UT Arlington beats Saint Mary’s for first Top-25 win

MORAGA — Kevin Hervey scored 15 points and UT Arlington beat a Top 25 team for the first time in program history, shocking previously unblemished No. 12 Saint Mary’s 65-51 on Thursday night.

The Mavericks (8-3) had gone 0-28 against ranked opponents dating to their first try in February 1967 before their big upset at McKeon Pavilion, where the Gaels had won eight straight and 23 of 24.

But Saint Mary’s (6-1) never clicked against the scrappy UTA team while returning from a break for final exams for its first game since a win at Stanford on Nov. 30.

Erick Neal added 13 points and eight assists in UTA’s seventh straight victory.

• Iowa 78, No. 25 Iowa St. 64 — At Iowa City, Iowa — Peter Jok scored 23 points and Iowa upset Iowa State to end a three-game losing streak against its instate rival.

Isaiah Moss had 14 points to help the Hawkeyes (5-5) beat a Power Five opponent for this first time this season. Matt Thomas scored 14 points for the Cyclones (6-3). They were 8 of 30 from 3point range.

• Massachusetts 72, pacific 48 — At Amherst, Mass.: Donte Clark had 12 points, Luwane Pipkins added nine points and three steals and Massachusetts beat Pacific in the Gotham Classic opener on Thursday night.

It was the first meeting between UMass and Pacific. The teams will each face Kennesaw State, North Carolina A&T and Rider in the round-robin tournament over the next two weeks.

The Minutemen (6-2) took the lead for good in the early part of a 23-2 run that spanned both halves. It ended with Seth Berger hitting a pair of free throws to make it 45-29 with 15:27 left.

The Tigers (3-5) had the lead for over ten minutes in the first half but never recovered in the second half after the UMass run. The Minutemen’s largest lead was 26.

Ray Bowles and Jack Williams led Pacific with 11 points each. The Tigers had 19 turnovers which UMass converted into 23 points.

WOMEN

• No. 4 Maryland 101, St. Peter’s 40 — At College Park, Md.: Brionna Jones scored 19 of her career-high 30 points in the first half and No. 4 Maryland remained unbeaten with a 10149 victory over St. Peter’s on Thursday night.

• No. 7 Florida St 83, No. 23 Florida 58 — At Tallahassee, Fla.: Leticia Romero scored 21 points and Florida State beat Florida for its eighth straight victory.

• No. 18 Colorado 74, Colorado St. 56 — At Boulder, Colo.: Kennedy Leonard set career highs with seven 3-pointers and 31 points to Colorado.

• No. 19 Oklahoma 92, UT Rio Grande Valley 59 — At Norman, Okla.: Vionise Pierre-Louis had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma.

• No. 21 Duke 68, Elon 61 — At Durham, N.C.: Lexie Brown scored 25 points to help Duke beat Elon.

Rebecca Greenwell added 12 points for Duke (10-1).