RICHARDSON, Texas (02.22.19) - Another Night. Same Ol' Story.

For the second straight game, the UT Dallas men's basketball team came out of the halftime dressing room firing on all cylinders and ran away with a convincing 88-69 win over Concordia Texas in the semifinals of the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament Friday night in the UTD Activity Center.

With the win, the Comets (23-4) advance to the ASC title game for first time since 2014, the last time UTD won an ASC  title. UTD will meet Hardin-Simmons, which upset Mary Hardin-Baylor in the other semifinal, 97-94; in the championship game Saturday at 6 pm.
 
UTD won that 2014 title game, 78-69, over HSU.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
VIDEO: Interview with Dimitrius Underwood
 
Much like Thursday night when UTD exploded for 62 second-half points on its way to a big quarterfinal win over McMurry; the Comets broke open a close game with a 48-31 edge in the final 20 minutes to advance. Up just 40-38 at intermission, UTD opened the second half on a 15-1 run to take a 55-39 lead with 14:27 left, then expanded the lead to 22 points (84-62) when Michael Forster scored 10 quick points in a span of 1:29 with a layup, two three-pointers from the corner and a thunderous dunk. 
 
Forster was one of three Comets to score more than 20 points as he finished with 22 and eight rebounds. Jalen Weber, who nailed three three-pointers, led the team with 23 points while Dimitrius Underwood picked up his 15^th"double-double" of the season with 21 points and 15 boards
 
Underwood's Friday performance on the boards set a new UTD single season rebounding record with his total now sitting at 269 and at least one other game to play.
 
The game looked early like it had the potential to be a shootout as the two teams traded nine leads and were tied four times in the first 20 minutes. A late run gave the Comets a 40-38 edge at halftime.
 
Neither team started quickly in the second period, but a Weber fast break layup sparked the Comets to eight straight points. A Forster three-pointer forced the Tornados to take a timeout to stop the bleeding at 16:09, but only converted two more shots from the field over the the next four minutes as UTD ran off a 15-4 run.