Sometimes teams need to get back hoe to end a rough stretch of games. In UTA's case, getting away from home seemed to work.
The Mavericks ended their three-game losing streak Thursday night with a 75-67 win at UT San Antonio, evening their WAC record at 2-2 on the year.
"The guys were awesome tonight," coach Scott Cross said. "I knew it was a matter of time before we got it going offensively."
Jordan Reves was the one who especially got it going at last. After a number of games where he struggled to make inside shots, the senior put it together with 21 points in addition to eight rebounds.
The Mavs also got 11 points each from Brandon Edwards and Jamel Outler, and Drew Charles scored 12 getting his first start of the year.
Unlike the previous games, UTA got off to a fast start, leading 19-4 just 7 1/2 minutes into the game. With Reves scoring 17, they led by as many as 18 points in the first half, taking a 45-29 halftime lead.
The Mavs had a 19 point lead a few seconds into the second half, but UTSA tried to make a game of it late. Led by Kannon Burrage's 17 points, the Roadrunners cut the lead all the way down to five with 24 seconds remaining. But Charles made his free throws, and a urn over from Burrage prevented the Runners from getting another basket.
The Mavs turned the ball over 15 times themselves in the game, but that was still a great improvement over their previous game.
On Saturday, 23 turnovers played a key role in UTA blowing a 43-33 lead with less than 10 minutes to play to drop one to Louisiana Tech 55-52 at the College Park Center.
UTA gave up the ball eight times after building that double-digit lead, seeing it evaporate in less than three minutes. They came back to lead 52-45 with 2:35 to play, but missed shots and turnovers from Cameron Catlett allows Tech to come back again, with Alex Hamilton and Kenneth Smith's free throws giving the Bulldogs the lead in the end.
The Mavericks will now try to get back to a winning record in WAC play when they face Texas State in San Marcos on Saturday.
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