University of North Texas Athletics
Mean Green Hoops Riding High Into Murfreesboro, Tenn.
1/30/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Listen Live!
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (1/30/10) - If you saw Sportscenter, you saw WKU's Steffphon Pettigrew send Thursday's game into overtime on a 35-foot miracle. But the Mean Green was 4-5 from the floor in overtime, including Eric Tramiel's game winning layup with eight seconds left. Now NT turns its attention to the hottest team in the Sun Belt, Middle Tennessee, winners of four straight.
The series between North Texas and Middle Tennessee is tied at 6-6 following the Mean Green win in the 2009 Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinals. NT has won the last two meetings in the series, as well as four of the last six meetings dating back to 2007. North Texas' 2009 win at the Murphy Center was its first in five tries at the facility.
READ THE FULL GAME NOTES
Tip off from the Murphy Center is slated for 7 p.m., with pregame on the Mean Green Radio Network starting at 6:30 p.m.
Quick Hitters
- Winning on the road is what separates the good teams from the pack, and North Texas has been as good as any in the Sun Belt. NT is 5-5 away from the Super Pit overall, and 3-2 in SBC play. Only South Alabama (6-5) has a better road win percentage than NT.
- With his third straight double-double, George Odufuwa upped his averages to 11.3 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. That average ranks 14th in the nation on the boards and makes him one of just 24 in the NCAA averaging a double-double.
- The Blue Raiders and the Mean Green have met in two of the last three Sun Belt Conference Tournaments, with NT taking both games. NT took the first meeting, 59-52, in the 2007 semifinal in Lafayette, La., and won 88-79 in the 2009 quarterfinal in Hot Springs, Ark.
- With nine regular season games left, the NT is seven wins shy of its fourth consecutive 20-win season. North Texas is one of just two teams in the Sun Belt Conference to rack up 13 wins this season (Denver & NT). As a matter of fact, only eight of the 21 teams from the state of Texas have reached 13 wins - and four of those are from the Big XII.
- In his career, NT fourth-year junior Collin Mangrum has played just 27 total minutes against MTSU - albeit 27 very productive minutes. Mangrum exploded for a career-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-9 from 3-point, in a 22 minute outing on New Year's Eve of 2008.
- Thanks to a streak of 12 straight games in double figures, Tristan Thompson has scored 832 points in his career - just 10 shy of 30th place in school history. Thompson already ranks fifth in career 3-point field goal percentage with a mark of 39.2 percent, and eighth with a 80.3 career free throw mark.
- The combination of Josh White and Tristan Thompson powered North Texas past Middle Tennessee 88-79 in the Sun Belt Conference quarterfinals at Summit Arena last season. The pair combined for 46 points as the Mean Green (20-11) earned its third straight 20-win season. NT led wire-to-wire against Middle Tennessee jumping on the Blue Raiders early with a 7-2 start, and hitting its first 20 from the charity stripe.Thompson ended the game with 19 points and hit 12-of-13 from the free throw line.
- Middle Tennessee is led by perennial All-Sun Belt big man Desmond Yates. The fifth-year senior is averaging 14.9 points per game, and despite his 6-foot-7 frame, has hit 20-of-47 (42.6 percent) of his attempts from 3-point. Yates earned Sun Belt Player of the Week honors this week for his 28-point performance against rival Western Kentucky. Montarrio Haddock isn't far behind Yates with 13.7 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game.
