The Gophers won for the second time in as many games over a Sun Belt team, this time taking down the preseason conference favorite, UT-Arlington, 84-67 to start the season 2-0. Even though the Mavericks have a hyphen in their name, the line before the game was so slim that it was basically a toss-up. And that’s how it played out for much of the first half, with UTA actually taking a 41-35 lead into halftime on hot shooting from all-conference PG Erick Neal.
The Gophers couldn’t say the same in the first half, putting themselves in an early hole on only 30% shooting and failing to capitalize on the rampant fouling delivered by UTA.