Texas-Arlington Mavericks
Southland (24-8, 15-1)
Texas-Arlington’s last season in the Southland Conference, before they head to the WAC next year, has been a memorable one. They dominated the league under Coach Scott Cross and won the conference’s regular season title. That included a 16 game winning streak that stretched from late December until Bracket Busters weekend when they failed to convert a last second game winning shot in a 70-72 loss at Weber State. This may not be a team that has enough pure talent to win a game in March, but they can make things interesting.
Big Wins: 11/19 Louisiana Tech (68-61), 12/21 vs Kent State (74-73), 1/14 at Lamar (91-83)
Bad Losses: 11/26 Samford (69-71), 12/20 at Utah State (69-73), 3/8 vs McNeese State (72-92)
Coach: Scott Cross (6 seasons at Texas-Arlington)
Why They Can Surprise:
The Mavericks have a couple great wings in LaMarcus Reed and Bo Ingram. Those two can do a lot of scoring and a little bit of everything else. Reed is a very good long range shooter, but due to his 6-5 frame, he will also be very effective attacking the basket. Ingram, another experienced 6-5 senior, is not as consistent of a shooter as Reed, but he can get hot and be very, very dangerous from beyond the arc. Ingram will often get the opposition’s second best perimeter defender and he can certainly take advantage of that situation and put up some big time numbers in the scoring department. Ingram is also a strong rebounder and compliments the frontcourt duo of Kevin Butler and Jordan Reves very well in that department. Butler and Reves will do some scoring too. Butler is undersized for a power forward, but he plays bigger than 6-5. He is a good interior scorer who can step outside and knock down the mid-range jumper with consistency. Reves is the more traditional big man who stays in the paint. He is also a strong rebounder and a pretty imposing shot blocker in the paint.
Why They Can Disappoint:
Texas-Arlington does not have the size or the strength to compete with the best of the best in college basketball, but they can hang around if everything goes well. This is a team that lost to Baylor by just ten points. The two things Texas-Arlington needs to avoid are turnovers and fouls. Turnovers have reared their ugly head on multiple occasions for this team. Shaquille White-Miller is a capable point guard and Cameron Catlett is a very experienced backup, but few teams in the nation commit more turnovers than the Mavericks. They cannot afford to turn the ball over in March like they could in conference play. Foul trouble can be a problem for Butler and Reves. Sophomore Brandon Edwards has done a fine job off of the bench and is a very good rebounder and shot blocker, but the Mavericks need Butler and Reves on the floor as much as possible. Edwards will get his minutes anyway, but missing Butler and Reves for large chunks of a game will not lead to victory.
Probable Starters:
Shaquille White-Miller, Sophomore, Guard, 4.7 ppg, 3.6 apg
LaMarcus Reed, Senior, Forward, 17.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg
Bo Ingram, Senior, Forward, 12.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg
Kevin Butler, Junior, Forward, 10.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg
Jordan Reves, Junior, Forward, 9.2 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.8 bpg
Key Roleplayers:
Cameron Catlett, Junior, Guard, 5.6 ppg, 2.6 apg
Brandon Edwards, Sophomore, Forward, 4.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg
Bradley Gay, Senior, Guard, 6.2 ppg, 1.0 apg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 76.6 (24th in nation, 1st in conference)
Scoring Defense: 67.0 (179, 6)
Field-Goal Percentage: 44.9 (110, 2)
Field-Goal Defense: 40.8 (60, 3)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.9 (103, 3)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 35.1 (133, 3)
Free-Throw Percentage: 69.8 (144, 4)
Rebound Margin: 4.7 (43, 3)
Assists Per Game: 13.5 (119, 5)
Turnovers Per Game: 16.3 (326, 12)
Last Five Postseason Appearances:
Texas Arlington 2008 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Memphis
Texas Arlington 1981 NIT First round loss to South Alabama
*all team stats through 3/4
See All Men’s Basketball Postseason Capsules
