CLARKSVILLE, AR (01.20.14) - The UT Dallas men's basketball team rolled off its eighth straight win Monday afternoon with an 84-63 road victory over Ozarks and in the process completed the first half of its American Southwest Conference with a clean slate.
The Comets (now 13-1, 11-0 ASC) will start the second half of league play Thursday night when they host the same team they defeated this afternoon as they host Ozarks at 7 p.m. at the UTD Activity Center. That game will open a stretch of five straight home games in 10 days.
Senior forward Kyle Schleigh recorded his sixth "double-double" of the season as he finished the game with 18 points and 10 rebounds, both team highs. Ryan Smith added 13 points, Matthew Medell had 12 points and Dmitriy Chernikov had 10 points to round out the Comets in double figures.
The Comets shot 57.1 percent from the field, topping the 50 percent mark for the fourth time in five games, as they were an impressive 28-of-49 against the Eagles. UTD hit 9-of-18 three-pointers in the win and was 19-of-27 (70.4) from the foul line.
UTD never trailed in the contest, scoring the opening basket and never looking back as the Comets extended its regular-season ASC winning streak to 17 games, dating back to last season. The Comets shot 57.7 percent in the opening half, using a pair of three-pointers from both Schleigh and Chernikov, to collect a 10-point lead over the Eagles at the break, 42-32.
After giving up a pair of free throws to Ozarks in the early portion of the second half, the Comets regained a double-digit lead on layup by Chris McOmber with 18:22 to play and never led by less than 10 points for the remainder of the contest. UTD grabbed its first 20-point lead of the game on a McOmber three-pointer with 14:20 as it extended its lead to 58-38, capping an 11-2 run by the Comets.
Schleigh was 6-of-10 from the field, hitting 2-of-4 three-pointers, and was 4-for-6 from the line as he bounced back from his only non-double-digit scoring output of the season last game out. He added four assists and three steals. UTD dominated the boards as the Comets out-rebounded Ozarks, 40-21.
For the Eagles (5-10, 3-9 ASC), Ricky Allen scored a game-high 26 points on 9-of-18 shooting. Allen hit 4-of-11 three-pointers and accounted for four of Ozarks' five treys on the afternoon. Kelby Robinson was the only other Eagle to reach double figures, adding 10 points. Josh Beard led Ozarks with eight rebounds. The Eagles shot 42.6 percent (23-of-54) from the field, hitting 5-of-21 (23.8%) three-pointers, and shot just 60 percent (12-of-20) from the free-throw line.