Our RPI #272 Apps (9-14, 6-8 Sun Belt) flew to Dallas-Ft.Worth yesterday and boarded a bus for the short 15 mile ride to UT-Arlington for tonight's game with the RPI #151 Mavericks (14-10, 8-6 Sun Belt) at the 7,000 seat campus arena--College Park Center. The seventh place Apps, losers of four of their last five games, will be looking to break a two game losing streak in this game with the fourth place Mavericks who have gone 2-3 in their last five contests.

The Mavs won the only previous men's basketball matchup between the two institutions--a 73-72 win in the 1983 Purple Aces' Holiday Tourney in Evansville, IN.

The Apps, of course, are led by the shooting and rebounding of sixth year senior Tom Spagnolo (10.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg) and the shooting of junior guards Jerry Eaves (16.4 ppg) and Chris Burgess (9.5 ppg). Frosh forward Jake Babic has, of late, picked up his scoring and he's playing tremendous defense--drawing the opponents' best offensive players and getting critical stops. Junior forward Michael Obacha is rebounding well and using his body to take up space under the defensive board. The Mavericks are led by senior guard Lonnie McLanahan (11.2 ppg) and junior guard Johnny Hill (10.1). Four other Mavs average 7+ ppg.

UT-A prides itself in its defense, and will look to shut the Apps down from behind the arc. The Apps, on the other hand, will look to protect the ball--limiting turnovers--and look to the inside first then back out to the perimeter to get the best looks at the basket possible. On defense, Coach Fox will still be teaching and placing emphasis on staying in front of the ball to avoid the Mavs' quick slashes to the basket.

ESPn.com has the Mavs as 9 point favorites. RealTimeRPI.com favors the Mavs by 15.

Both of tonight's games can be viewed with a $9.95 month's subscription to College Sports Live. GameTracker will be a free online play-by-play app.

Live Video: utamavs.com
Live Audio: appstatesports.com
Live Stats: utamavs.com