Drew Charles scored a career-high 26 points for UT Arlington, and Kaelon Wilson added 20 points to lead the Mavericks to a 105-89 win over BYU in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament in front of 7,247 fans Wednesday night at the Marriott Center.
“I think the two teams were in two different places tonight,” Rose said. “They were extremely good executing, and a step ahead of us the whole time. We weren’t reacting quickly enough, and had a really hard time getting stops in the first half.”
Eric Mika had 29 points and seven rebounds to lead the Cougars, who end the season with a 22-12 record. Nick Emery supplied 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists for BYU.
BYU, which concludes its season 22-12 – including the only win this season against NCAA top seed Gonzaga, was led by Eric Mika’s game-high 29 points and 24 points from Nick Emery. The Cougars shot 60 percent from the floor in the first half, and still trailed by seven.
UTA jumped to a 10-4 lead and stretched it to 62-55 by halftime on the strength of 63 percent shooting. They ended the game hitting 55 percent of their shots and their 105 points was their second-highest point total this season, only behind the 108-71 home win over Louisiana’s Ragin Cajuns.
UTA scored 32 points off 20 BYU turnovers and outscored the Cougars 50-26 in the paint. Leading by nine, 85-76 with 8:12 to play, the Mavericks went on a 17-3 run to pad their lead to 23 points, 102-79, with 2:43 to play.
TEXAS-ARLINGTON (26-8): Hervey 9-21 0-0 20, Bilbao 3-4 2-2 8, Charles 10-17 3-3 28, Neal 2-6 0-0 5, Wilson 8-11 2-4 20, Kiris 0-0 0-0 0, Muirhead 1-3 0-0 3, Harris 4-4 0-2 8, Pope 4-6 0-0 8, Kabadyundi 0-0 0-0 0, D.Bryant 0-0 0-0 0, Hawkins 1-4 3-4 5. Totals 42-76 10-15 105.
BYU (22-12): Childs 2-6 2-2 6, Guinn 1-6 0-0 2, Mika 8-13 13-16 29, Emery 8-15 4-5 24, Haws 3-7 2-4 11, Aytes 0-0 0-0 0, Shaw 0-0 0-0 0, Dastrup 0-0 0-0 0, Kaufusi 0-0 0-0 0, Frampton 1-5 0-0 3, Beo 2-5 0-0 4, Leifson 3-8 1-2 10. Totals 28-65 22-29 89.
Halftime—Texas-Arlington 62-55. 3-Point Goals—Texas-Arlington 11-31 (Charles 5-12, Wilson 2-3, Hervey 2-7, Muirhead 1-3, Neal 1-4, Hawkins 0-2), BYU 11-32 (Emery 4-9, Haws 3-5, Leifson 3-8, Frampton 1-5, Beo 0-2, Guinn 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Texas-Arlington 32 (Hervey 8), BYU 39 (Childs 8). Assists—Texas-Arlington 27 (Neal 13), BYU 18 (Emery 5). Total Fouls—Texas-Arlington 28, BYU 16.
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