University of North Texas Athletics
NT vs FAU Postgame Notes & Quotes
3/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
FLORIDA ATLANTIC vs. NORTH TEXAS
2009 Sun Belt Conference Tournament First Round
Wednesday, March 04, 2009 / The Super Pit
Josh White and Eric Tramiel led the way with 24 and 21 points, respectively, marking the third time this season that two UNT players scored 20 or more points in the same game. The last time was on Feb. 14 vs. Middle Tennessee State (White, 26, and Adam McCoy, 24); on Dec. 6, 2008 against New Mexico State, Tristan Thompson (21) and Collin Dennis (20) also accomplished it. Dominique Johnson dished out 3 of UNT’s six assists in the game to run his career total to 115 and to move into a tie for No. 9 in single-season assists in the Mean Green history books. He’s tied with Kevie Gulley, who dished out 115 in 1989-90. White connected on 8-of-15 field goals and was a perfect 5-of-5 at the free throw line to lead the Mean Green in scoring with his 24 points. By shooting 5-5 at the FT line, White has now not missed a FT in his last 13 games since Jan. 10. His current streak marks the third time this season he’s made 20 or more FTs without a miss. White’s 24-point outburst was his third 20-plus scoring game this season and the 9th of his career. Six different UNT players have poured in 20 or more points this season. Tramiel’s 21-point performance came on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor and an outstanding 13-of-14 effort at the FT line. The 13 made free throws were a career high for Tramiel. George Odufuwa also reached double figures in scoring with 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting. It was his fifth double-figure game this season. The Mean Green continued to be outstanding at the free throw line as a team, hitting 29-of-35 for a .829 percentage. It was the ninth game this season in which the Mean Green has shot 82 percent or better at the line. The Mean Green improved to 3-1 vs. the Owls in the series and remains unbeaten at 3-0 against FAU in Denton. Since the Sun Belt Conference went to its current opening-round tournament format, the Mean Green are 3-0 in first-round tournament games. With the win, UNT improves to 4-5 all-time in Sun Belt opening-round games. Head Coach Johnny Jones Quotes “We knew this would be a hard fought battle. Florida Atlantic is very athletic and tonight they had Carlos Monroe and Paul Graham in the lineup who we did not see the first time we played them. We knew they would make a run at us and they did. They made touch shots that were defended well and that is a testament to Coach Jarvis and his team. “ “Offensively we did not execute as smoothly as we could have but we were still able to make key plays down the stretch and from the free throw line that helped us to the win.” “I reminded the kids of a story that Coach Avery Johnson shared with me about the end of the season. In essence he told me that the all the preparation is done, the regular season is over and now is the time that we must EXECUTE in order to continue playing. Tonight, although we had to stave off a run by FAU, we EXECUTED to get the win. We must continue to EXECUTE in order to keep playing. “ “We must now take on Middle Tennessee again. We lost to them in overtime on New Year’s Eve at home and then beat them on Valentine’s Day in Tennessee, so now we play on Sunday and again we must EXECUTE to continue playing.” On Josh White “Josh played very well tonight. He may have had one of his better games. It is great having him as THE top free throw shooter in the country. He shoots over 92 % from the line and that is a luxury that most teams do not have.” On Dominque Johnson “Domo (Johnson) plays with a sense of urgency. He made a very heads up play to grab the rebound late in the game and then calmly sank two free throws to preserve the victory for us.
