Arkansas State's assignment looked to have gotten easier just before tip Thursday night.
Texas-Arlington forward Kevin Hervey, the team's leader in points and rebounds, was pulled before the game with a knee injury, meaning ASU wouldn't have to worry about a player averaging 18.1 points and 9.8 rebounds.
In the end, it didn't matter.
Rather than going inside, Texas-Arlington shot over ASU, making 15 three-pointers on its way to a 91-64 victory over ASU at College Park Arena in Arlington, Texas.
Texas-Arlington (14-3, 5-1) made 15 of 36 three-pointers, 18 of 25 free throws and scored more points than any Sun Belt team on ASU since Louisiana-Lafayette scored 94 on Jan. 22, 2015. The Mavericks moved to within 1/2 game of first place with UALR in the Sun Belt standings, a spot ASU (9-9, 5-2) could have stayed with a victory.
It was enough to negate a career-high 34 points from ASU's Devin Carter, who made 12 of 22 shots and 5 of 13 three-pointers. Anthony Livingston added 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Red Wolves.
Kennedy Eubanks led the Mavericks, who shot 40.3 percent from the floor, with 23 points on 4 of 9 three-point shooting, while Erick Neal made 5 of 8 three-pointers and scored 19 points. Jalen Jones finished with 14 points, while Kaelon Wilson had 13 and Bilbao had 11.
The start looked like an extension of ASU's victory over UALR on Monday, with Livingston making a three-pointer, Charles Waters a free throw, Sean Gardner a jumper and Donte Thomas two free throws to go up 8-0 three minutes into the game. But the Mavericks scored the next 14 points and the Red Wolves didn't score for the next nine minutes as control shifted.
With 3:35 left, Texas-Arlington had outscored ASU 34-5 since ASU's 8-0 start and closed with a 41-22 lead at halftime.
ASU got within 57-41 on a Livingston three-point play with 11:27 left, but Jorge Bilbao made a layup to kickstart a 19-2 run that ended with a Frederic Dure layup with 6:46 left and Texas-Arlington leading 76-45.
GAC MEN
HENDERSON STATE 89,
ARKANSAS TECH 80
Kevin Kozan and Tavian Pomlee each scored 18 points to help Henderson State beat Arkansas Tech on Thursday night at the Duke Wells Center in Arkadelphia. Six Reddies scored at least 10 points in the victory. Ben Marello and Kaylon Tappin each had 12 points. Zydrunas Jurgutis scored 11 points and Matt Panaggio added 10 more.
Henderson State shot 60 percent (30 of 50) from the floor and made 13 of 19 from three-point range. The Reddies overcome a 42-41 halftime deficit and outscored the Wonder Boys 48-38 in the second half. Andrew Guillory scored a game-high 20 points for Arkansas Tech. Freddy Lee had 19 points. Tyler Corley had 12 points.
Sports on 01/22/2016