RICHARDSON, TX (11.14.15) - The UT Dallas men's basketball team may not have any seniors on the roster, but youth prevailed in the home opener for the Comets Saturday afternoon with a convincing 86-68 defeat of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) pre-season favorite Centenary College.
A Homecoming crowd of several hundred fans cheered as UTD (1-0) overcame an early deficit and pulled away from the Gents (0-1) with a 45-32 second half.
Returning starters
Caleb Banks (18 points) and Reagan Keough (14 points) were two of six UTD players to finish in double figures. That group included first-time starter Dapo Ogeunfeitmi, who finished with a career high 16-point game. Keough, a sophomore, was instrumental in the Comets' 50-32 rebounding edge as he pulled down a career-best 17 boards, and posted his first career double-double. Sophomore
Jon Hatcher scored 11 points in his first start while junior
Kyle Coulter had 10 points and eight rebounds. Freshman
Noah Hill scored 10 points off the bench in 24 minutes.
UTD, which came out firing in the second period, finished the game outshooting Centenary, 43.9-41.4 percent from the field.
Centenary seemingly wasn't going to miss a shot in the opening minutes of the game, racing out to an 18-12 advantage at 15:12 in the first half. The Gents bumped their lead up to 22-14 at the halfway point of the first period, before UTD went on a 16-8 run to tie the score at 30-30 on a Hill 3-pointer at 6:16. Freshman
Reed Cummings put the Comets ahead with a free throw moments later and the Comets remarkably would never trail again. Banks nailed a couple of free throws just before the break to give the Comets a 41-36 edge.
The Gents cut the lead down to 41-38 on the first basket of the second period, but 3-pointers from Banks and Coulter sparked a 10-2 run to open up the advantage to 11 points. The Gents never got closer than six points the rest of the way. The final 18-point advange was the largest of the game.
UTD has a week to prepare for its second game of the season, a home non-conference date with ASC member Concordia Texas. That game is set for Nov. 21 at 3 pm in the Activity Center.
