ABILENE, Texas - The UT Dallas men's basketball team held off McMurry for a 90-88 victory at Kimbrell Arena Saturday afternoon.

The Comets improve to 9-2 overall and now lead the American Southwest Conference with a 5-0 mark.

UTD jumped out to a 34-18 lead over the first 13:38 of the game before the War Hawks (3-8, 3-3 ASC) ended the ped on a 22-5 run to lead 40-39 at halftime.

The lead changed nine times in the second half with the Comets taking the biggest lead of six points with just over five minutes to play. A three-pointer by McMurry's CJ LeBlanc at the 1:49 mark made the game 84-83 in favor of UTD. 

Senior guard Hunter Stevens made a pair of lay-ups to push the Comet lead to five, but the War Hawks answered with two free throws from Elijah Lomas and a three-pointer with 16 seconds left by Matt Pena to tie it up at 88-88.

Stevens missed a shot with fie seconds left, but senior center Will Isaac grabbed the rebound and scored on a put back to give the Comets a two-point lead with four seconds left. LeBlanc's three-point attempt at the buzzer was off the mark, allowing UTD to survive with the victory.

The Comets shot 53.8 percent (35-for-65) from the field - the fifth time they have shot above 50 percent this season. They were also 8-of-21 from three-point range and 12-for-20 from the free throw line to go with 48 rebounds, 25 assists, three blocks, nine steals and 27 turnovers.

The War Hawks shot 43.3 percent (26-for-60) overall, 13-for-30 from outside and 23-of-26 at the line with 23 rebounds, 15 assists, one block, 11 steals and 16 turnovers.

UT Dallas Notes
- Isaac recorded a career-high 21 points and 12 rebounds for his first career double-double. He also tied career-highs with three blocks and two steals while shooting 7-for-9 from the field. Isaac also moved into eighth place on UTD's career blocked shot list with 49.
- Sophomore guard Luke Kiser had 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
- Freshman guard Devin Vincent recorded a season-best 10 points and five assists.
- Sophomore forward Rob Wade was 5-for-5 shooting en route to 10 points and added five boards and three steals.
- Stevens finished with nine points, three rebounds and six assists.
- Kyle Poerschke added nine points and Thibaut Tagnon had nine points and five assists.

McMurry Notes
- LeBlanc led all players with 31 points, hitting seven three-pointers.
- Lomas came off the bench for 17 points and four rebounds.
- Pena scored 14 points and Rob Charles had 10.

Up Next
UTD will be off until Saturday, December 31 when they play at Hendrix in Conway, Ark. at 1 p.m.