by Sports Xchange

The Mavericks score points and will most nights, especially when Southland Conference play rolls around. The question is can Texas Arlington, an NCAA Tournament team last season, stop anyone?

Texas Arlington's defense, 11th in points allowed in the SLC a season ago, must improve for another league-title run. It's especially crucial now that center Anthony Vereen, second in the SLC at 17.7 points per game last season as a senior, is gone.

Senior guard Marquez Haynes, third behind Vereen in league scoring, drives the Mavericks' up-tempo offense.

Vereen was an agile, big man with offensive skills to be reckoned with, a player type many teams in the SLC lacked. Haynes will be one of several talented guards in the league, so his leadership and finding someone to pair with him are critical.

If the offense, which averaged an SLC-best 79.4 points per game, falls off, Texas-Arlington's defense will need better chops.

It's a priority for Mavs coach Scott Cross, who has few potential replacements for Vereen and plans to fill the void by committee. UTA will be smaller inside and Vereen's replacements are either raw backups or newcomers.

Without Vereen, look for Texas-Arlington to shoot more three-pointers than last season, when the Mavericks were fourth in SLC with 601 shots from behind the arc.

At Texas Hall, the show will go on.