Box Score RICHARDSON, TX (02.27.09) – The UT Dallas men's basketball team showed the rest of the American Southwest Conference that it belonged as a top seed in the ASC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament Friday, rolling over Sul Ross State 77-48 in the quarterfinals.
UTD (now 22-4) will meet the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (18-8), a 73-62 winner over LeTourneau, in the tournament semifinals at 3:30 pm Saturday. The other matchup will feature McMurry University (19-7), a 70-58 winner over UT-Tyler; against Mississippi College (19-6), a 104-88 victor over Concordia.
The tournament championship game is set for 1:30 pm Sunday with the tournament winner earning the ASC's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III national tournament.
The Comets didn't really ever let Sul Ross State, the West Division's No. 4 seed, get a chance to enjoy its first trip to the tournament since 2006 Friday night. UTD jumped out to an 11-0 before the Lobos could even get on the scoreboard, and were up 16-3 before SRSU hit its first shot from the floor at 12:12 in the first half. Just four minutes later, the Comets had moved out to a 21-6 advantage at 27-6 and peaked with a 24-point lead at halftime, 43-19.
In the first half, SRSU was held to just 5-of-16 shooting while the Comets were rolling along at a 54.8 percent clip. UTD helped their first-half cause by nailing five 3-point shots and faced only the challenge of not letting up in the second period.
UTD reached the 30-point plateau for the first time at 16:52 on an
Ernie Lowery fast-break layup, then topped out with a 33-point lead at 63-30 when
Jared Fleming nailed a 3-pointer at 10:12. With a tough semifinal game looming less than 24 hours away, UTD Coach Terry
Butterfield was able to substitute freely and emptied the bench in the last 8 minutes.
Temaine Wright topped UTD with 16 points while Lowery added 15.
Brandon Greene, who played only the first half, had 14 points with three 3-point shots. UTD forced 23 SRSU turnovers and won the rebounding battle, 35-27.
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