The Texas Longhorns braved the Santa Ana winds and a delay caused by light failure to escape Los Angeles with an important road win against UCLA this weekend. Now, they return to the Frank Erwin Center for a four-game homestand before facing a daunting UNC team in Chapel Hill.

Although Temple provides a solid test at the end of the homestand, tonight’s opponent is one of the most dangerous mid-major teams in this part of the country. UT-Arlington returns four starters this year, and that experience kept them within arm’s reach of Baylor two weeks ago, ultimately ending in a 75-65 loss in Waco.

The Texas schedule approach usually involves a handful of big-time opponents and a slew of low-major cupcakes to fill in the home dates. This year’s slate is no different, but the Mavericks provide the Longhorns a chance to knock off a team that could find its way into the NCAA field as Southland Conference champs.

By the numbers

These Mavericks love to run up and down the floor. They are currently averaging an adjusted tempo of 71.3 possessions per game, a pace that is 23rd-fastest in D-I hoops. In their first six games, only one team — Samford — was able to keep the game under 74 possessions, allowing the Bulldogs to pull out a win. The Longhorns have certainly proved that they can run with other up-tempo teams, but they may want to ensure that the Mavericks aren’t the ones dictating the pace.

That up-tempo style of Maverick basketball often comes out looking sloppy. UTA turns it over quite often, coughing it up on 24.1% of their possessions, one of the 65 worst marks in D-I hoops. Of course, they also force a ton of mistakes by their opponents, too. The Mavs have a defensive turnover percentage of 28.4%, which is sixth-best in the nation. Against Baylor, the Mavs took advantage of a turnover percentage of more than 30%, although quite a few of the Bear miscues were unforced mental errors.

When the Mavs don’t turn the ball over, they also are able to utilize great offensive rebounding numbers to extend possessions. UTA has reclaimed nearly 41% of their missed shots, a mark that puts them in the Top 20 nationally, although those numbers are buffeted a bit by the 51.5% mark they posted against UNT. Of course, Texas fans will recall that the Longhorns could only grab 26.8% of their offensive rebounding chances when they played the Mean Green.

The Mavs also work their way to the line fairly frequently, posting a free-throw rate of 47% in their five Division I games. The Longhorns had problems in their first few games defending teams without sending them to the charity stripe, although they have certainly turned that trend around in their last three games. The Horns will still have to be careful against a UTA team that loves to put the ball on the floor and attack the paint.

Meet the Mavericks

With the up-tempo approach of coach Scott Cross, the team spreads out their minutes across a core rotation of nine guys. With the exception of senior star LaMarcus Reed III (No. 31), no one even plays 22 minutes per game, and everyone in that core rotation sees the floor for at least 17 per night.

Reed will prove to be quite a handful for the Longhorns tonight. Although he’s just 6’5″, he’s incredibly strong and athletic and can easily finish inside on his frequent drives to the paint. He made 40% of his three-point shots last season and is off to a 37% start this year. Even if defenders play him tight and have the help inside in case he blows by the perimeter D, Reed has shown the ability to knock down fadeaway Js from 17 feet out once he gets the defender backpedaling.

The team’s second-leading scorer is TCU transfer Kevin Butler (No. 24), who is chipping in 12.5 points per game for the Mavs. He’s an inside-out threat who will post up against bigger defenders despite his 6’5″ frame. He can also stretch the defense, as Butler has connected on 6-of-10 from behind the arc so far this season. Perhaps the biggest knock on his game right now is that Butler is often too aggressive on defense, leaving his teammates out to dry on the block when he overpursues for steals.

Senior forward Bo Ingram (No. 1) is another 6’5″ guy who poses a three-point threat, but also loves to be aggressive with the dribble and attack the paint. He’s one of many strong, athletic guys on the Maverick roster who know how to finish through contact once they get inside.

