ARLINGTON, Texas – The University of Texas at Arlington had all the glitz and glamour surrounding the opening of College Park Center Wednesday night.
Pyrotechnics. Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. A loud near-capacity crowd at the new arena.
But the most important thing the school has is a men's team worthy of the new gym.
The Mavericks proved that again by edging Texas-San Antonio 67-66 to cap the night and extend their school record winning streak to 12 games.
"It's definitely a dream come true," said head coach Scott Cross, who played at UTA in leaner times for the program. "You almost have to pinch yourself. The crowd made a huge difference tonight."
The Southland Conference West division leaders upped their record to 16-5 and 8-0 in conference play by beating the second-place Roadrunners (14-8, 6-2).
It certainly wasn't easy. Not only did the Mavericks have to beat UTSA, they also had to live up the building that was the big draw for a school used to watching basketball on a stage.
First the UTA women got things going by beating UTSA 51-40. Then the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders made an appearance as they high-kicked their way onto the court to AC/DC. Then the fireworks that officially ended UTA playing on the stage at Texas Hall.
By the time the game tipped off just after 8:30, it would have made sense if the UTA men didn't have much left in the tank. It certainly looked that way early.
UTA turned the ball over three times in the game's first two minutes and trailed 9-0 before LaMarcus Reed hit a free throw with 16:11 left in the half.
While the first points in the arena for the men were anticlimactic, what followed certainly wasn't. UTA went on an 11-0 run and dunks by Reed and Kevin Butler brought the school-record crowd of 6,288 to their feet.
That momentum carried to halftime as Reed scored 19 points in the first half with his dunk giving UTA a 40-33 lead at the break.
UTSA tried to spoil the night, taking a 60-59 lead with just under five minutes remaining in the game. But the Mavericks made sure and sent the crowd home happy, as two Butler free throws with 13 seconds remaining put UTA up by three. A missed three-pointer by Melvin Johnson sealed the victory for the Mavericks.
Was it a perfect night for the Mavericks? Almost.
New athletic director Jim Baker said last week that one of the keys for the success of the facility was to have a packed house for the four home games this season at College Park Center.
That shouldn't be an issue, especially because all the tickets for the rest of the year are free. Even though there were no tickets remaining for Wednesday's games, there were empty seats in the arena as some of the freebies went unused.
That's a bad sign because UTA has more than 32,000 students, including 7,000 living on campus. Add to that more than 90,000 alumni in north Texas and filling a house with free tickets shouldn't be an issue.
At least those who showed up Wednesday got to see a solid team.
Reed, who scored 24, is really good. So is Butler.
So is the arena. Every seat in the house is good. Courtside is nice. But so was the last row in section 210. College Park Center is as cozy as a 7,000-fan arena can be.
It's also cheap. A large popcorn, large soft drink, bottled water and bag of candy sets you back a total of $13.
So tickets are free and refreshments are cheap. And with that you get to see a team that should represent the Southland Conference in the NCAA tournament this year.
They showed that again Wednesday night.
