UT Arlington looks to end road woes at UC Irvine

A week without a game goes by much easier after a win than a loss.

That’s what UT Arlington’s 7-point win over Weber State on Dec. 13 gave the Mavericks (4-4) as they finished final exams before heading west to play UC Irvine at 9 p.m. Saturday night.

After losing three straight games on their latest road trip, the Mavericks responded by dispatching the Big Sky favorites at the College Park Center. Taking their game back to the road will be a good test to see if the lessons learned against No. 1 Kentucky and No. 8 Texas translate to being away from home.

The Anteaters (4-3) will be one of the first teams the Mavericks face that primarily plays zone defense, which will put pressure on Johnny Hill and Lonnie McClanahan to get into the paint and find open looks. McClanahan is a specialist at driving into the paint, and it’s resulted in a team-leading 11.3 points per game.

It’s evident that the return of Greg Gainey makes the UTA offense more explosive. Still working his way back to full strength, a rusty Gainey is averaging 8.5 points and 5 rebounds in only 20 minutes per game.

Since Brandon Williams and Anthony Walker are defensive-oriented players, Gainey represents the inside scoring threat that was nonexistent until he returned for the Dec. 2 game at Texas.

The entire low-post group will have their hands full with the supersized Mamadou Ndiaye, a 7-foot-6 center from Senegal who’s scoring 12 points per game for UC Irvine.

This story was originally published December 12, 2014 at 3:58 PM with the headline "UT Arlington looks to end road woes at UC Irvine."