Final Stats Nicholls-UTA Box Score

Katy, Texas – In the tournament for the fourth-straight year, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team had the daunting task of taking on the 23-7 UT-Arlington Mavs in the opening round of the 2012 Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. Nicholls fought hard, but the Mavericks were too strong and the Colonels lost 96-48 at the Leonard E. Merrell Center Wednesday night.

Jeremy Smith scored a career high 17 points in the loss to lead Nicholls, while Dantrell Thomas finished with 15.

UTA (24-7) had four players score in double figures, led by Bo Ingram's 21 to lead all scorers.

The Colonels' offensive struggles from the end of the season in losses to Northwestern State and Southeastern were once again a factor in the game, as the Colonels finished the game shooting just 23-percent from the floor and 11-percent from behind the 3-point line.

UTA shot 51-percent from the field, sinking 28 shots on the night, including hitting 11 shots from beyond the arc. 11 different Mavericks scored on the night, as UTA also got 29 points from the charity stripe.

The Mavs had the Colonels number from the outset, rolling to a 42-19 halftime lead. UTA sank 11 shots in the half, while the Colonels needed the entire quarter to score six buckets.

After making the first two points of the game, the Mavericks went on to outscore Nicholls 22- 2 over the next ten minutes.

Three of Nicholls' six baskets came from the three point line, but the Colonels attempted 20 in the period, and 35 shots overall to finish the half shooting just 17-percent from the field and 15-percent from beyond the arc.

Talkington led the Colonels with six points followed by Thomas who had four, as they were the only two Nicholls players to finish with two field goals in the period.

Nicholls suffered a huge blow when the Southland's freshman of the year winner went down in the half with a knee injury and did not return.

UTA shot 42-percent in the first period, and got 15 points at the free throw line as the Colonels committed 13 personal fouls in the half.

Needing to rally even to make a game of it, the Mavericks never stepped off of the pedal, scoring eight points out of the gate in the second period and 22 points in the first ten minutes total. By the end of the game the Mavs led by as many as 48 points.

The Mavs scored 32 points in the paint, 24 points off of turnovers, 10 points on the fast break and 42 points off of the bench, while the Colonels finished with 14, 10, 4, 0 and 11 in those same categories. 

Nicholls finishes the year 10-20 overall, winning at least ten games for the fifth straight season. Lewis led the team in scoring and rebounding averaging 12.6 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per game. Chris Talkington led the team in 3-pointers made with 38, while Shane Rillieux, who started every game this year, made 79 free throws.