RICHARDSON, TX (12.18.17) - The UT Dallas men's basketball team shot better than 50 percent as a team for the second time this season as the Comets rolled to a 96-49 home win over Hardin-Simmons Monday night in American Southwest Conference crossover play.

The Comets (5-3, 3-1 ASC) picked up their third win in four outings as they collected their third largest margin of victory in program history, downing HSU by 47 points Monday night. The margin is the widest against an NCAA Division III program in UTD's 20 years of men's basketball. The program record for margin of victory is 67 points against Dallas Christian College (124-57) on Nov. 29, 1999. The Comets also defeated DCC by 55 points to the following season (94-39).

UTD shot 50.7 percent from the field and held an opponent under 50 points for the first this season as 13 different Comets scored in the lop-sided victory. The Comets held HSU to just 24.6 percent accuracy and dominated the rebounds, 51-32. UTD had 24 assists on its 34 field goals and collected double-digit steals (13) for the third time in the last six games.

The Comets started hot and secure their first double-digit lead of the night at teh 13:58 mark of the opening half as Jon Hatcher drained a three-pointer to lift UTD to a 16-6 advantage. UTD would extend its lead to as many as 24 points in the opening half before setting for a 43-25 lead at the break.

With 12:22 remaining to play, Dimitrius Underwood's breakaway dunk would lift UTD to its first 30-point lead of the night, 62-32, and the Comets would find themselves up by 40 points not five minutes later when Curtis Allen nailed a a trey to push UTD to a 79-39 lead with 7:30 on the clock. The Comets would lead by as many as 48 points late in the contest.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
UTD was 34-of-67 from the field for the night, hitting a season-high 11 three-pointers in the victory. The Comets were 17-of-21 from the free-throw line. UTD wsa 17-of-36 (47.2%) from the field in the opening half and 17-of-31 (54.8%) in the final 20 minutes.

In addition to 13 different players scoring, 14 Comets collected at least one rebound and 11 players had at least one assist.

HSU, the reigning two-time defending ASC champion, was just 14-of-57 from the field but hit 6-of-17 (35.3%) from three-point range.

KEY PERFORMERS
Underwood and Kelden Pruitt each finished with a game-high 16 points while Hatcher added 13 points, all coming in the opening half. Allen and Keogh each had nine points while Underwood grabbed a game-high eight boards.

NEXT GAME
The Comets return to action Wednesday night to host McMurry in another ASC crossover game. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at the UTD Activity Center.