LONGVIEW – LeTourneau University men's basketball team lost to Texas at Dallas, 86-65, Saturday at Solheim Arena.

LETU (9-4, 2-2 American Southwest Conference) will return to Solheim 7:30 p.m. Thursday in a matchup with Sul Ross State to continue the four-game homestand.

Andrew Eberhardt scored a career-high 18 points on 6 of 9 shooting from three-point range, and Nate West had 18 points, seven assists and 12 rebounds for the YellowJackets, who were outscored 32-16 in the paint.

UT Dallas (10-4, 4-1) shot 47.7 percent, going 31 of 65. LETU was 19 of 59 for 32.2 percent.

Garrett Beene's three midway through the first half tied the game at 17 before the Comets made six straight free throws over a 1:15 span to take a 23-17 lead. Kyle Matthews buried a triple, and West sank three free throws after being fouled on a triple try to knot the game again, this time at 23. The Comets went on an 8-0 run, taking a 31-23 lead on Kolton Pruitt's 3-pointer with 6:36 to go in the half before West quieted the storm with a triple on a setup from Kyce Wilson.

Eberhardt tripled with 3:33 left on the first half clock to bring LeTourneau within 33-30. Korrin Taylor sank two free throws to trim the gap to one, but the Comets ended the half with three consecutive 3s to take a 44-34 lead into the break.

UT Dallas was 9 of 15 from long range in the first half. LETU was 8 of 19.

The Comets bumped their lead to 15 early in the second half before Matthews, who scored eight points, knocked down a jumper in the paint and then sank a free throw to cut it to 49-37. Less than five minutes into the second half, UTD stretched its lead out to 23 before West scored in the paint, and sank the ensuing free throw to put an end to an 11-0 Comets' run.  

Eberhardt canned another triple, and Taylor split a pair from the stripe as the Jackets cut what had mushroomed to a 26-point edge for the Comets to 75-54. But Jalen Weber hit a three for UTD, and LETU couldn't cut it under 20 the rest of the way.

Eberhardt's six triples marked a career-best, and matched West for the most in a game by a YellowJacket this season.

Six players scored in double figures for the Comets, who had 20 assists to the YellowJackets' 13. Kelden Pruitt finished with 20 points and eight rebounds, and Kolton Pruitt had 16 points for UT Dallas.

Beene, Taylor and Wilson each scored five points.