UT Arlington playing for WAC championship, NCAA berth

The UT Arlington men’s basketball team defeated UT San Antonio 69-53 late Friday night at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas to advance to the Western Athletic Conference championship game.

The fourth-seeded Mavericks (19-12) played No. 3 New Mexico State (23-10) late Saturday with an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament on the line.

UTA beat UTSA for the third time this season by shooting 51 percent, including 43 percent on 3-point attempts, while holding the Roadrunners to 35 percent shooting.

UTA dominated inside with a 34-14 edge in points in the paint.

“It was a really complete basketball game by our guys,” UT Arlington coach Scott Cross said, according to the UTA Mavericks website. “They were about as locked in as we’ve been all year long. We’ve put two back-to-back performances together.”

UTA’s Karol Gruszecki scored a game-high 19 points.

UTA is playing for a conference title for the second time under Cross. The Mavericks won the Southland Conference tournament championship in 2008, earning the program’s only NCAA berth. They lost to eventual runner-up Memphis in the first round.

Looking for comments?

We welcome your comments on this story, but please be civil. Do not use profanity, hate speech, threats, personal abuse, images, internet links or any device to draw undue attention. Comments deemed inappropriate will be removed and repeated abusers will be banned. NOTE: If you log in using your Twitter account, your comments will be signed using the name on your Twitter profile, NOT your Twitter user name. Read our full comment policy.