Box Score RICHARDSON, TX (02.07.09) - The UT Dallas men's basketball team put together an inspired second-half rally Saturday afternoon, but could not battle its way out of a big early hole against the Mississippi College Choctaws, who left the UTD Activity Center with a 76-66 victory.

The loss was UTD's third in American Southwest Conference play and left the Comets (18-3 overall) with just a one-game lead at 13-3 in the ASC East Division chase with just four regular season games remaining. Mississippi College (15-5 overall) continued its climb back up the standings at 11-5, just two games back in firmly in a position to claim its familiar ASC post-season berth.

If the Choctaws play like they did at UTD Saturday, making the post-season will not be a problem. Keeping MC from winning another ASC title will be – at least for the other ASC teams.

The rebuilt Choctaws looked every bit the part of a team that had finally gotten its act together Saturday. MC shut down the Comet offense with swarming, pressure defense, then broke free for fast breaks or inside layups seemingly at will early. At halftime, UTD was down 18 points (38-20) and had been held to just 28 percent shooting (7-of-25).

But the second half was a different story. The Comets slowly chipped into the MC lead with some good shooting of its own. A Jimmy Witten free throw finished off a 10-4 UTD run to open the period and pull the Comets to within 12 (30-42) with 16:09 left in the game. With 8:15 remaining, a Scott Rodgers layup got the Choctaw lead back to within single digits (47-56) for the first time. At 6:58, Chris Barnes' tip-in finished off a 32-20 UTD run and made it a 52-58 game.

Again down 10 with just over a minute to play, Jordan Eppink got loose inside for a layup, then Brandon Greene hit a 3-pointer off a steal to cut the lead down to 68-63 with :44 left. But that's as close as the Comets could get. Missed 3-pointers on the UTD end and two more inside baskets from the Choctaws sealed the victory for MC.

UTD ended up with four players in double figures, led by Eppink's 14 points. Greene, Witten and Rodgers combined for 36 points.

The Comets face a tough finish to the ASC regular season with three of their final four games on the road. UTD travels Monday to Ozarks in a rematch of a 68-66 loss earlier this season, then hosts UT-Tyler on Thursday before finishing the regular season at East Texas Baptist and LeTourneau the following weekend.

BOXSCORE