UTA Sputters Against Georgia State

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ARLINGTON, Texas – The UT Arlington Mavericks were exactly where they wanted to be in the second half of Thursday night’s clash with Georgia State.

UTA held an 11-point with 11 minutes left in a matchup of squads that came into the night tied for second place in the Sun Belt Conference. The Panthers responded with a game-turning rally to down the Mavs 88-74 at College Park Center.

UT Arlington had its three-game winning streak snapped in falling to 12-8 overall and 6-4 at the halfway point of conference play. Georgia State (14-7, 7-3) swept the two-game season series with UTA.

“We didn’t do the little things down the stretch to win the basketball game,” UT Arlington coach Scott Cross said. “We gave them open looks. Loose balls on the floor we’ve got to dive for. We have to win all of those possessions and we didn’t do it.

“We’d hit a 3-pointer and celebrate, and they come right down and lay it in. We can’t win basketball games against a great team like them and do those types of things. Obviously, R.J. Hunter went off in the second half and he showed why he’s an NBA prospect.”

Freshman forward Kevin Hervey led the Mavericks with a season-high 21 points and added

eight rebounds. Senior guard Lonnie McClanahan scored 14 and sophomore forward Jorge Bilbao set a career high with 11 points.

On three consecutive possessions midway through the second half, the Mavericks scored three points to jump ahead 62-51. A pair of spins by guard Erick Neal in the open court led to forward Greg Gainey’s three-point play. Bilbao followed with another hoop-and-harm combo before Hervey knocked down a 3-pointer.

That’s when GSU guards Hunter and Ryan Harrow took over. The Sun Belt’s two leading scorers combined to score 46 points in the second half, with Hunter (32 points) particularly taking over down the stretch to carry the Panthers to their third consecutive win.

The Mavericks hadn’t lost since falling at Georgia State on Jan. 15.

“It’s tough, especially since we had the lead,” McClanahan said. “We became comfortable and relaxed.”

The Mavericks moved and took care of the ball in the first half, resulting in 38-34 lead going into the locker room. UTA shot 51.7 percent (15-29) through the first 20 minutes and had only five turnovers.

McClanahan helped the Mavs to an early 10-8 advantage with a pair of floaters in the lane and a put-back layup off a missed shot. Hervey heated up from the outside, and his 3-pointer put UTA up 21-18.

Senior guard Jamel Outler’s deep 3-pointer from the wing and Gainey’s lay-in gave the Mavericks their biggest lead of the half at 30-24.

The first half featured five lead changes and three ties, with each side leading for about 8 1/2 minutes. UTA outscored GSU 20-16 in the paint and 10-5 in second-chance points.

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