Box Score
Belton, TX— The University of Texas at Dallas men's basketball team rode a hot-shooting first half to a big early lead and the Comets cruised to an 80-55 victory over Schreiner University in the first round of the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament Friday in Belton. U.T.-Dallas improves to 22-4 on the season with the victory. The loss ends the Mountaineers season at 13-13.
U.T.-Dallas shot a blistering 63 percent in the first half and built a double-digit lead at 24-14 less than 10 minutes into the game. The Comets would lead by as many as 20 points before settling for a 44-27 halftime lead. Schreiner would not get closer than 19 points the rest of the way as U.T.-Dallas put the game away.
Chris Barnes led the Comets with 33 points and he hit 6-7 from three-point range. Carter Nash added 14 points and Kyle Schleigh and Matthew Medell also reached double figures with 10 points apiece. Barnes and Schleigh grabbed six rebounds each. UTD shot 57 percent from the field as a team and went 9-19 from beyond the arc. The Comets would out rebound the Mountaineers 37-32 in the victory.
A.J. Myres topped Schreiner with 15 points. The Mountaineers played without second-leading scorer Darren Smith and leading scorer Travis Pflughaupt was held to just three points. Schreiner shot 31 percent from the field and hit just 3-11 from three-point range.
The Comets will now move on to a 2:00 PM semifinal game tomorrow. UTD will face Hardin-Simmons University in that game. The Comets are in the semifinals for the fourth straight year. The Mountaineers were making their first ASC Tournament appearance.
