UT Arlington (4-6) 68, UCSB (6-3) 72

UTA didn’t play well and lost to North Texas by 11 Monday night at home. UTA, with several key players out due to injuries, played much better this afternoon–outrebounding a very good UC Santa Barbara team–but came up a couple of points short, losing by 4 in a hard-fought contest at College Park Center.

After being tied at 29 at halftime, the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos of the Big West Conference played a great first 4:39 of the second half to take a quick 44-34 lead. The Mavs had great success getting the ball inside for points in the paint (or drawing fouls for free throw attempts) in the second half and were able to get the lead down to 53-51 and then eventually tie the game at 58. But every time the Mavs would get a basket to tie or get the deficit to within a single possession, the Gauchos were able to answer–often with a 3 or a good pass to the paint for a layup (the Mavs had a lot of trouble stopping UCSB’s talented 6’9″ freshman forward Amadou Sow this afternoon around the baseline).

Freshman Sam Griffin had another great game, leading the Mavs with 16 points on 5-12 shooting, making several huge threes in the second half. Jordan Phillips had 14 points on 5-10 shooting, David Azore scored 13 on 4-12 shooting (5-7 FT).

As mentioned earlier, UCSB’s 6’9″ freshman forwad Amadou Sow had a tremendous game, scoring 23 on a very efficient 8-10 shooting night, including making all three 3-pointers and making 4 of his 5 free throws. 6’4″ guard Jaquori McLaughlin scored 22 on 5-11 shooting, making 3 of his 7 threes and going 9-10 from the free throw line.

Only 9 Mavs appeared in the game. Mwamba was out with a broken foot, and Coleman Sparling and TiAndre Jackson-Young were also battling injuries.

Key stats:

• Free throws: USCB 19-24, UTA 13-20
• UTA 28 points in the paint, UCSB 22
• Points off turnovers: UTA 11, UCSB 15
• UTA outrebounded UCSB 39-34

Read more:
Game story at UT Arlington Athletics
Game story at UCSB Athletics

Coming up:
The Mavs play at the University of Houston Wednesday night, and begin conference play on Thursday, December 19 at Georgia state. The Mavs play on the following Saturday, December 21 at Georgia Southern.

Houston is 4-2 with wins over Alabama State, Rice, Texas State and Houston Baptist. Their two losses are by one to BYU at home and a 78-66 loss at one of the country’s best teams, Oregon, who is now 6-2. The Ducks defeated UT Arlington 67-47 on November 17.

Also, I recommend Pie Five in the College Park District, adjacent to the parking garages just north of College Park Center, for a great meal before the game. Delicious pizza!

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