RICHARDSON, TX (02.20.18) -  One of the hottest squads in the American Southwest Conference, the UT Dallas men's basketball team will open the postseason Thursday with a 5 p.m. quarterfinal contest with Concordia Texas in the ASC Tournament, hosted by Sul Ross State in Alpine.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

The Comets posted an 18-7 overall record in the regular season and earned the No. 2 seed out of the ASC's East Division with a 14-4 league mark. UTD rode an eight-game winning streak late in the regular season and will enter the tournament as winners of nine of its last 10 contests. The Comets will be making their 15th consecutive and overall appearance in the tournament, looking for their fourth-ever league crown.

Sophomore forward Dimitrius Underwood is one of just a few candidates for ASC East Player of the Year this spring, after closing out the regular season averaging 18.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. He is shooting 46.6 percent from the field and leads the squad by shooting 84.4 percent form the free-throw line. Underwood became the first UTD player to record multiple 'triple-doubles" in a season or career as he recorded two such performances during the season. He finished with nine 'double-doubles' and scoring in double figures in each of the final 20 games in the regular season. Underwood topped 20 points on 13 occasions, including a career-best 34 points on Feb. 15 against ASC East champion LeTourneau.

Senior point guard Caleb Banks is on the cusp of setting new career mark for assists in the ASC. The four-year starter for the Comets enters the postseason with 555 career assists, eight shy of the ASC mark of 563, set by McMurry's Daniel Martinez in 2000. Banks became the Comets' all-time assists leader during his junior campaign and joined UTD's 1,000-point club last month. He is currently averaging 11.4 points points per game, second most on the team, and ranks third in the ASC with 5.3 assists per outing.

Senior guard Jon Hatcher rounds out the Comets in double-digit scoring, averaging 10.9 points per outing entering the postseason. Hatcher is shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 72.1 percent from the foul line, while adding 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per contest.

As a team, the Comets rank seventh in the ASC in scoring offense (83.1 ppg) and second in scoring defense (73.3 ppg). UTD's scoring margin of 9.8 points per game ranks second in the conference. The Comets are shooting 47 percent from the field, fifth-best in the ASC, and 35 percent from beyond the arc, sixth-best in the league.

UTD made its first-ever appearance in the ASC Tournament in 2004 and extended its season every year since. The Comets are 15-11 in their previous 14 trips to the event, winning the title in 2005, 2009 and 2014. UTD's 15 tournament is the most among active ASC members.

Concordia Texas, the Comets' opening-round opponent, finished the regular season with a 15-10 overall record and a 9-8 mark in ASC, placing third in the West Division. UTD upended the Tornados, 101-100, on Jan. 22 in Austin.

With a win on Thursday, the Comets would advance to the ASC semifinal round for the second straight season after making early exits each of the two previous years. A victory would send UTD to a 7:30 p.m. semifinal contest against the winner of Thursday night's Sul Ross State/Texas-Tyler contest. The 2018 ASC championship game will be played at 6 p.m. All games are played at the Gallego Center.

Single-day tickets for the tournament will be $10 for adults and $5 any 18 years or under. No all-tournament passes will be sold. 

2018 ASC Championship Tournament Schedule

Quarterfinals: Thursday, February 22
Game 1: (W2) Mary Hardin-Baylor vs. (E3) East Texas Baptist, 12:00 p.m.
Game 2: (E1) LeTourneau vs. (E4) Howard Payne, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: (E2) UT Dallas vs. (W3) Concordia Texas, 5:00 p.m.
Game 4: (W1) Sul Ross State vs. (E4) UT Tyler, 7:30 p.m.
 
Semifinals: Friday, February 23
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 5:00 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 7:30 p.m.
 
Championship: Saturday, February 24
Game 7: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 6:00 p.m.