BYU vs. UT-Arlington: College basketball game preview, TV schedule

After getting a big early road win, the BYU Cougars (2-0) will travel home to take on the last team to give Dave Rose a loss, the UT-Arlington Mavericks (1-0).

TV schedule: Saturday, Nov. 18 9:30 p.m. ET, BYUtv/ ESPN3

Arena: Marriott Center in Provo, Utah

BYU returns home to the Marriott Center after beating the Princeton Tigers 65-56. Despite some players dealing with foul trouble and the Cougars going almost ten minutes without getting a field goal, they relied on their defense to pull ahead at the.

Elijah Bryant was the player of the game, with 22 points and seven rebounds to lead the way. He’s gotten off to a hot start, scoring 49 total points in the first two games. Even though Yoeli Childs was facing double-teams all night and was limited to just four attempts from the field, he played 39 minutes and pulled down a game-high 11 boards.

While Princeton is considered a more methodical type of team in terms of how they run their offense, the next opponent for the Cougars is an athletic, up-tempo team who will put up points on the board.

Texas-Arlington was the regular season champions of the Sun Belt Conference but had to settle for the NIT after losing in the semis of the conference tournament. It was where they met up with BYU in Provo, before dominating them start to finish in a 105-89 victory.

By that point, injuries had decimated BYU, and it showed by giving up 62 first-half points. Bryant was unable to play in that game, and the two players who played well offensively, Eric Mike and Nick Emery, aren’t available for this game this time around. Three players for the Mavericks dropped over 20, including Drew Charles, Kaelon Wilson, and star forward Kevin Hervey.

With the exception of Charles, the majority of the players for UT-Arlington returns for this year that played in that game. They’ve already played a WCC conference foe in the Loyola Marymount and won at home 85-80. Hervey was dominant, with 28 points and eight rebounds. He was joined by fellow senior point guard Erick Neal, who had 14 points and 11 assists.

There’s a stark difference is the makeup of the rosters, with BYU currently having no seniors, while seven of the nine players who played against LMU are in their final season with the team.

The match-up between Hervey and Childs could ultimately determine the outcome of this game because neither team has a true replacement in the frontcourt.

Next: 3 takeaways in BYU's 65-56 win over Princeton

Both teams are likely top-100 games but if either wants a legit shot at an at-large bid they’ll need to pull out a win. The Mavericks have an athletic edge and have won before in Provo, but this looks to be a different BYU team. Look out for an unexpected x-factor to be key for whoever wins.

Prediction: BYU 84 – Texas-Arlington 80