Box Score TACOMA, WA (11.16.12) - The UT Dallas men's basketball team came back from a 10-pont halftime deficit to overtake Pacific Lutheran, 66-58, in the opening game of the 2012-13 season Thursday night at the Douglas McArthur Classic at Puget Sound University.
Trailing 28-18 at the break, the Comets (now 1-0) shot 67 percent from the field in the second half to rally for the season-opening victory. Junior
Carter Nash led all scorers in the game with a career-best 27 points while junior
Kyle Schleigh added 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
UTD got off to a very slow start to the new season, connecting on just 7-of-24 shots (2-of-12 from three-point range) from the field in the opening half. No Comet player had more than six points in the first 20 minutes of play as UTD turned the ball over eight times before the break.
The Lutes (now 0-1) widened their lead to 11 points early in the second half before UTD began its comeback. The Comets drew within four points, 31-27, with 17:01 left to play on a layup by Nash. However, UTD scored just five over the next five minutes as the Lutes regained an eight-point advantage, 40-32, with 14:00 on the clock.
Nash hit a pair of free throws on the Comets' next two possessions to keep PLU within reach and eventually got back to four points down, 44-40, on a pair of Schleigh free throws near the midway mark of the second half. A steal by senior
Mike Timmins less than a minute later turned into a Schleigh fast-break bucket to trim the Lutes' to two points and the Comets took their first lead of the half at the 8:30 mark, 48-47, on a three-pointer by junior
Mitchell Anderson.
PLU responded with a bucket on its next trip down the floor to regain the lead, but Schleigh answered with another Comet trey to give UTD the lead for good, 51-49, with 7:39 left to play. Schleigh's triple sparked a 9-2 run by the Comets over the next 2:30 to pull away.
The Comets hit 12-of-18 shots from the floor in the second half, shooting 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from beyond the arc, and were 19-of-22 (86.4%) from the free-throw line as a team in the final 20 minutes. Nash finished the game 6-for-10 from the field and a near-perfect 15-of-16 from the free-throw line, tying the UTD single-game record for free throws made in a game.
Schleigh went 7-for-14 from the field, hitting 1-of-5 three-pointers, and was 2-for-2 from the foul line. Anderson finished with nine points as only six Comets scored in the contest.
UTD returns to action Saturday night when the Comets face event-host Puget Sound. Game time is 9:30 p.m. (Central).
