UTA Hosts Georgia State in Sun Belt Showdown
By Reginald Lewis - Office of Communication
Posted on January 29, 2015, January 29, 2015

Sun Belt Showdown

UT Arlington (12-7, 6-3 Sun Belt) vs. Georgia State (13-7, 6-3)
Thursday | 7:15 p.m. CT | College Park Center
KKGM 1630 AM| Live Streaming | Live Stats

UT Arlington returns to College Park Center for Thursday night 's Sun Belt Conference showdown with Georgia State. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. after the women 's UTA-Georgia State game.

The Mavericks and Panthers are tied for second place in the Sun Belt at 6-3. Georgia State won the first matchup between the teams 83-62 earlier this month in Atlanta, but UTA has responded with a three-game winning streak to improve its standing from sixth place.

"Our guys are excited because it 's a chance for redemption since we played poorly at their place in terms of our offensive execution," UT Arlington coach Scott Cross said. "We turned the ball over 26 times. We 've had a couple days to prepare for them I think our guys feel confident in the game plan, and now it 's just about going out and executing.

"I think our guys will have a chip on their shoulder. They are playing with confidence, so I feel good about our energy level and vibe going into the game. We just have to go out and play 40 minutes."

UTA has held opponents to an average of 60 points and 35.5-percent shooting during the three-game winning streak. Senior guard Lonnie McClanahan is the only Mavericks to score in double figures in all three wins.

He 's averaging 14.3 points during this stretch, capped by a season-high 21 points in Saturday 's 75-68 comeback win at UALR. McClanahan is shooting 61.9 percent (13-21) from the floor, while averaging 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists during that span.

Georgia State is led by guards R.J. Hunter and Ryan Harrow, the top two scorers in the Sun Belt. The Panthers also lead the conference in scoring differential, outscoring foes by 11.1 points per game.

"They have a ton of offensive weapons," Cross said. "We 're going to have to play great defense, but we can 't give them anything easy like we did down there. We can 't give them transition buckets and layups, offensive rebounds and layups.

"We have to make everything difficult and we have to make sure to take good shots against them. I feel like we 're going to be able to get good shots if our guys are patient and move the ball like they 're supposed to."

RADIO HOME: Radio broadcasts are on KKGM 1630 AM and sister station KHVN 970 AM. Broadcast includes a pregame show 20 minutes before tip and a postgame show. Josh Sours is the play-by-play voice of the Mavericks.

STREAMING: All home games are video streamed live at utamavs.com/collegesportslive. Subscriptions are available for $9.95 per month and $99.95 per year.

TICKETS: Tickets are available at UTATickets.com and 817-272-9595. Parking is free for all games at College Park Center.

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