University of North Texas
Middle Tennessee
Mean Green Suffers 89-80 OT Loss To Middle Tennessee
12/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Box Score
DENTON, Texas (12/31/08) Sophomore Collin Mangrum came off the bench to score a career-high 19 points and Tristan Thompson poured in 19 as well but it was the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee that stole the show, taking a 89-80 thriller in overtime Wednesday at The Super Pit.
The Mean Green (8-5, 1-2) suffered their third consecutive lost while Middle Tennessee (8-5, 2-0) won their fourth in a row. The Blue Raiders now lead the all-time series 6-4.
In overtime the Blue Raiders converted two straight three-point plays to take a 78-72 lead and never looked back from that point on, outscoring North Texas 17-8 in overtime. The Mean Green lost both Harold Stewart and Tramiel after fouling out, leaving only George Odufuwa as a true post presence.
Junior forward Desmond Yates scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Blue Raiders before fouling out in overtime.
With Middle Tennessee clinging to a 71-70 lead in regulation, Kevin Kanaskie split a pair of free throws to take a 72-70 lead. North Texas took advantage on Eric Tramiel’s layup to tie the game and force the extra overtime.
Mangrum, who missed the entire 2007-08 season due to various injuries, hit 5-of-9 from three-point land and matched his career high with nine points in only six minutes in the first half before finishing with 19 points. Perhaps his biggest play came on the defensive end, intercepting a pass at midcourt and taking it coast-to-coast for a layup to give the Mean Green a 70-67 lead with 2:10 left
With the Mean Green offense in a funk throughout the early part of the afternoon, Thompson came out of the gates blazing in the second half. After scoring six points in the first 20 minutes, Thompson converted a four-point play to give North Texas a 38-36 lead with 17:42 left in the game. Two minutes later Thompson scored six consecutive points on back-to-back three-pointers, giving the Mean Green a 46-40 advantage.
Despite shooting only 32 percent in the first half, the Mean Green took a 34-33 lead into halftime.
The Blue Raiders also struggled shooting in the first half connecting on only 34 percent of their shots but managed to stay in the ballgame thanks to 15 points from Yates.
The Mean Green faces another challenging opponent in their next contest when they travel to Arkansas on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 2 p.m.
