TYLER, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler men's basketball team started off the 2021-22 regular season in style with the second highest point total in program history in a 116-57 win over Southwestern Adventist.
 
The Patriots led for the entirety of the 40 minutes of action on Wednesday afternoon and utilized five scorers in double-digit point figures to score the second highest total of points in a single game in program history, bettered only by a 119 total back on Nov. 17, 2012 against Paul Quinn College. Graduate student Eysan Wiley began his Patriot career with a 20-point effort, connecting on 7-of-12 shots from the field to lead all scorers for the contest.
 
Senior Soloman Thomas finished with 18 points, all of which came in the second half of action, and led the team with four three-point makes on an afternoon in which UT Tyler went 12-for-27 (44.4 percent) as a unit from three-point range and outrebounded Southwestern Adventist by a 58-to-32 margin.
 
Wiley scored eight points within the first eight minutes of the game, and capped off the early run for the Patriots with a highlight-reel dunk to open up a 21-7 advantage for the Patriots. The lead was extended to 20 at the 43-23 mark with just over four minutes remaining in the opening half and eventually settled on a 51-27 margin at the halftime break.
 
The Patriots scored 30 points in the paint in the first 20 minutes, and hauled in 13 offensive rebounds as a unit in the opening half. Wiley scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half, knocking down six out of his first nine shots.
 
The pressure continued for Southwestern Adventist in the second half as UT Tyler limited the Knights to a 26.3 percent (10-of-38) field goal percentage and scored 19 points via fast break opportunities to lead by as many as 60 in the second half. The Patriots outscored Southwestern Adventist 65-to-30 in the final 20 minutes of play, knocking down 21-of-34 (61.8 percent) shot attempts from the field.
 
UT Tyler hit 8-of-14 from three-point range in the second half, including all four of Thomas' shots from long range.
 
Newcomers Patrick Samoura and Zaire Mateen both had 11 points in their UT Tyler debuts, while senior Micah Fuller scored 10 points and added four assists and rebounds in his 17 minutes of play. Juniors Milan Szabo and Paul Djoko both led the way with eight rebounds apiece, while Djoko filled up the stat sheet in a variety of categories with eight points, eight boards and four assists.
 
 The UT Tyler bench totaled 79 points in the effort as 12 of the 14 players that saw action for UT Tyler recorded a point.
 
The Patriots move to 1-0 on the year and will look to continue to build momentum in the non-conference portion of their schedule. UT Tyler will stay at home for their second of such games to open up 2021-22 on Friday night against Fort Valley State at 7 p.m.