DENTON (1/5/06) The North Texas men’s basketball team opened Sun Belt Conference play with an 86-79 victory against Louisiana-Lafayette on Thursday night in the Super Pit.
The Mean Green (8-4, 1-0 Sun Belt) improved to 7-1 at home and 4-1 in Sun Belt openers under head coach Johnny Jones. The Ragin’ Cajuns (4-8, 0-1 Sun Belt) still lead the series, 13-7, and are 8-3 against the Mean Green as conference members.
“This was a big win for our program,” said North Texas head coach Johnny Jones. “Louisiana-Lafayette was picked to win our division. We did a good job of defending the entire game. Michael Southall is a tough match-up for anybody.”
The Ragin’ Cajuns cut an 11-point North Texas halftime lead to three points down the stretch, but the Mean Green made key free throws to hold onto the victory. Louisiana-Lafayette threatened after a dunk by Michael Southall brought the Ragin’ Cajuns within four points, 83-79, with 1:11 left in the game. On the ensuing North Texas possession, Calvin Watson brought down the rebound after a Kendrick Davis miss and Isaac Hines converted two free throws after being fouled.
Davis tied a career high with 23 points to lead the Mean Green offense. Quincy Williams was two points shy of his third career double-double with eight points and 12 rebounds. Senior Jeffrey Simpson was two rebounds shy of a double-double with 13 points and eight rebounds.
Louisiana-Lafayette jumped out to an 11-3 lead before North Texas responded with five three-pointers from four different players to close the gap, 18-16. Davis hit his third three-pointer to tie the game, 30-30, for the first time. Sophomore Michael Sturns stole the ball on the next possession and converted with a three-point play after being fouled to give North Texas its first lead, 33-30, with 6:18 left in the first half.
The Mean Green extended its halftime lead to as many as 13 points, 54-41 and 61-48, before the Ragin’ Cajuns cut the lead to three points, twice. UL Lafayette’s Ed Turner hit a three-pointer with 10:19 left in the game to put the score at 67-64 and then a layup by Southall, 78-75, with 3:20 on the clock. Southall recorded a triple-double in the game with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 11 blocks. UL-Lafayette held the edge in blocks, 17-2.
Six of NT’s final eight points were from the free throw line. The Mean Green posted a season high in free-throw percentage (77.4), converting 24 of 31 shots. North Texas also held the edge in rebounds, 44-35.
“I was pleased with our team’s poise,” said Jones. “Louisiana-Lafayette made a run at us, but we remained focused and were able to hold them off. We made big free throws when we needed to and continued to rebound the ball well.”
The North Texas bench scored 31 points, including 11 from Sturns. Louisiana-Lafayette, on the other hand, got only two points from its bench. Four of the five Ragin’ Cajuns starters recorded points in double figures.
The Mean Green continues its homestand with a Saturday night match-up against New Orleans at 7 pm in the Super Pit.
- North Texas postgame notes
- North Texas/Louisiana-Lafayette postgame quotes
