In their previous three games at home, the UTA Mavericks were lucky to score 54 for an entire game. Getting away from home, they managed to do that in the first 20 minutes.
The Mavericks are back over .500 in WAC play at 3-2 after a sweep of their former Southland Conference rivals from South Texas, capped off with Saturday's 91-74 win over Texas State in San Marcos.
Karol Gruszecki broke through with a career high 23 points as the Mavs got double-digit scoring from all five starters for the first time this year.
But what really helped the Mavs was how they took care of the ball. UTA had only nine turnovers - including none in the first half.
"This road trip was exactly what we needed," said coach Scott Cross. "We were able to find our offense."
They certainly did right off the bat. UTA had a 25-17 lead just over 10 minutes into the first half and led 38-17 by the 6 1/2 minute mark of the half.
Texas State managed to cut that lead down to 10 by halftime, then knocked it down to 54-50 4 1/2 minutes into the second half.
But then Cameron Catlett started hitting free throws, and UTA started hitting three-pointers. The Mavs had their 20 point lead back with 4:44 to play and never looked back.
And they continued a trend of no longer being intimidated in the Strahan Coliseum. The Mavs were 8-19 all-time in San Marcos going into Saturday's game but have now won three straight there.
The Mavericks will be back home at the College Park Center to face Seattle on Thursday.
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