UTA Defeats Texas State

SAN MARCOS, Texas – UT Arlington finished a long road stretch in style, rolling past Texas State 65-53 Tuesday night at Strahan Coliseum and before a national television audience on ESPN2.

The Mavericks improved to 16-7 overall and into a tie for fourth in the Sun Belt at 7-5. UTA also finished five consecutive road contests with back-to-back blowout wins after dropping the first three as part of an overall four-game losing streak.

Jalen Jones scored 17 and grabbed six rebounds to pace a balanced effort by the Mavs. Drew Charles hit four 3-pointers and had 14 points. Erick Neal had 10 points, six boards and three assists. Jorge Bilbao had a team-high seven rebounds.

But even more impressive was UTA’s defensive performance. Texas State was held to its third-lowest scoring output of the season, along with 28.6-percent shooting. Only one Bobcat scored at least 10 points.

The Mavericks controlled the tempo from the opening tip, running out to lead that expanded throughout the first half. UTA repeatedly forced the Bobcats into tough shots and cleaned up most misses.

Kennedy Eubanks’ 3-pointer gave the Mavs their first double-digit lead (17-6) nine minutes into the contest. Neal’s 3-pointer pushed the lead to 28-10 and UTA went into halftime up 32-16.

The Mavericks hit 6-15 from beyond the arc in the first half. Texas State was shooting 21.4 percent at the break (6-28) and missed all five of its 3-point tries.

UTA took a 43-20 edge by opening the second half with an 11-4 run, punctuated by an acrobatic reverse by Jones that forced a Texas State timeout. The Mavs would take as much as a 29-point lead.

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