Tag: UT Arlington Mavericks

USC men’s basketball needs to quit playing with its food

USC is going to get burned one of these days if it keeps playing with fire. The Trojans have to set the bar higher and not let inferior teams hang around.

For the second consecutive game, USC men’s basketball narrowly scraped by an inferior opponent. On Wednesday night, the Trojans held off UT Arlington 98-95 to improve to 3-0 on the 2024-2025 season. This comes less than a week after the USC struggled against Idaho State, prevailing by a score of 75-69 in a game which was neck and neck with two minutes left.

The good news for the Trojans is that they continue to win games. But given the level of competition, their play is not exactly inspiring a lot of confidence right now.

Plain and simple, Idaho State and UT Arlington are teams the Trojans should be blowing out. (Maybe not by the same margin that the women’s team destroyed Cal State Northridge, but they should still be winning handily.) The fact that these games have been as close as they have is definitely a cause for concern.

Right now, the Trojans are playing with their food. If they continue to do so, they will eventually choke.

USC still has five more games against mid-major opponents. If the Trojans continue to play like they have in the past two, losing at least one of them feels inevitable, and that will put a dent in their March Madness aspirations.

Given the difficulty of playing a Big Ten schedule, it is crucial that the Trojans beat the teams they are supposed to in these early-season buy games if they want to be a serious NCAA Tournament contender. If USC continues to mess around as it ha the past two games, that will not happen.

We saw this under Andy Enfield. The Trojans could get by on sheer talent at times, but that was not sustainable. Eric Musselman has to get his players to defend a lot better than they have. Winning can’t lead to overconfidence; these close shaves must translate into more urgency and greater attention to detail.

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USC overcomes weak defense to survive UT Arlington, stay undefeated

The Golden State Warriors and USC basketball have both beaten the Mavericks this week. USC beat the UT Arlington Mavericks in the Galen Center.

In November, there is no time to worry about style points. This is the month of the college basketball season when teams play smaller conference opponents in an attempt to gain confidence and rhythm. Losing one of these “buy games” can be devastating for a team’s NCAA Tournament chances. The main thing is to win, no matter how ugly or shaky the performance might be. USC basketball and Eric Musselman have managed to stay unbeaten despite two very unsteady performances. Concerns exist, but as long as the wins keep coming, the season is on schedule. USC did stay on schedule with a 98-95 win over UT Arlington on Wednesday night in the Galen Center.

USC had a nine-point halftime lead, 51-42. The Trojans did not play good defense in the first half but still had a working margin because they shot the ball extremely well. They naturally hoped to build their lead in the second half, but UT Arlington was very “Mavericky.” The Mavs kept tossing in 3-pointers to reduce USC’s lead. UT Arlington finished the game 16 of 24 on 3-pointers, giving the Mavericks a plus-30 margin in points scored from 3-pointes. UTA had 48 points on 16 triples, whereas USC had just 18 points on six long balls.

Arlington led 88-86 late in the game. USC was staring down the barrel of a horrible loss. Fortunately, Desmond Claude stepped up for the Trojans. He scored USC’s next eight points to give the Men of Troy a 94-90 lead with 19 seconds left. Claude finished with 26 points on a night when USC hit over 55 percent of its field goal attempts. Josh Cohen scored 19 points. Terrance Williams made his USC debut and added 18 for the victors, who are 3-0 this season and will try to win with a little less drama the next time they take the court.

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Catcher Easton Carmichael named Co-Big 12 Player of the Week

Sophomore catcher Easton Carmichael named Big 12 Co-Player of the Week after an incredible four game performance.

It was an electric week for sophomore catcher Easton Carmichael. His production at the plate earned Carmichael Big 12 Co-Player of the Week honors.

Oklahoma went undefeated last week, and Carmichael was pivotal in the Sooners efforts. He hit .615 with four extra-base hits, including two home runs and eight RBIs.

The sophomore went 8-for-13, scoring eight runs, drawing three walks, and even stealing a base for good measure. He also struck out only one time during that impressive run.

On Sunday, he went yard to put the run rule into effect and end the Sooners’ sweep of new Big 12 foe UCF early in the seventh inning.

He’ll split this award with Texas designated hitter Max Belyeu.

Carmichael is the first Oklahoma Sooner to win a Player of the Week award since his brother, Braden, did it last season as Pitcher of the Week.

Carmichael has recorded a multi-hit game for the Sooners in four of the last six games. He’s now batting .472, good for second in the Big 12, while slugging .755, good for fifth. Carmichael is fifth in OPS, fourth in doubles, and tenth in runs batted in.

Carmichael will look to continue his hot campaign this week as Oklahoma plays Oklahoma State and Texas-Arlington and has a weekend series in Fort Worth against a ranked TCU squad.

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Instant Analysis: LSU basketball survives another close call against UT Arlington

It was a bit too close for comfort once again, but LSU moved to 7-1 with a win over the Mavericks.

It was a little too close for comfort once again, but LSU moved to 7-1 on the season to begin the [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] era in Baton Rouge with a 63-59 home win over the UT Arlington Mavericks.

Despite a poor shooting performance in the first half — in which the Tigers converted under 40% of their attempts from the field — they still led by seven at the break. But the Mavericks outscored LSU in the second half and led by four after the under-eight timeout.

However, LSU would follow that up with a 14-2 run down the stretch that proved to be enough to stave off the feisty mid-major opponent.

Forward [autotag]KJ Williams[/autotag] led the way for LSU in this one, scoring 14 points. [autotag]Adam Miller[/autotag] also scored in double figures for the Tigers with 11 points. Neither team shot particularly well, and UTA was under 40% for the game, though it was better in the second half.

However, LSU turned the ball over 13 times, which helped keep the Mavericks in the game. They may have won if they had taken advantage, but they only netted seven points from those mishaps.

It wasn’t the most inspiring win, but it will have to do for now. LSU has a week to work on its problems before facing a 7-2 Wake Forest team in Atlanta for Holiday Hoopsgiving on Dec. 10.

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LSU basketball vs. UT Arlington: Stream, injury report, broadcast info for Friday night’s battle at the PMAC

Here’s what you need to know to follow the game against the Mavericks.

At 6-1 on the year to start the [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] era, LSU continues to work its way through its non-conference schedule.

After a tight game against Wofford on Sunday, the Tigers welcome UT Arlington to town. The Mavericks hail from the WAC and sit at 4-4 on the season under second-year coach Greg Young, though only one of those wins — a victory over Northern Kentucky — came against a Division I foe.

UTA is coming off an 11-18 finish in Young’s first season. The Tigers are 18.5-point favorites, per BetMGM, and they are given a 94.3% chance to win per the ESPN Basketball Power Index.

Here’s everything you need to know to follow this one, which tips off at 7 p.m. CT at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.