RICHARDSON, TX (02.06.20) - Down two points at the break, the UT Dallas men's basketball team clamped down defensively in the second half as the Comets pulled away for a 105-89 American Southwest Conference East Division home win Thursday night against division co-leader LeTourneau.

The Comets improve to 15-5 overall 9-2 ASC) with Thursday's win and now sit in a two-way tie for the ASC East lead with East Texas Baptist (16-4, 9-2 ASC). UTD will host the Tigers Saturday afternoon with the outright division lead on the line. Tip-off is 3 p.m. at the UTD Activity Center.

The highest-scoring offense in the ASC, LeTourneau (now 15-5, 8-3 ASC) opened the game hot and shot better than 55 percent from the field as a team in the opening half. The Comets answered with 59.4 percent shooting (19-of-32) in the half, but the YellowJackets used eight first-half three-pointers to secure a 51-49 lead at the break. The league's top-scoring defense, UTD responded in the second half by limiting the YellowJackets to just 9-for-29 accuracy (31%) in the second half, outscoring LETU, 56-38, over the final 20 minutes.

The Comets opened the second half with a 17-5 run to turn a two-point halftime deficit into a 10-point advantage, 66-56, after a Jalen Weber three-pointer with just over 14 minutes left to play. UTD continue to pile on early in the second half and expanded its lead to as many as 19 points, just after the second media timeout. The Comets used a 9-0 stretch to completely pull away from LETU, capped by a trey by Hunter Stevens with 10:19 remaining to lift UTD to a 79-60 cushion.

UTD would maintain its double-digit lead for the rest of the night, extending its margin to as many as 23 points late, before topping the century mark for the first time this season. 

The Comets had three players score at least 24 points as the trio of Jalen Weber, Kelden Pruitt and Hans Burwitz accounted for 79 of the Comets' 105 points. Weber finished with a game-high 28 points, two shy of a career high, as he was 9-for-22 form the field and 8-for-8 from the foul line. Pruitt set a new career best with 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting while adding 10 rebounds for his fourth 'double-double' of the season. Burwitz was an efficient 9-for-11 from the field and 6-for-7 from the line as he scored a season-best 24 points while snagging a game-best 13 boards, collecting his ASC-leading 11th 'double-double' of the year.

UTD shot better than 50 percent for the sixth time this season, hitting 39-of-70 shots as a team for 55.7 percent accuracy. The Comets were 5-for-12 (41.7%) from three-point range and hit 22-of-25 free throws. UTD out-rebounded the YellowJackets, 41-31, and forced 15 turnovers.