UTA men, women make quick work of visiting Georgia Southern

Kaelon Wilson and the UTA men's basketball team got cooking in the second half and cruised to an 83-63 win over Georgia Southern on Thursday night at College Park Center.

UTA (17-12, 8-8 Sun Belt) pulled to .500 in conference play with the win, its fifth consecutive at College Park Center.

Wilson, making his first start since missing two games due to injury - starred in the first half with 18 of his career-high 23 points on the night.

Kevin Hervey added 21 points and 9 rebounds including five three-pointers in the second half.

The Mavericks broke open a four-point halftime lead with a 28-4 run in the second half to fly past Georgia Southern (17-11, 8-7 Sun Belt), taking a lead as large as 26 in the second half. UTA finished the game shooting 52 percent as a team from the field, their highest shooting percentage this season.

On the defensive side of the ball, UTA held Georgia Southern to 33 percent from the floor. The Mavs will return to action with its senior day on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. at College Park Center.

UTA women 70, Georgia Southern 49: Daiane Machado made first double-double and Rebekah VanDijk’s 22-point outing propelled the Lady Mavs 70-49 over Georgia Southern for their sixth straight win on Thursday afternoon at College Park Center.

UTA (17-10, 11-5 Sun Belt) has won nine of its last 10 games. As they jumped out to a 21-13 first quarter lead over Georgia Southern (5-21, 2-13 Sun Belt).

The Mavs took a 12-point lead into halftime and stretching it to 20 points in the final quarter.

Machado notched her first-career double-double in the win, totaling 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.

VanDijk, UTA's record holder for career rebounds, added 22 points and eight rebounds, sinking her first six shots of the game.

The Lady Mavs will return to action on Saturday, hosting Georgia State on Senior Day at College Park Center.

This story was originally published February 22, 2018 at 10:51 PM with the headline "UTA men, women make quick work of visiting Georgia Southern."