ARLINGTON, Texas – After opening the game on a 12-2 run, UT Arlington pulled away to defeat the University of Evansville men's basketball team by a final score of 80-54 on Wednesday evening inside the College Park Center.

---

Box Score

---

"Our group fought and had some good possessions in the second half.  I felt like we had a response in a game that could have gotten of hand, but we need to have that intensity from the very start," UE head men's basketball coach David Ragland explained after the contest.  "This is going to help us – the non-conference schedule we had this season tested us from start to finish.  We need to get right back at it at Ball State on Saturday."
 
Tayshawn Comer picked up his second 20-point game of the year, scoring 20 while adding four assists.  Comer played the full 40 minutes.  Michael Day set a new career scoring mark with nine points, passing his previous high of seven, which came at Ohio State in November.  Four Mavericks registered double figures with Diante Smith leading the way with 18.
 
Trailing 2-0, Cam Haffner hit a jumper to tie the score before the Mavericks capped a 4-for-5 start from the field to take a 10-2 lead just over two minutes in.  UE kept in close over the next stretch with Josh Hughes knocking down a hook shot to make it a 12-8 game. 
 
At the 13:20 mark, UTA made its move.  Posting eight in a row, they turned an 18-12 lead into a 26-12 advantage.  Connecting on three consecutive triples, the Mavericks opened a 29-14 edge at the midway point of the half. 
 
Evansville cut the deficit to 12 points on a Trent Hundley triple, but the Mavericks got back to work once again, leading by as many as 24 points (44-20) before the Aces posted the final four points of the half to trail by a margin of 44-24 at the break.
 
Looking to make their way back into the game, the Aces scored the first four points of the second half to get within 16 but unfortunately could not get any closer.  The lead for UTA hovered around 20 points before they completed the night with the 80-54 victory.
 
UTA finished the game shooting 38.9% while holding UE to 30.9%.  The Mavericks also had a major edge on the boards, outrebounding UE by a 56-26 tally. 
 
On Saturday, the Aces look to pick up a road win when they face Ball State 1 p.m. CT in Muncie.