The road to the American Southwest Conference Men’s Basketball Championship will go through the UT Dallas campus again this year.
UT Dallas (20-5) claimed the ASC’s East Division title for the fourth time in program history to earn the right to host the other seven participants in this year’s event. The tournament games start at noon Friday, Feb. 25. UT Dallas takes on Concordia University at 7:30 p.m. in the Activity Center.
Fans can track stats and watch the Comets by Web video on the tournament website.
Saturday’s semifinals start at 2 p.m. Sunday’s title game is set for 2 p.m. as well.
UT Dallas also hosted the event in 2009, winning the championship by outscoring its three opponents by nearly 16 points per game. The Comets also won the ASC title in 2005.
The Comets enter the postseason as winners of their last nine games and boast a 10-game home court winning streak.
UT Dallas won the East Division by three games, finishing league play with a 16-4 record. Joining the Comets from the division are East Texas Baptist, Texas-Tyler and Mississippi College. From the West Division, league champ McMurry will be joined by Mary Hardin-Baylor, Hardin-Simmons and Concordia. UT Dallas will face Concordia in the opening round at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
Junior forward Chris Barnes leads the Comets in scoring with 18.1 points per game, the third-best average in the league and tops in the East Division. He adds a team-best 7.0 rebounds while shooting at 53.4 percent from the field and 41.3 percent from three-point range.
Senior Curtis Davis is second on the squad in average points per game (13.8) and rebounds (6.6) and is third in the ASC from the foul line at 84.5 percent. Junior point guard Greg Chiasson rounds out the Comets in double-figure scoring with 10.0 points per game.
UT Dallas has an 8-5 all-time record in the ASC Tournament. Last year, the Comets dropped the championship game to Mary Hardin-Baylor, 80-70. This is the eighth straight appearance for the Comets in the tournament.
The Comets face Concordia in the first round. UT Dallas is 9-5 all-time against the Tornados, including the road win earlier this season.