UTA Basketball Downs Rice

HOUSTON – A trio of career performances helped the UT Arlington Mavericks extended their winning streak to four in a row by downing Rice 92-74 Sunday at Tudor Fieldhouse.

The starting backcourt of Erick Neal and Drew Charles set the tone early, and forward Kevin Hervey came strong on late as UTA pulled away from its Conference USA foe. The Mavericks scored a season high and are 5-1 for the first time since the 2010-11 season.

Hervey, Neal and Charles each set new career highs in scoring. Hervey racked up his third double-double of the season with 27 points and tied his career best with 15 rebounds. Neal scored 24 and dished out six assists. Charles added 17 points, 16 coming in the first half.

UT Arlington coach Scott Cross had said it was only a matter of time before the Mavs found their shooting stroke. After shooting 36.4 percent through the first four games, UTA connected on 57.1 percent (32-56) against the Owls.

The Mavericks shot 67.9 percent (19-28) in the first half, including 64.3 percent (9-14) from 3-point territory. UTA was up 51-38 at halftime, easily a season high for points in a half.

Charles opened the game red hot. The junior knocked down his first six shots, including four from beyond the arc. Charles scored 16 of UTA’s first 22 points, as the Mavs opened up a 12-point lead.

Rice (2-5) closed the gap to 24-22 with a 9-0 run before Neal heated up. The sophomore point guard hit three 3-pointers and assisted in lob dunk to Kaelon Wilson, as UTA jumped out to 48-34 advantage.

Neal and Charles combined 29 points in the first half on 11-of-13 shooting, including 7-8 from deep. Hervey scored 20 in the second half.

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