BROWNWOOD, TX (01.22.22) - The UT Dallas men's basketball team claimed its fifth win in its last six outings Saturday afternoon as the Comets outlasted Howard Payne, 95-85, in overtime in ASC play.
With Saturday's win, the Comets improved to 11-4 overall and 7-3 in ASC play, moving into a tie for third place in the league standings with eight games left in the regular season. UTD will continue its five-game ASC road trip Thursday with a 7:30 p.m. contest at Belhaven in Jackson, Miss.
The Comets and HPU battled through 13 lead changes in the second half alone before
Kolton Pruitt drained a three-pointer from the left wing with 30 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime. UTD opened the extra frame with a three-pointer by
Caden McKenzie followed by a jumper by
Hunter Stevens to grab a quick five-point advantage, 86-81, while holding the Yellow Jackets to 1-for-7 shooting from the field in overtime to pull away for the victory.
McKenzie led five Comets in double figures with a career-high 24 points on 8-of-9 accuracy, hitting 6-of-6 three-pointers, in his breakout performance. McKenzie became second Comet and just the seventh player in ASC history to be perfect from three-point range, while taking at least six long distance shots. The Texas City native hit three treys in overtime to help the Comets seal the victory. McKenzie joins former UTD standout Raymond Lee with a perfect 6-for-6 three-point performance as Lee accomplished the feat during the 2008-09 season.
Kolton Pruitt finished with 20 points, hitting 5-of-9 three-pointers, while
James Curtis added 12 points and a team-high 11 rebounds for his second 'double-double' of the season. Stevens and
Luke Kiser both contributed 11 points while Stevens led the squad with five assists.
The Comets jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead to open the game and held their lead until HPU got a three-pointer from Jaylan Ballou with 11:29 to play to cap a 7-2 run and give the host Yellow Jackets a 20-19 advantage. UTD answered, however, with a jumper by Pruitt and extended its lead to as many as eight points late in the half before settling for a two-point halftime lead, 43-41. Neither team would lead by more than four points in the second while Pruitt's overtime-forcing three-pointer forced the ninth tie of the game.
As a team, UTD was 14-of-29 (48.3%) from three-point range, setting a season high for made long-range shots. The Comets shot 58.7 percent from the field overall, the second-highest percentage by the squad this season.
