Nov. 13, 2008

Hardin-Simmons Game Notes

ARLINGTON, Texas - HARDIN-SIMMONS (0-0) vs. UT ARLINGTON (0-0)
Game #1 - Home Game #1
Saturday, November 15 - 8 p.m. CT
Texas Hall - Arlington, Texas

A LOOK AT THE MAVERICKS
UT Arlington begins their 2008-09 season tonight as they host Hardin-Simmons at Texas Hall...tonight also marks the 50th season of Mavericks basketball...a victory tonight would give the Mavericks a win in their first game of the season in each of the last 3 seasons which would be a school record.

UTA - HSU SERIES
Tonight's game is the 38th meeting between the schools...the Mavericks lead the series 12-6 in games played in Arlington...the teams last met last year with UTA winning 74-54 on 12/29/07 at Texas Hall.

MAVERICKS HEAD COACH Scott Cross
Cross is in his 3rd season as the head coach of at UT Arlington...he has a career coaching record of 34-29...Cross led the Mavericks to their first-ever NCAA Tournament in 2008 after winning the Southland Conference Tournament...in 2008 he led his team to a school-record 21 victories and his team completed a school record 17-game home winning streak (3 games in `07 and the first 14 of `08)...a 1998 graduate of UT Arlington, Cross was a 2-time academic All-American at his alma mater where he lettered 3 times from 1995-98.

SEASON OPENERS
Tonight's game marks the start of the 2008-09 season for the Mavericks...UTA has won its last 2 season openers over UC Riverside in 2008 (79-58) and UT Tyler in 2007 (87-59)...prior to this span, the Mavericks had lost 10 of 11 season openers with the only win coming at the start of the 2000-01 season when they defeated Texas Wesleyan (86-78)...UTA is 12-37 in season openers in school history.

A RECORD-BREAKING `07-'08
The Mavericks made their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance after winning the Southland Conference Tournament title...the team also set a school record with 21 victories...UTA began the season 8-0 and reached No. 14 in the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25...the Mavs posted a win at Wichita State and they defeated a school-record 6 Division I non-conference opponents...the team was 17-1 when holding opponents under 70 points and went 14-3 at home which included a 9-0 mark in non-conference play...the 14 home wins was also a school record.

DON'T GET COMFY
The Mavericks start the season playing 3 of 4 at home before embarking on a stretch where they will play 10 consecutive games away from Texas Hall....this stretch of games will be the longest away from home in UTA history.

GETTING VOTES
UT Arlington received 36 points in the Preseason CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll..the Mavericks were among 3 Southland Conference teams that received votes, with only Stephen F. Austin earning a preseason ranking (No. 11)...the Mavericks were ranked for the first time in the CollegeInsider.com poll, with their highest ranking coming in at No. 14 on Dec. 10, 2007. Overall, UT Arlington received 5 CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 rankings during in the 2007-08 season...Gonzaga (754 points - 15 first-place) topped the 2008-09 preseason poll with Davidson (751), St. Mary's (616), Creighton (591) and Siena (577) rounding out the top 5...other Southland Conference programs that received rankings were: Lamar (14 points), Northwestern State (7 Points) and Sam Houston State (6 Points).

HIGH EXPECTATIONS
The Mavericks were named favorites to win the Southland Conference's Western Division regular season crown...UTA was picked first in the preseason coaches' and sports information directors' polls, which were released at the Southland Conference Basketball Media Day at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas...UT Arlington received 63 points and 9 first-place votes in the coaches' poll...the only other Western Division program to receive a first-place vote in the coaches' poll was Lamar, who was picked second with 54 points and tallied 3 first-place votes...the remaining coaches' poll featured Sam Houston (46 points), UTSA (39 points), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (26 points) and Texas State (18 points) to round out the Western Division...Stephen F. Austin, who will switch divisions this season, was the preseason pick to win the Eastern Division in both the coaches' and SIDs poll.the SIDs preseason poll mirrored the coaches' Western Division picks, with UT Arlington at the top with 57 points and 7 first-place votes, while Lamar garnered 3 first-place votes and was close behind the Mavs with 56 total points...Sam Houston State and UTSA each received 43 points while Texas A&M-Corpus Christ (27 points) and Texas State (20 points) were picked 5th and 6th, respectively in the SID poll...the Lumberjacks were also the preseason pick to win the SID poll with 65 points and 10 first-place votes. Northwestern State (50 points - two first-place votes), Southeastern Louisiana (45 points), McNeese State (36 points), Central Arkansas (26 points) and Nicholls (24 points) completed the Eastern Division preseason poll.

EARLY SEASON HONORS
UT Arlington senior Anthony Vereen and junior Roge'r Guignard were named to the Preseason All-Southland Conference Second Team, which was announced at the Southland Conference league office at SLC Basketball Media Day at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.