RICHARDSON, TX (11.29.14) - For the first time in nine seasons, the UT Dallas men's basketball team has opened American Southwest Conference 0-2 after Saturday's 79-68 home loss to Hardin-Simmons.
The No. 19-ranked Comets (now 3-2, 0-2 ASC) opened ASC play Tuesday night with a road loss at Louisiana College (74-63) and Saturday's loss sent UTD to 0-2 in league play for the first time since the 2005-06 season. UTD will look to bounce back Thursday as the Comets visit Ozarks, still looking for their first conference win. Game time is 7:30 p.m. in Clarksville, Ark.
Senior
Matthew Medell led four Comet starters in double digit as the UTD bench accounted for just six points.
Reagan Keogh had 14 points,
Kyle Coulter had 13 points and
Rafael Farley had 12 points. Keogh led UTD with seven rebounds while Medell, Coulter and
Nolan Harvey led the Comets with three assists apiece.
The Comets led just once in the first half and never regained the lead in the second half after trailing HSU, 36-32, at intermission. Trailing by as many as five points on four occasions in the first 13 minutes of the game, UTD used back-to-back jumpers by Farley and Medell to claw within a point of the Cowboys, 22-21, with 6:38 left in the half. A two empty possessions by both teams, UTD eventually took a one-point lead, 23-22, with 5:43 remaining before the break on a
Zach Helmberger lay up. However, HSU quickly responded with a three-pointer by Ryan Leiss on the Cowboys' next possession and would not relinquish the lead again.
The Comets scored the first points of the second half to knot the game, 36-36, with 18:05 remaining before HSU used a 10-2 run over the next 1:30 to regain control of the contest. From that point on, UTD could only get as close as three points once, that coming at 58-55 with 8:58 left on a Medell three-pointer. The Cowboys eventually grabbed their largest lead of the game at 13 points, 76-63, with 1:50 left before settling for the 11 point win.
For the game, UTD shot 40.7 percent (22-of-54) from the floor, hitting 7-of-22 (31.8%) from three-point range, and shot 81 percent (17-of-21) from the foul line. The Comets dominated the boards, out-rebounding HSU, 42-24.
