sophomore Cash Chavis, a transfer guard from Arkansas, had 16 each while senior guard Marcell McCreary, he himself a transfer guard from Northern Colorado, added 13. UTA was 20-25 on their free throws and nabbed 34 rebounds, six better than SFA. Much is being made about UTA's three-point defense as I'll mention at the end. UTA held SFA to three buckets on 13 attempts.

In a rematch I was looking forward to, UTA renewed a rivalry with twice-conference-rival Arkansas State. It still sticks in my crawl that this was a guarantee game last year and from what I understand, is again this year. We used to be peers. Now, they are paying us to not play in Arlington.

The Mavs held a brief lead of 10-6 in the first half. With almost eight minutes off the clock, Arkansas State scored on a jump shot to start an 8-0 run and a 15-10 lead. UTA responded with a 6-0 run of their own, capped by a Goodman dunk, and a 16-15 advantage.

After a Red Wolf timeout, stAte would tie it with eight minutes remaining on a free throw. After a combined five misses, including three by UTA, ASU would permanently take the lead in dominating fashion. The Mavs would go an additional 0-5 shooting while Arkansas State was 4-4 with two three pointers and an and-1 for an 11-0 run. Seamster temporarily halted the run with a good move to the bucket, but the Red Wolves added another 6-0 run to stretch the lead further. The half ended with a 39-21 UTA disadvantage.

The Mavericks played the second half close as a whole, but ASU was able to answer every time. Arkansas State has a good team, no doubt, and that is a mark of a good team. With a shade more than four minutes gone, UTA had scored seven more than ASU in the half and reduced the total deficit to 11 when ASU pushed the lead back out. Senior forward Jaxson Ellingsworth, who was on the UTA roster last year, capped the push with a three for a 20-point lead.

At the under four-minute mark, UTA again whittled the disadvantage, this time down to 13, when a stAte push got the lead to 21. In the end, that rough end to the first half was most of the difference and the Mavs fell 83-63.

It was a pretty bad overall look in the box score. UTA was outrebounded 41-37. The Red Wolves shot 48 percent from the field, 29 of 60, while UTA shot 37 percent. A bright spot was three-point defense, where UTA allowed four makes on 17 attempts. Conversely UTA made only one three while hoisting 19 tries.

Ellingsworth had a notable 18 points and watching his facial expressions, it sure looked like he wanted it. McCreary had an admirable 16 in the loss to pace UTA. Chavis and Seamster had 15 and 11 to top the double-digit scorers, compared to five Red Wolves.

Final line that sticks out to me was the 3,389 in attendance. In UTA's time in the Belt, Arkansas State averaged a high of 3,042 in 2015/16 to a low of 1,350 in 2021/22. The Red Wolves were over 2,000 only twice in nine years. They are a fickle fan base and when they get results for a few years in a row, the fans show up. 

The final game to this point in the season, and another good indicator that UTA will not be an easy out in the Western Athletic Conference, was a road contest in Edinburg, Texas against former WAC foe UT Rio Grande Valley. It was the second game of a four-game streak away from home.

I didn't get to see the game as my oldest is in the midst of his high school basketball career and had a long away game. I won't go into game details, but following along on social media, it was a tight game. Coming in, UTRGV was 30-40 spots better in the NET ranking based on losing to some better teams. 

Like the previous game, UTA started well and built a five-to-six point lead on a few occasions before they, also like the previous game, started a cold streak, leading to a 27-24 Vaquero halftime lead.

A 10-3 run to open the second half for the home team led to a double-digit deficit to open the second half. It looked like UTA's defense stiffened a bit from the point as UTRGV started missing some more shots. At the same time, the Mavs field goal percentage started increasing and the Vaquero lead disappeared.

A McCreary three gave UTA the first advantage of the half with a minute until the halfway mark. UTA would not cough up the lead but never grew it beyond two possessions until McCreary sank a three with under two minutes. After a UTRGV make, it went to the final margin via free throws from intentional fouls. The Mavericks ended up as victors with a 58-50 win.

Once again, McCreary led the way with 14 points, one of four Mavs to eclipse doubles. Seamster and senior guard Marcus Rigsby Jr. had 12 and Jackson rounded out the list with ten. UTA continued a trend briefly paused after Arkansas State and won the battle of the boards, 39-25. Free throws continued to hold strong, with the team making eight of 11. 

The WAC slate will be interesting in roughly two weeks. UTA is averaging percentage points above 74 points a game. I thought that was really good, especially considering some of the recent history. However that is sixth in the seven-team conference. But, where they are really winning the battle is defense. At 63.8 points per game, they are first in the conference. That has led to a scoring margin of plus ten, good for second place.

Part of the defensive output has been a bit of quicker play at the guard position. Another aspect is the rebounding margin. Outside of Lance Ware, UTA didn't really have a rebound presence. This year, it isn't fueled by one person as much. At 6.9 per game, Seamster is leading the team, good for third in the conference. Jackson is ninth in the WAC at 5.9 per game. McCreary is the only other Mav in the top 20 at 17, with 4.8 rpg. Six Mavericks have at least three rebounds per game. Eight total have more than two. As a team, UTA is second in offensive rebounds within the WAC and third in the defensive category, so it is happening on both sides of the court. When you have guards who hustle to get the loose ball, that small number contributed by multiple players adds up, and that's what is happening here.

One other statistical number sticks out to me. UTA is first in the conference in three-point defense with UTA's opponents making just 25 percent of shots beyond the arc. At one point this season, the Athletic Department made a release that UTA was third in the nation in that stat. I checked the NCAA website and assuming everything is current there, they are sixth in the nation. I'm impressed by the change. There are dozens of scenarios where that will really help UTA in the next few months.

Next up for the Mavericks is what seems like a yearly fall trip to California with a guarantee game to the only Power-Four Conference team on the schedule, Stanford. That occurs on Wednesday with a tip at nine pm our time. It will be a stiff test as the Cardinal is 8-2 on the year.

After that, UTA goes up to Tulsa for a return trip of a home-and-home against Oral Roberts. The 5-7 record is deceiving as three of the wins are against non-Division I schools. There is a one-point loss to Tulsa, who is 10-1 on the year. Then there's the 92-66 loss to common opponent Weber State. It is a road game and UTA certainly can help itself with a win. 

An 8-4 or even a 9-3 record would be something even the most optimistic Mav fan probably didn't have on their bingo card. 7-5 would probably fall in line with their expectations. Regardless, it does look like UTA will cause havoc come conference play, and that is really all a Mav fan wants.