UTA men’s basketball (7-11, 0-4) suffer another heartbreak in Western Athletic Conference play after an overtime loss at the hands of Utah Valley University (12-6, 4-0) 85-83.
College Park Center was buzzing in support of the Mavericks' first WAC home game of the season. The team also hosted the UTA Apartment and Residence Hall Night as a part of Maverick Stampede.
The game was a tightly contested battle from start to finish, with both teams dealing blow after blow. Graduate forward Lance Ware set the tone offensively from the start. Ware finished the first half with eight points and four rebounds.
The chess match between UTA’s head coach K.T. Turner and UVU’s head coach Todd Phillips began early and ran through overtime. Phillips played the first hand, applying a full-court press the Mavericks struggled to break. Turner countered by switching from man defense to a zone, which helped UTA take a 24-22 lead. By halftime, the Mavericks were trailing 30-26.
Graduate guard Jaden Wells led UTA’s large scoring runs in the second half. The Mavericks came out blazing with a 12-1 run, eight of which came at the hands of Wells, to put them up 40-34. Wells scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half.
“We have a really balanced team, and we're a really deep team,” Wells said. “I guess tonight was my night, but none of that really matters if we lose.”
After UVU climbed back into the game and regained the lead 58-51, UTA went on another massive 12-0 run, capped off with an emphatic dunk by Ware that had the arena rocking. The Mavericks led 63-58.
As the half winded down with 28 seconds remaining, the Mavericks were up by four. But after four free throws from the Wolverines, sandwiched by UTA’s crucial turnover, the game was forced into overtime 72-72.
Turner continued to harp on the late game fundamentals that have proven costly to the team.
“The best thing we can do is not turn the ball over late and not give them extra possessions,” Turner said. “That would help a lot and we've been doing that a lot late in games.”
Overtime was nothing short of controversial. Heavy boos rained down the arena after officials called a shooting foul at the 3:27 mark, resulting in two Wolverine free throws.
However, the Mavericks were still in it, tying the game at 83 after critical free throws by Wells and a layup by junior forward Raysean Seamster. With five seconds remaining, UVU possessed the ball and scored the go-ahead bucket with less than a second left on the clock.
“It's the smallest things that decide these types of games,” graduate guard Darius Burford said. “Just an extra rebound or getting a stop, it’s the little things like that, just having the emphasis on that.”
The Mavericks will look to snap their four-game losing streak 7 p.m. Thursday at College Park Center against Seattle University. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
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