TYLER, TX (02.20.16) – The UT Dallas men's basketball team closed out the regular season Saturday with a 89-79 road win over rival Texas-Tyler in American Southwest Conference East Division play.

With Saturday's win, the Comets (now 17-8, 9-6 ASC) secured the No. 2 seed out ASC's East Division for next week's conference tournament. UTD, making its 13th straight trip to the postseason, will face Hardin-Simmons at 5 pm Thursday in the opening round of the ASC Tournament Thursday in Alpine.

ASC TOURNAMENT RELEASE
 
Leading 41-37 at the break, the Comets had to hold off host Texas-Tyler throughout the second half as both teams were impressive from three-point range. UTD finished the game 14-of-30 (46.7%) from beyond the arc while the Patriots were 14-of-29 (46.8%) outside.

The Patriots (13-12, 4-11 ASC) narrowed UTD's lead down to two points seven times in the second half, and cut the margin down to one (55-54) with 12:10 remaining. But after the margin was trimmed to 70-68 with 5:10 remaining, the Comets went on a 15-3 spurt that built an 85-71 lead with just :38 left.
 
Four Comets reached double figures the victory with junior point guard Caleb Banks leading the way with a career-best 25 points. Jon Hatcher finished with 21 points while Kyle Coulter and Dapo Ogunfeitmi each added 13 points. Ogunfeitmi and Ben Smith each grabbed a team-high seven rebounds while Banks dished out seven assists.

The Comets finished the afternoon shooting 46.3 percent (31-of-67) from the field and were 65 percent (13-of-20) from the free-throw line. With 14 three-pointers, the Comets recorded 10 or more treys for the 12th time this season.