ARLINGTON, Texas –– Appalachian State University men's basketball got a career-high 14 points from Isaac Johnson and eight rebounds, coupled with Patrick Good tying his career-high of 21 points, but it would not be enough in a 84-69 defeat at UTA on Monday night.

The Mountaineers (5-8, 0-2 Sun Belt) opened the game on a hot start with back-to-back threes from Ronshad Shabazz and Kelvin Robinson and led 13-6 at the first media timeout.

For the majority of the first half, the Black and Gold held the advantage over the Mavericks (12-3, 2-0 Sun Belt) including a four point lead at 24-20 with 8:26 remaining in the half. However, UTA would go on a 13-2 run and take a 33-26 lead with 2:44 remaining.

Appalachian would finish the half strong on a 7-4 run with buckets from Griffin Kinney and Good to trail by just four at the break.

Despite a late run in the first half from the Mavs, Appalachian came out in the second half with a hook shot from Kinney and two free throws from Emarius Logan to knot the score at 37-37 just 38 seconds into the half.

Unfortunately, the Mountaineers would go scoreless over the next 2:11 and UTA would engineer a 9-0 run - pushing its lead to 11 at 51-40 following a 3-pointer from Kevin Hervey. For the game, Hervey finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Mavericks.

The Apps would keep battling and came to within eight points at 54-46 following a Logan free throw. The Mavericks, however, would keep the Mountaineers at a safe distance the rest of the way with App State not coming closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

Kinney finished the game with his third ultra-impressive performance in a row with eight points and seven rebounds.

To go with Good's 21 points, the true freshman finished 7-for-12 from the field, including an incredible 7-of-11 from downtown. Robinson also finished with nine points on the night.

The Mountaineers shared the ball at a really good clip, posting 18 assists on 23 field goals. 

Appalachian State will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 7 when it hosts Little Rock as part of a doubleheader. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. from inside the Holmes Center.

Notes: With the loss, App State falls to 1-5 all-time against UTA … Patrick Good finished with a career-high seven 3-pointers en route to tying his career-high with 21 points … Isaac Johnson notched a career-high 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting … Johnson also finished with a team-high eight rebounds … Griffin Kinney finished another solid game with eight points and seven rebounds … the Mountaineers grabbed 39 rebounds … App State assisted on 18 of its 23 field goals in the game ... 44 of the Mountaineers' 69 points were produced by freshmen.