The Mavs (5-6) led 70-59 with 4:07 left in the game but an 11-3 run by the Mean Green (8-4) trimmed the deficit to 73-70 on a Josh White three-pointer.

With 17.7 seconds left and the score 77-75, Rogér Guignard missed the first of two free throws but swished the second, extending the Mavs’ lead to three en route to the victory.

Senior forward Anthony Vereen shoots over a UNT defender. The Mavs won 80-75 and improve to 2-6 on the road this year. (The Shorthorn: Stephen Peters)

Head coach Scott Cross stressed defense throughout the last week after losing to Tulsa last Tuesday, 88-79, and implemented a 1-2-2 half-court trap in the second half to increase the game’s tempo and turn the momentum in the Mavs’ favor.

“It was, by far, our best defensive performance of the year,” Cross said. “I know we still gave up 75 points, but we try not to look at the points but the field goal percentage [on] defense.”

UNT's Collin Dennis, scoring 13 of his 21 after the break, kept the Mean Green close late in the second half after the Mavs' lead swelled to 11. White poured in 16 and Eric Tramiel added 10.

The Mavericks countered with the support of five players scoring in double figures led by senior forward Anthony Vereen’s 19 points. Juniors Tommy Moffitt (17), Brandon Long (16), Marquez Haynes (14) and Rogér Guignard (10) were the others to score 10 or more points.

Poor free-throw shooting almost proved costly for the Mavs as they shot 15-of-25 from the line (60 percent) to UNT’s 19-of-21 for 90.5 percent. But with the game on the line, Guignard and Moffitt connected on three of the team's last four to seal the victory.

Vereen said the win was “a big weight” off the team’s back being able to snap the losing streak and build on the momentum with two games left until conference play.

“That’s all we wanted was learn how to win on the road and go into conference with a little win streak,” Vereen said.

Vereen and Moffitt, after the game, said the team did well in playing tough down the stretch and executed on both ends of the court, which had plagued the team the past few games.

UTA outrebounded UNT 34-29 and forced the Mean Green into 12 turnovers resulting in 19 Maverick points.

Behind the play of Moffitt and Vereen, the Mavs were also able to outscore their opponent 38-22 in the paint.

“We can come into practice and have fun now,” Moffitt said. “We got this win, so we just need to keep winning. Now it’s like we need to keep winning and keep pulling out the tough ones.”

The Mavericks now own a five-game winning streak against the Mean Gr.een, dating back to 1995-96 and have won three straight games at The Super Pit after UNT had won 17 of first 22.

This matchup pitted the two winningest teams in the Metroplex with UNT with 51 victories and UTA now with 39 since the start of the 2006-07 season.

UTA shot 56.6 percent from the floor while holding UNT to 40 percent from the floor and outscored the Mean Green 44-35 in the second half.

The next game for the Mavs is on Jan. 3 against Utah Valley (7-4) before concluding its pre-conference schedule against UT-Pan American (4-8) on the 7th.

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