UTA men withstand rally to knock off first-place Arkansas State
UT Arlington fought off Sun Belt conference leader Arkansas State’s rally in the final minutes and secured an 81-75 victory Saturday at College Park Center in a men’s basketball game.
Erick Neal broke a late tie with a layup then added a steal, an assist and another basket as UTA knocked Arkansas State out of sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt.
Kevin Hervey led UTA with 19 points, Neal added 18 with nine assists and Jorge Bilbao poured in 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting. Kaelon Wilson added a vital 11 points.
UTA (18-6, 8-3) faces a challenging week ahead, taking on Georgia State and Georgia Southern, each winners on Saturday to share the Sun Belt lead with Arkansas State at 9-3.
The Mavericks led 38-27 at the half, but Arkansas State battled back into a 70-70 tie when Deven Simms knocked down a jumper with 4:31 to play. The Red Foxes (18-7, 9-3) then missed a pair of 3-point attempts and Neal took over. He scored, stole the ball from Simms and passed ahead to Kaelon Wilson for a dunk, then scored a second layup. UTA made 5 of 6 foul shots in the final 1:10.
ASU missed a game-tying jumper with under a minute left, and moments later the visitors missed two free throws with a chance to tie. After an ASU foul, Wilson drilled two free throws to give UTA a 79-75 lead with 19 seconds remaining. Hervey sank two free throws in the closing seconds for an 81-75 final score.
Rashad Lindsey led Arkansas State with 19 points. Simms had 17 and Devin Carter 16.
ASU shot 53 percent from the field and 7-of-15 on 3-point attempts.
Up next
UTA hosts Arkansas-Little Rock at 8 p.m. Monday at College Park Center. The game will be broadcast live on the UTAMavs.com.
UT ARLINGTON 81, ARKANSAS ST. 75
ARKANSAS ST. (18-7): Lindsey 7-10 3-5 19, Foster 2-3 0-0 5, Simmons 1-1 3-4 5, Thomas 3-8 1-5 7, Carter 5-12 3-5 16, Bruce 1-2 1-2 3, Nweke 0-1 0-0 0, Simms 7-13 3-4 17, Kern 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 27-52 14-25 75.
UT ARLINGTON (18-6): Bilbao 7-8 3-6 17, Hervey 6-12 6-6 19, Neal 5-9 6-8 18, Jones 0-8 4-6 4, Charles 2-7 1-1 7, Harris 1-2 1-2 3, Pope 1-1 0-0 2, Kabadyundi 0-0 0-0 0, Bryant 0-0 0-0 0, Hawkins 0-3 0-0 0, Wilson 3-6 5-5 11. Totals 25-56 26-34 81.
Halftime—UT Arlington 38-27. 3-Point Goals—Arkansas St. 7-15 (Carter 3-6, Lindsey 2-3, Foster 1-2, Kern 1-2, Thomas 0-2), UT Arlington 5-24 (Neal 2-4, Charles 2-7, Hervey 1-4, Hawkins 0-1, Wilson 0-3, Jones 0-5). Fouled Out—Simmons. Rebounds—Arkansas St. 29 (Carter 9), UT Arlington 34 (Hervey 9). Assists—Arkansas St. 12 (Thomas 6), UT Arlington 17 (Neal 9). Total Fouls—Arkansas St. 27, UT Arlington 20. A—2,737 (7,000).
This story was originally published February 11, 2017 at 8:03 PM with the headline "UTA men withstand rally to knock off first-place Arkansas State."