UT Arlington entered the weekend only a half game out of first place in the Sun Belt Conference standings.
Contending with league-leading Arkansas-Little Rock became a tall task after the school announced on Friday afternoon that sophomore forward Kevin Hervey, the team's leader in points and rebounds, had torn his ACL in his left knee and is out for the season.
"Kevin will be dearly missed," UT Arlington head coach Scott Cross said in a statement. "He's been a big contributor to our basketball team. He helped us to the best start in school history and take the program to a whole new level. With that being said, I have confidence that the next guy is going to step up and be ready to play. I think Kevin is going to work hard through this, get bigger and stronger, and be a better basketball player next year because of this."
The 6-foot-7 forward is averaging 18.1 points, 9.8 boards and 2.9 assists per game. He was top-5 in the conference in both scoring and rebounding.
The Mavericks, currently 14-3 (5-1 Sun Belt), host the first-place Trojans on Saturday night.
(h/t College Basketball Talk)
