University of North Texas Athletics
Mean Green Leads Early But Falls To TCU, 88-78
12/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DENTON (12/4/04) - The North Texas men’s basketball team led TCU by as many as 12 points in the first half but was unable to hold off the Horned Frogs in an 88-78 loss on Saturday night in the Super Pit.
TCU (5-2) increased its series advantage with the Mean Green (3-2) to 43-31 and snapped NT’s six-game winning streak at home.
"This was a very hard-fought game for both teams," said head coach Johnny Jones. "There was a total of 67 fouls called. Neither team was able to get into a flow. A key in the game was that neither team was able to capitalize from the free throw line."
The Mean Green jumped out to an early 21-9 lead in the opening 10 minutes of the game behind 50 percent shooting from the field. Sophomore Calvin Watson scored eight points in the early NT run, including two three-pointers. He scored of all his 14 points in the first half.
After a dunk by junior Ron Harris gave North Texas a 29-19 lead with 7:57 left in the first half, TCU went on an 18-9 run to cut NT’s lead to one, 38-37, at intermission.
The Horned Frogs took its first lead since the opening basket of the game with the first shot of the second half. A 17-6 run followed, giving TCU a 54-42 advantage and a lead it would not relinquish. North Texas cut the TCU lead to five points, twice, but was unable to get any closer.
TCU shot 52.8 percent from the field, compared to North Texas’ 38.8 percent. The Mean Green converted 18-of-37 free throws and was 8-of-23 from three-point range.
Leonard Hopkins scored a game-high 21 points and junior Isaac Hines tied a season high with 12 points. Harris added a season-high 10 points and freshman Quincy Williams pulled down a personal-best 13 rebounds. TCU had five players in double figures.
"We felt like we were playing a very good team tonight," said Hopkins. "We knew they had beat Texas Tech and some other quality teams. We played hard. Time just ran out on us. We had a lot of open looks in the second half, they just weren’t falling. They got some good shots and were able to hit them. That was the difference."
North Texas returns to action on Tuesday, Nov. 7, when it travels to Austin to face No. 13 Texas.
