Rowdy crowd energizes UTA, Butler as Mavericks snap home slide

By Sam Morton

Special to the Star-Telegram

ARLINGTON -- Maybe all that the Mavericks, and Kevin Butler, needed were a few fans in the stands.

In front of UTA's biggest crowd since the home opener against Oklahoma, Butler left an impression as the guy who can put the sluggish Mavericks on his back.

Butler electrified a sizable crowd with 21 points as UTA won its first game at College Park Center since Dec. 29 by leading from start to finish in a 75-50 victory over Texas State on Thursday night.

He was 7 for 14 from the field and made four 3-pointers to energize a UTA team that had scored only 49 points per game in its last five home games. During that stretch -- and most of this season -- nobody stepped up when the Mavericks needed something big. Butler took a huge step to being that guy.

"I'm a senior and I'm running out of time, so I figured it's now or never," Butler said. "I just went out there and played with confidence. You know, just back to having fun."

Earlier this week, coach Scott Cross wrote an open letter urging fans to show up and help his team break out of its season-long home funk. Just over 2,000 fans showed up and got Butler and forward Brandon Edwards excited to play in front of a rowdy crowd.

"Our goal was to 'D' them up and hold them under 40 percent, so we wanted to come out here and show it," Edwards said.

Edwards led a strong defensive effort. UTA held the Bobcats to three field goals in the second half and a 22.6 field-goal percentage for the game, lowering UTA's eighth-best mark in the nation.

"That's the first game we've guarded a team for a full 40 minutes," Cross said. "That makes me so happy as a coach."

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