Texas-Arlington routs Akron 85-69 in NIT second round

Mar 21, 2017, 05:23 am

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Kaelon Wilson scored 18 points, Erick Neal added 13 points and nine assists and Texas-Arlington routed Akron 85-69 on Monday night in the second round of the NIT.

No. 6 seed Texas-Arlington (27-8) will host eighth-seeded Cal State Bakersfield (24-9) in a quarterfinal. The Mavericks have won 14 straight at home.

Neal, who is second all-time in assists at Texas-Arlington, assisted on two spectacular dunks. He threw an underhanded pass from midcourt to Wilson that split two defenders. Wilson capped the play with an emphatic one-handed dunk.

In the second half, Neal picked off a pass at midcourt, dribbled the floor then slammed a bounce pass to Nathan Hawkins who finished with a two-handed slam.

Senior guard Jalen Jones, who is out of the postseason after injuring his right hand in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, came into the game with about two minutes left for a possession and an ovation from the home court crowd. Since he was not in the scorekeeper's official book, the Mavericks were issued a technical foul.

Jimond Ivey scored 14 points to lead No. 7 seed Akron (27-9).