UTA Defeats Sul Ross State

ARLINGTON, Texas – No men’s basketball coach has won more games at UT Arlington than Scott Cross.

Cross tied for the program’s all-time lead with 162 victories after the Mavericks closed out a stellar nonconference season by overwhelming Sul Ross State 98-40 Monday night at College Park Center.

The Mavs also won their fourth consecutive game and improved to 9-2 going into the Sun Belt Conference opener Dec. 30 against defending league champion Georgia State.

Cross improved 162-130 in his 10th season at UTA, tying Eddie McCarter atop the wins’ list. Cross played for and was an assistant under McCarter before taking over the program in 2006.

Kevin Hervey scored 14 to lead UTA in a matchup that allowed Cross to substitute liberally. Jorge Bilbao tallied his first double-double of the season with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Kaelon Wilson scored 15, Nathan Hawkins added 12 points and Mairega Clarke had 10. Eleven Mavericks saw action, with each logging at least 11 minutes.

The Mavs jumped out to a double-digit lead (15-4) less than four minutes into the game and never looked back. The advantage stretched to 20 before the 13-minute mark and UTA went into halftime comfortably up 59-23.

The Mavericks scored the first 12 points of the second half to lead by 48 points. The spread reached 59 late in the second half.