University of North Texas Athletics
New Orleans Slips Past NT in OT, 77-76
1/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DENTON (1/29/04) -- Missed free throws in the final 94 seconds of overtime by North Texas helped New Orleans sneak away with a 77-76 win over the Mean Green in a Sun Belt Conference game Thursday night at the Super Pit.
The Mean Green (9-9, 4-2) missed six consecutive free throws in the final 1:34 of overtime to suffer their first loss in six games and just their second in Sun Belt play. New Orleans improved to 10-9 and 4-2.
North Texas sent the game into OT -- the second overtime game this season -- with an impressive second half comeback that saw the Mean Green outscore the Privateers 45-39 in the second period and knot the score at 67-67 at the end of regulation.
In the OT period, Justin Barnett gave NT a 73-72 lead with 1:49 remaining when he connected on an inside lay-up. Moments later UNO regained the lead on a lay-up by Johnell Smith. Then, Barnett, Will Smith and Marqus Mitchell missed a combined six straight free throws.
The Privateers then iced the victory with 18 seconds left when Billy McDade hit an off-balance three-pointer from the top of the key.
"We put ourselves in a position to win, but unfortunately we couldn't knock down the free throws, which was the difference in the game," said North Texas head coach Johnny Jones. "I thought we did a good job of battling back after getting behind in the second half. We had some momentum, but every time we got to the free throw line, we couldn't knock them down."
North Texas had one player stand out at the free throw line: Leonard Hopkins. The junior guard led the Mean Green with 16 points, including going 10-for-10 at the line. Also in double figures for North Texas were Jerome Rogers with 14 points and Michael DeGrate with 12.
The Mean Green shot just 28 percent from the floor in the first half and trailed by a 28-22 margin at halftime. They improved to 46 percent in the second period and sent the game into overtime with just 33 seconds remaining when Rogers connected on a jumper.
