>>01.30.06
Comets Go Cold In Second Half, Lose Shootout To Tyler
UT-Tyler 73, UT-Dallas 64

TYLER, TX - The University of Texas at Dallas men's basketball team let a hot-shooting first half turn into a cold-shooting second-half nightmare Monday night, wasting a big early lead and losing an American Southwest Conference East Division showdown to UT-Tyler, 73-64.

The Comets were on fire early, as Jay Swafford (pictured) put up a 20-point first half, hitting six three-pointers as UTD hit a remarkable 56% from the field. But the second period was a different story as Swafford was held to just one point as the Comets hit just 9-of-31 (29%) and were outscored 41-28 after the break.

The loss was UTD's second straight, and dropped the Comets (6-12, 6-9) further behind in the ASC East race. UT-Tyler, which will be at the UTD Activity Center for a rematch next Monday, improved to 7-11, 7-8.

UTD hit six of its first seven shots from the field and was up 14-4 just 3:30 into the game. Swafford's 5-for-5 performance early gave UTD a 25-12 lead with 11:32 to go before the half. But an 8-0 run - all off the shooting of UTT's Miranda Reed, cut the lead down to 25-20 just before the half, and the Comets had to settle for a 36-32 lead at intermission.

The Patriots opened the second half with a 9-4 run to take their first lead at 41-40 with 13:49 left in the game. After the two teams traded baskets, a three-point shot by Martin Salinas (who had four second-half three-pointers to finish with 18 points) gave the Comets their last lead at 54-52 with 5:00 remaining.

That's when UTD had the misfortune of hitting a scoring slump, going 3:30 without another basket and Tyler was up 63-54 with 1:30 remaining.

Travis Carruthers gave the Comets' one last glimmer of hope when he hit three free throws with :23 remaining to cut the Patriot lead down to four (68-64), but UTT's Brandon Weasley was perfect at the line on four free throw attempts in the final seconds to ice the win.

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