UTA (13-5, 3-2) 89, South Alabama (9-9, 2-3) 83 

After two tough losses on the road to hot-shooting Texas State and Troy, the Mavs picked up a badly needed win on the road. Kevin Hervey didn’t play at Troy saturday but came off the bench today to play 27 minutes and scoring 23. Nationally televised on ESPN 2, this was a very entertaining, uptempo contest with both teams getting up and down the floor and putting up a ton of points. Rarely was the shot clock much of a factor! After being down 43-40 at half, UTA went on a 16-0 run to take a 73-59 lead. Frustrating UTA with an effective press and slowing the game down a bit, South Alabama was able to get within 6 in the closing minutes, but the Mavs held on to win. The Mavs made lot of good passes into the paint to Jorge Bilbao, and he was virtually unstoppable all afternoon with a dominating 17-point, 13-rebound double double. The crisp ball movement and strong rebounding we have seen at times this year was a big reason the Mavs won today. Unfortunately the 3-point shot continues to be less than stellar, going just 6-24 for 25%. But if the Mavs can continue to pound the ball inside and get Jorge good looks around the basket, that might help when the outside shots aren’t falling. Overall, the Mavs shot 49% for the game, holding South Alabama to just 43%.

Up next: Louisiana-Monroe saturday and Louisiana monday at College Park Center