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University of North Texas
Sam Houston State
Thompson Notches 20 Points In 68-66 Win Over Bearkats
12/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Box Score
DENTON, Texas (12/03/08) Tristan Thompson scored a career-high 20 points and the Mean Green basketball team erased a halftime deficit to beat the Sam Houston State Bearkats 68-66 at The Super Pit Wednesday evening.
North Texas (5-2) outscored Sam Houston State 40-32 in the second half and relied on clutch free throw shooting in the final minute to help sweep the season series from the Bearkats and take a 33-27 series lead all-time.
Sam Houston State (2-4) was led by Ashton Mitchell, who had a career-high 23 points.
Josh White scored only seven points but hit a crucial three-pointer late in the second half as well as another jumper that gave the Mean Green a 65-61 lead with 1:22 remaining.
The Bearkats missed out on a big opportunity in the final seconds to send the game into overtime. Trailing 68-66, Sam Houston State forced a turnover with four seconds remaining. However, Barkley Falkner would miss both free throws as well as a putback at the buzzer.
The Mean Green struggled early on at the charity stripe, missing 5-of-7 but finished by connecting on 12-of-14.
North Texas took control from the tip and led throughout the early part of the first half thanks to seven points from Thompson and Collin Dennis. The Mean Green also took advantage of 11 Bearkats turnovers and capitalized by scoring 10 points off turnovers.
However, the Bearkats stormed back in the closing minutes of the first half. After leading 20-14 at the 7:50 mark, North Texas struggled offensively and allowed Sam Houston to go on a 20-8 run in the final five minutes of the first half.
The Mean Green will look to carry their momentum on Saturday, Dec. 6 when they host New Mexico State at 7 p.m.
