Box Score AUSTIN, TX (12.20.12) - In the UT Dallas men's basketball team's wildest finish of the season, the Comets saw the dramatic turn to heartbreak in the game's final seconds as Concordia University handed UTD a 90-87 defeat with a last-second three-point shot.
UTD (now 6-3, 3-3 ASC), falling in an American Southwest Conference road game for the second time in the past week, tied the game up at 87-87 with just :05 remaining on a
Mitchell Anderson three-pointer only to see the Tornados' Nick Haynes answer with a three of his own at the buzzer to reclaim the victory for CTX (now 5-2, 4-1 ASC). The two UTD losses have been by a combined seven points.
The final game before the holiday break had been a shootout throughout as the league's top offensive team – Concordia (averaging 94.7 points per game) – set the pace against UTD, the top defensive squad in the ASC. The two teams combined took 119 shots from the field and connected on 16 three-pointers. UTD, taking advantage of 30 personal fouls called against Concordia, went to the free-throw line for 38 shots, but left 10 points at the line.
The final result wasted a career day for junior
Kyle Schleigh, who scored a personal-high 34 points for the Comets and added 13 rebounds. The 34-point total tied the third highest single-game effort in UTD men's basketball history. Schleigh scored 10 of his points down the stretch as UTD kept the game close against the high-powered Tornados in the final minutes and still had a chance to win at the end.
It also marked another game that head coach
Terry Butterfield will have to wait before reaching the 200-win milestone in his career.
Schleigh's final points came on a traditional three-point play with 1:15 remaining that got the Comets to within a point (84-85). But on the Comets' next trip down the floor, a missed jumper and CTX rebound led to a
Carter Nash foul at the other end. Dwayne Patterson, who led the Tornados with 25 points, converted a pair of free throws to give the Tornados an 87-84 lead with just :35 left. Anderson was able to tie the score at 87-87 seconds later, but Haynes hit the buzzer-beater to finish off the UTD rally.
In the final 16:06 of the game, there were eight lead changes and three ties between the two teams.
The Comets, who entered the game allowing just 60.6 points per game (tops in the ASC), gave up 52 points to the Tornados in the game's opening half, but were still within six (52-46) at the break after hitting 15-of-20 free throws off 16 first-half fouls by the Tornados. CTX was 6-of-15 from beyond the arch at halftime.
The Tornados started the game strong, rushing out to a 22-12 lead in the first 5:30 behind four made three-pointers. UTD's offense finally got going, but the Comets still trailed by 10 (33-23) at the 11:01 mark.
UTD used a 13-7 run that was punctuated by a Schleigh dunk at 5:55 to cut the lead down to 40-36. Chris McComber, who played last year at Concordia, came to life off the bench for UTD, hitting a pair of three-pointers on his way to 10 first-half points. A jumper from the transfer at 4:14 got the Comets to within a basket at 42-40. But a three from McOmber was the only field goal UTD hit the rest of the half and CTX was up by six at the break (52-46).
After the Tornados took a 55-47 early in the second half, Nash scored seven straight points as UTD tied the score at 57-57 with 16:06 left. An Anderson three then gave the Comets their first lead at 60-57 seconds later. But CTX answered with a 5-0 run and led 62-60 just a minute later.
Cold spells on both sides of the court opened the door for the opposition. While the Tornados were misfiring on six straight trips down the court, jumpers from Schleigh and
Reese Dahse along with free throws from
Dmitriy Chernikov and
Mike Timmins gave UTD its largest lead (68-62) with 11:30 left. But the Comets then went cold, allowing the Tornados to go on a quick 7-1 run to tie the score again at 69-69 with 9:02 left.
UTD finished the game hitting 51 percent of its shots (26-of-51) and was 7-of-12 from beyond the three-point line. Total rebounds were even at 35 apiece. Anderson, who hit 4-of-6 threes, finished with 13 points while Nash and McComber combined for 22.
The schedule doesn't get any easier for the Comets, who take a week off for the holidays before returning home to host nationally-ranked Wisconsin-Stevens Point in a home game Saturday, Dec. 29 at 3 p.m.
