By Alan Wiederhold
Sports Information Director
LeTourneau University

RICHARDSON, Texas – The UT-Dallas Comets shot 57 percent from the floor Saturday as they defeated LeTourneau 84-62.

Chris Barnes scored 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting to lead the first-place Comets (12-4), who improved to 8-4 in the American Southwest Conference's East Division standings.

Deitrich Williams (Fort Worth, Texas/Grace Prep Academy) scored a team-high 11 points for the YellowJackets (3-12, 2-10 ASC East). Williams reached double-figures for the fourth consecutive game and the seventh time in LeTourneau's last eight contests.

The Comets shot 53 percent from the field (16 of 30) in the first half as they built 46-24 lead over the game's first 20 minutes. UT-Dallas continued their shooting display in the second half, draining 62 percent (13 of 21) of their shots after halftime.

UT-Dallas players fared just as well from long-range, sinking 41 percent (11 of 27) of their 3-point field goal attempts.

The Comets took firm control of the game with an 18-3 run between the 9:28 and 4:04 marks of the first half that gave UT-Dallas a 36-16 lead. UT-Dallas kept control in the second half, not letting LeTourneau get within 16 points of the home team's advantage.

Jarrod Hudgens (Montgomery, Texas/Montgomery), Josh Thornton (DeSoto, Texas/Grace Prep) and Jake Kennedy (Sugarland, Texas/Travis) scored seven points apiece for the YellowJackets.

Matthew Medell scored 15 points for Texas-Dallas and Greg Chiasson added 14 points for the Comets.

The YellowJackets return to action Thursday when they open a four-game homestand against Centenary College at LeTourneau's Solheim Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.