Box Score AUSTIN, TX (02.20.14) - The UT Dallas men's basketball team hit a season-high 37 free throws as the No. 17-ranked Comets sailed to a 94-72 road win over Concordia Texas Thursday night in American Southwest Conference play.
The Comets (now 22-2, 20-1 ASC) set a new program record for regular-season wins, topping the old mark of 21, set on three previous occasions. UTD was 37-of-44 from the foul line, ending the night two free throws shy of the program record.
With a game-high 27 points, senior
Kyle Schleigh surpassed the 1,600-point mark for his career, now with 1,619 points and in seventh place all-time in the ASC. Schleigh moved past two former ASC greats on the list Thursday night, passing both Zack Pickelman of Hardin-Simmons (1,616 points, 2004-07) and Habeeb Kareem of Ozarks (1,610 points, 2004-08). Next on the list is sixth place Tommy Stolhandske of Texas Lutheran, who scored 1,648 points from 2001-05.
The Comets gave up the opening points of the game, but that would be the only time they trailed all night, riding Schleigh's 20 first-half points to a 45-29 halftime lead over the reigning ASC champions. UTD only got hotter in the second half, shooting 64.7 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes.
Trailing 2-0 after CTX's first possession, the Comets rolled off nine straight points and never looked back. Despite early struggles from three-point range early, hitting just one of its first five attempts, UTD used strong rebounding to take early control of the contest. Senior
Dmitriy Chernikov collected seven first-half boards as UTD out-rebounded the Tornados, 22-15, in the first half.
UTD grabbed its first double-digit lead of the night with 12:27 left in the opening half as an old-fashioned three-point play by
Carter Nash lifted the Comets to an early 19-9 lead. UTD continued to pull away late in the half with Schleigh's three-pointer with 31 seconds left before the break giving the Comets a 16-point halftime lead.
The Comets were an efficient 11-of-17 from the field and made 26-of-32 free throws in the second half to secure the regular-season sweep of Concordia. UTD would lead by as many as 30 points on three occasions in the second half.
Schleigh finished the night 9-for-12 from the field, hitting 3-of-4 three-pointers, and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line to lead four Comets in double-digit scoring.
Nolan Harvey finished with 17 points along with a team-best five assists,
Carter Nash added 14 points and
Matthew Medell ended with 13 points. Schleigh and Chernikov each grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
The Comets shot 56.5 percent (26-of-46) from the field, hitting just 5-of-16 three-pointers (31.3%), and shot 84.1 percent from the foul line. UTD ended the game out-rebounding the Tornados, 36-31.
For Concordia (16-8, 13-8 ASC), no starter scored more than nine points as Henry Riasco came off the bench for a team-best 16 points. Gavyn Walker added 11 points, also off the bench. CTX shot 41.8 percent (28-of-67) from the field, hitting 5-of-19 three-pointers (26.3), and shot 50 percent (11-of-22) from the free-throw line.
UTD will close out the regular season Saturday afternoon at Mary Hardin-Baylor. Game time is 3 p.m. in Belton.