The big man in the middle is junior Jordan Reves (No. 55). He leads the team with nearly seven boards a night and is also tops on the team with eight blocks. Reves looked a little tentative early against the intimidating Baylor frontline, but he has proven himself to be a smart defender who understands positioning and rotation. Unfortunately, that also means that he often picks up unnecessary fouls when other players overextend or are out of position. Those cheap fouls on the lone big man really hurts an undersized team like UTA.

After Reves, the team’s second-best board man is sophomore Brandon Edwards (No. 35). He’s averaging just over six rebounds per game to go with nearly seven points, and is second on the team in blocked shots with four. While Edwards does solid work on the glass and scoring inside, he is often stuck in defensive mismatches in the post when Reves finds himself in foul trouble. Although Texas doesn’t have an imposing front line, this is something worth watching if Reves starts to pile up the whistles tonight.

In the backcourt, sophomore Shaquille White-Miller (No. 12) provides tough-nosed defense while also facilitating the offense. As a freshman, Shaq had just a 1.04-to-1 assist-to-TO ratio and was criticized for sometimes playing out of control. So far this season, he’s cut back on the turnovers and has upped that ratio to 1.53-to-1. In addition to his growth as a sophomore, television viewers will likely also hear about White-Miller’s connection to Texas’ J’Covan Brown, as the pair played high school ball together at Port Arthur Memorial.

Junior guard Cameron Catlett (No. 25) is a 6’3″ point guard who also gives the Mavs flexibility by being able to play the wing or a shooting guard role. Although he only attempted 12 three-pointers last year, Catlett knocked down half of them. He’s 0-for-3 to start this season, so it would seem like the junior is due to make some threes tonight.

In addition to White-Miller and Catlett, the only other real option at point is tiny Jorge Redmon (No. 4). He has a 40% mark from long range, and is certainly not shy about pulling the trigger. More than two-thirds of his shots have come from behind the arc, and quite a few of those have come very early in the shot clock. You wouldn’t expect a player on an up-tempo team to milk the clock, but you would also expect a guard to be a little more selective than Redmon is with his shots.

Senior guard Bradley Gay (No. 10) is the type of player that won’t stuff a stat sheet, but does all the little things, earning him Coach Cross’ title of “glue guy.”

The Mavs also have a bit of height on the bench in the form of sophomore center Stuart Lagerson (No. 5), a seven-footer who averages 13 minutes a game. He’s still extremely thin and is easily pushed around down low, but he’ll likely add some strength and playing time as the season progresses.

The only other Maverick to play more than five minutes a game is Polish product Karol Gruszecki (No. 33). Like Lagerson, he needs to add some weight to hold his position, but he does possess the face-up game and outside shot to mitigate that strength disadvantage against other forwards. Unless things go horribly wrong, Gruszecki won’t see much playing time tonight.

Keys to the game

1) Control the basketball – Against the up-tempo attack of UTA, many teams have found it difficult to hang on to the ball and run their offense. Fortunately, the Longhorns have not had many problems with turnovers this season. The young Horns did play a little sloppy in the early minutes of the UCLA game, but managed to control things as they came from behind in the second half. Texas must avoid those early-game jitters tonight and avoid giving UTA extra possessions with careless mistakes.

2) Convert turnovers into easy points – While the Longhorns need to avoid their own mistakes, they can probably count on quite a few from UTA. The Mavericks typically play fast and loose with the ball, so the Longhorns need to capitalize upon those mistakes. When UTA turnovers stay in play, Texas needs to beat the Mavs in transition and convert those mistakes into uncontested buckets.

3) Clean up the defensive glass – Texas is one of the worst 15 teams in D-I hoops when it comes to securing defensive boards, while the Mavericks are one of the nation’s best at reclaiming their missed shots and extending possessions. That could be a recipe for disaster for the Longhorns tonight, so they must do better work boxing out once UTA puts their shots up. If not, the Horns could find themselves in danger of an upset against a solid Maverick squad.