University of North Texas Athletics
Mean Green Drops 76-55 Decision at MTSU
2/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (2/6/03) The North Texas men’s basketball team couldn’t overcome a 27-point outburst from Middle Tennessee’s William Pippen in a 76-55 setback against the Blue Raiders in a Sun Belt Conference game.
Senior guard Chris Davis scored a team-high 17 points to push his career total to 2,143 and move him past Jesse Ratliff into second place on the North Texas all-time scoring list. Eight of Davis’ points came at the charity stripe, giving him the school record for free throws made in a career with 499 to his credit.
The games first 10 minutes saw six ties as neither team could build more than a four-point lead, but Middle Tennessee went on a 25-10 run over the next 10 minutes to turn a 14-14 tie into a 39-24 halftime advantage. The Blue Raiders scored the first 10 points of the second half to open up its largest lead of the game at 49-24 with 17:43 left in the contest. The Mean Green cut MTSU’s advantage to 16 two different times, but got no closer.
Getting his second straight start, NT’s Justin Barnett scored a career-high 10 points. Lee Green chipped in 11 points to join Barnett and Davis in double figures for the Mean Green.
North Texas shot just 38 percent from the floor, while MTSU connected on 48 percent of its shots. The Mean Green also struggled on the boards, losing the rebounding battle 45-27.
North Texas will play again this Saturday, hosting Western Kentucky in a 7 p.m. game at the Super Pit. The game will be televised by ESPN Regional and will also be carried on Ch. 52 in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.
