Box Score CLARKSVILLE, AR (11.24.12) - The UT Dallas men's basketball team hit 10 three-pointers as the Comets opened American Southwest Conference play Saturday afternoon with a 72-53 road win over Ozarks.
The Comets (now 3-0, 1-0 ASC) shot better than 40 percent from the field for the third straight game to open the season as four UTD players topped double digits in the victory over the Eagles. Sophomore
Nolan Harvey paced the Comets with 15 points while
Carter Nash added 14 points and
Reese Dahse and
Ryan Smith each pitched in 13 points.
UTD got off to a slow start as the Comets would not connect on a field goal until the 13:08 mark of the opening half, the first of three treys by Smith on the night. That bucket gave the Comets an 8-6 lead after Nash hit 5-of-6 free throws over the first several minutes to keep UTD paced with the Eagles.
Trailing by two points later in the half, the Comets got a second three-pointer from Smith to lift UTD to the lead for good, 16-15, with 7:21 left before the break. The Comets led by as many as 11 points in the first half, hitting five treys in the period, before setting for a 30-21 lead at the break.
Harvey gave UTD back a double-digit lead in the first 30 seconds of the second half on a three-pointer, sparking a 14-6 run by the Comets to open the period. Dahse capped the run with an outside jumper to give the Comets a 44-27 cushion with 14:30 left to play. Just over a minute later, Nash hit one-of-two free shots to give UTD its first 20-point lead of the night. The Comets led by no fewer than 14 points for the remainder of the game before pulling ahead for the Comets' biggest margin of victory of the season.
UTD hit 21-of-52 shots from the field (40.4%), shooting 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from three-point range, and hit 20-of-26 free-throws (76.9%) on the afternoon. Harvey finished 5-for-12 overall, hitting a pair of treys, and added three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Nash was just 3-for-7 from the field, but hit 8-of-11 free-throws for his third straight double-digit outing to start the season. Smith more than tripled his previous career high of four points, going 3-for-6 from three-point range.
Kyle Schleigh finished with just four points but led the Comets with 10 rebounds and five assists.
For Ozarks (1-4, 0-1 ASC), Ronnie Dodd came off the bench to lead the Eagles with a game-high 17 points. Ozarks shot 41.2 percent (21-of-51) from the field, going 0-for-6 from long distance, and hit just 11-of-17 free-throws (64.7%).
The Comets take a quick break from conference play Wednesday night as they make the short trip to Sherman to face Austin College. Game time is 8 p.m.
