University of North Texas Athletics
NMSU Game Notes & Quotes
12/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NORTH TEXAS vs. NEW MEXICO STATE
The Super Pit / Dec. 6, 2008
GAME NOTES / QUOTES
* North Texas’ 85-83 victory was its third two-point win of the season all home games.
* The win improved the Mean Green to 6-2, marking the third consecutive season NT has opened with a 6-2 record.
* North Texas has now won its last four meetings with New Mexico State.
* Tristan Thompson connected on 7-9 FGs and 5-6 FTs to reach a new career high in scoring with 21 points. The 21-point effort comes on the heels of his previous career-best performance of 20 points in NT’s last game against Sam Houston St.
* Thompson has now scored in double figures in his last four games.
* Thompson was joined in the 20-point club by Collin Dennis, who hit a game-high three three-pointers and went 5-7 from the FT line to finish with 20 points. His 20 points are a season-high and mark the third time in NT’s last four games that he’s scored in double digits.
* Eric Tramiel also scored in double figures, hitting 6-9 FTs to end with a season-high 16 points. It marked his second double-figure game of the season.
* Tramiel also came up big on the boards, pulling down a team-high nine rebounds. His effort on the glass included seven offensive rebounds, marking just the second time this season a Mean Green player had grabbed as many as seven offensive rebounds. George Odufuwa pulled down seven offensive rebounds against Oklahoma State on 11-17-08.
*Collin Dennis grabbed a season-high three steals in the game, matching his career high.
* Dominique Johnson’s two steals match his season high.
* Johnson also set a new career high with six assists in the game.
*George Odufuwa, who also grabbed three steals in the game, had now made five steals in the last two games for NT.
* Justin Howerton and Kedrick Hogans each registered a blocked shot in the game; NT has now notched at least one blocked shot in all eight games this season.
Head Coach Johnny Jones Quotes
“This was a great win for us. New Mexico State, although young, is probably better this year than last year. They are one of the top teams in the WAC (Western Athletic Conference). They are extremely talented and they have no quit in them. We would get the lead to double digits and they would come right back on us. This was a great test for us to gauge where are in our growth as a basketball team. Games like this we will help us as we enter the grind of Sun Belt Conference play.”
“He has played extremely well the last two games, but has been steady all year. He takes good shots and is not forcing anything. He is letting the game come to him.”
On Eric Tramiel
“He does all the little things. He goes about his business very quietly and then you look at the stat sheet at the end of the game and he has done an outstanding job. He is shooting the ball extremely well at over 60 percent.
