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The best team in the Southland Conference has been the UT Arlington Mavericks, as they showed by going 15-1 in league play, only losing the final regular season game on the schedule at the hands of UT San Antonio.
The McNeese State Cowboys, who go head-to-head with UT Arlington on Thursday in the Southland Conference semifinals, would have been the top team in the East Division had it not been for the late season serge of the Lamar Cardinals, which included Lamar beating McNeese in their final regular season game.
Still, everyone is where they are supposed to be in the tournament, with the top four teams playing in the semifinals. This won't be a cakewalk for the Mavericks, who just barely defeated the Cowboys 93-89 on Feb 22.
McNeese boast the Southland Conference Player of the Year in Patrick Richard, who led the league in scoring with 18.1 points a game. But it was UT Arlington's LaMarcus Reed III who had the biggest game in the Mavericks' win over the Cowboys, with a game-high 28 points. Reed was right behind Richard in scoring this season, with 17.6 points a game.
The winner of this game will match up with the winner of Lamar vs. Stephen F. Austin earlier in the day. Here is a look at the complete schedule for the Southland Conference tournament:
Thursday: Stephen F. Austin vs. Lamar Katy, Texas 6:05 p.m. SLC TV
Thursday: UT Arlington vs. McNeese State Katy, Texas 8:33 p.m. SLC TV
Saturday, Mar 10 Stephen F. Austin/Lamar vs. UT Arlington/McNeese State Katy, Texas 2 p.m. ESPN2
For updates on the UT Arlington game, check out SB Nation Dallas.