UT Arlington dethrones top-seeded Louisiana, now one win away from spot in NCAA Tournament

One win.

After knocking off top-seeded Louisiana in the Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament semifinals Saturday, one win is all that separates the UT Arlington Mavericks from a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Senior guard Erick Neal scored a team-high 18 points in the Mavs 71-68 win over the Ragin' Cajuns, while Kaelon Wilson and Johnny Hamilton added 17 and 12, respectively.

The fourth-seeded Mavs (21-12, 10-8 Sun Belt) advance to Sunday's conference title game at 1 p.m. on ESPN2 against second-seeded Georgia State (23-10, 12-6), a 73-67 winner over Georgia Southern in the other semifinal.

A win would secure UTA's second tournament appearance ever, its first having come in 2008.

Against the No. 1 seed Ragin' Cajuns (27-5, 6-2 Sun Belt) Saturday, the Mavs fell behind early, but quickly responded with a 13-1 run to take a five-point lead midway through the first half.

After Louisiana managed to tie the game at 27-27 with less than five minutes left in the half, UTA went on an 8-0 run, capped with an and-one layup by forward Julian Harris. The Mavs went into halftime up 37-34.

The second half was a back-and-forth affair that saw UTA and Louisiana change leads six times.

A pair of free throws from Wilson gave the Mavs their final lead with 1:19 left in the game. Senior Kevin Hervey, who notched 14 points off the bench, then added two free throws of his own with 11 seconds left to put the Mavs up 71-68.

The Ragin' Cajuns managed to get off two potentially game-tying three-point attempts in the game's final seconds, but couldn't hit either shot, giving UTA the win.

This story was originally published March 10, 2018 at 2:41 PM with the headline "UT Arlington dethrones top-seeded Louisiana, now one win away from spot in NCAA Tournament."