MARSHALL, TX (01.11.18) - Despite taking off the last 10 days, the UT Dallas men's basketball team showed no signs of rust Thursday night as the Comets rolled to an 96-79 win at East Texas Baptist in the American Southwest Conference East Division openers for both squads.

The Comets drained a season-high 14 three-pointers, shooting nearly 60 percent from beyond the arc, as UTD improved to 9-4 on the season and 5-1 in ASC play. With the loss, ETBU fell to 11-3 overall and 5-2 in league play.

The host Tigers opened the contest with a 6-0 run, but UTD answered with five quick points from Dimitrius Underwood and eventually swiped a 16-14 lead with 13:51 remaining in the opening half after an Underwood old-fashioned three-point play. The Comets slowly pulled away from ETBU and secured a 47-30 lead at intermission.

The Comets never trailed in the second half, opening up their lead to as many as 24 points late in the second half, as UTD snapped the Tigers' eight-game winning streak.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
The Comets finished the night 14-of-24 from three-point range, finished two treys shy of the program record set on three separate occasions. UTD was 36-of-63 (57.1%) from the floor as a team in the victory, topping 50 percent accuracy from the field for the fifth time this season.

UTD was out-rebounded by the Tigers, 35-28, but the Comets made up for it by forcing 19 ETBU turnovers, scoring 28 points off those takeaways.

KEY PERFORMERS
Underwood scored a game-high 20 points, leading five Comets in double digits in the victory. Underwood was 7-for-16 from the field, hitting two three-pointers, while adding three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Jon Hatcher added 15 points while Kelden Pruitt scored 13 points, Curtis Allen had 12 points and Caleb Banks finished with 10 points.

Pruitt led the Comets with five rebounds while Banks dished out a team-best five assists. Allen was 4-for-6 from three-point range.

NEXT GAME
The Comets will look for a second straight ASC East win Saturday afternoon when they visit LeTourneau. Game time is 4 p.m. in Longview.