UTA clobbers BYU to earn second-round NIT home game
They aren’t playing in the spotlight of the NCAA Tournament, but UT Arlington’s men’s basketball team took the first step toward shining under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden.
UTA jumped out to an early lead and never trailed in an impressive 105-89 victory over BYU in Provo in Wednesday’s opening round of the National Invitation Tournament.
The sixth-seeded Mavericks, Sun Belt Conference regular season champs, improve to 26-8 and earn the right to host their second-round game at 7 p.m. Monday against seventh-seed Akron, a 78-75 upset winner on the road at Houston. Monday’s game from College Park Center will be televised on ESPNU.
Senior guard Drew Charles from Azle led the Mavericks with a career-high 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting, including 5-of-12 from 3-point range. Junior Kevin Hervey, the Arlington Bowie graduate named Sun Belt player of the year earlier this month, added 22 points and shared game-high honors with eight rebounds. Junior guard Kaelon Wilson shot a blistering 8-of-11 from the field, including 2-of-3 from long distance, to record 20 points.
Junior guard Erick Neal had five points but led all players with 13 assists.
BYU, which concludes its season 22-12 – including the only win this season against NCAA top seed Gonzaga, was led by Eric Mika’s game-high 29 points and 24 points from Nick Emery. The Cougars shot 60 percent from the floor in the first half, and still trailed by seven.
UTA jumped to a 10-4 lead and stretched it to 62-55 by halftime on the strength of 63 percent shooting. They ended the game hitting 55 percent of their shots and their 105 points was their second-highest point total this season, only behind the 108-71 home win over Louisiana’s Ragin Cajuns.
UTA scored 32 points off 20 BYU turnovers and outscored the Cougars 50-26 in the paint. Leading by nine, 85-76 with 8:12 to play, the Mavericks went on a 17-3 run to pad their lead to 23 points, 102-79, with 2:43 to play.
TEXAS-ARLINGTON (26-8): Hervey 9-21 0-0 20, Bilbao 3-4 2-2 8, Charles 10-17 3-3 28, Neal 2-6 0-0 5, Wilson 8-11 2-4 20, Kiris 0-0 0-0 0, Muirhead 1-3 0-0 3, Harris 4-4 0-2 8, Pope 4-6 0-0 8, Kabadyundi 0-0 0-0 0, D.Bryant 0-0 0-0 0, Hawkins 1-4 3-4 5. Totals 42-76 10-15 105.
BYU (22-12): Childs 2-6 2-2 6, Guinn 1-6 0-0 2, Mika 8-13 13-16 29, Emery 8-15 4-5 24, Haws 3-7 2-4 11, Aytes 0-0 0-0 0, Shaw 0-0 0-0 0, Dastrup 0-0 0-0 0, Kaufusi 0-0 0-0 0, Frampton 1-5 0-0 3, Beo 2-5 0-0 4, Leifson 3-8 1-2 10. Totals 28-65 22-29 89.
Halftime—Texas-Arlington 62-55. 3-Point Goals—Texas-Arlington 11-31 (Charles 5-12, Wilson 2-3, Hervey 2-7, Muirhead 1-3, Neal 1-4, Hawkins 0-2), BYU 11-32 (Emery 4-9, Haws 3-5, Leifson 3-8, Frampton 1-5, Beo 0-2, Guinn 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Texas-Arlington 32 (Hervey 8), BYU 39 (Childs 8). Assists—Texas-Arlington 27 (Neal 13), BYU 18 (Emery 5). Total Fouls—Texas-Arlington 28, BYU 16.
National Invitation Tournament Glance
All Times CDT
First Round
Tuesday, March 14
Illinois 82, Valparaiso 57
Mississippi 91, Monmouth 83
Oakland 74, Clemson 69
Georgia Tech 75, Indiana 63
Colorado State 81, College of Charleston 74
Richmond 71, Alabama 64
Boise St. 73, Utah 68
CS Bakersfield 73, California 66
Wednesday, March 15
Syracuse 90, UNC-Greensboro 77
Belmont 78, Georgia 69
UCF 79, Colorado 74
Akron 78, Houston 75
TCU 66, Fresno St. 59
Iowa 87, South Dakota 75
Illinois State 85, UC Irvine 71
Texas-Arlington 105, BYU 89
Second Round
March 16-20
Syracuse (19-14) vs. Mississippi (21-13)
Georgia Tech (18-15) vs. Belmont (23-6)
CS Bakersfield (23-9) vs. Colorado State (24-11)
Texas-Arlington (26-8) vs. Akron (27-8)
Illinois State (28-6), vs. UCF (22-11)
Boise St. (20-11) vs. Illinois (19-14)
Iowa (19-14) vs. TCU (20-15)
Richmond (21-12) vs. Oakland (25-8)
Quarterfinals
March 21-22
Semifinals
At Madison Square Garden
New York
Tuesday, March 28
Semifinal, 6 p.m.
Semifinal 8:30 p.m.
Championship
Thursday, March 29
Semifinal winners, 7 p.m.
This story was originally published March 16, 2017 at 12:49 AM with the headline "UTA clobbers BYU to earn second-round NIT home game."