UT Arlington (4-5) 66, North Texas (3-5) 77

Long night for the Mavs on a Star Wars-themed night at College Park Center. Long-time local rival North Texas used height and energy to dominate the boards and get easy layups all night en route to a 77-66 victory that wasn’t really close for most of the 40:00. UT Arlington’s cold shooting and UNT’s ability to get possession of every missed shot (not really, but it kinda seemed that way) allowed the Mean Green to take a relatively quick 27-10 lead in the first half. The Mavs got down by as many as 20 in the second half but were able to cut the lead to 6 with 6:05 remaining. The Mavs had a couple of chances to reduce the deficit further but committed a couple of turnovers on the next couple of possessions, allowing UNT to pull away for good in the final minutes.

Key stats:

• UNT 36 points in the paint, UTA 18
• Points off turnovers: UNT 17, UTA 8
• UNT outrebounded UTA 38-28. UTA had no answer around the paint for UNT’s Zachary Simmons (10 rebounds, 7 offensive) and Deng Geu (8 rebounds, 4 offensive)

Read more:
Game story at UTA Athletics
Game story at North Texas Athletics
Denton RC game story

Coming up:
UC-Santa Barbara at home on Saturday and at Houston next week before conference play starts December 19.

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