University of North Texas Athletics
Texas State Looking For Revenge Sunday
12/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
North Texas (8-2) vs. Texas State (2-6)
Denton, Texas • The Super Pit (10,500)
Dec. 19, 2010 • 5:00 p.m.
Radio: KWRD 100.7-FM, KNTU 88.7-FM
George Dunham (PBP), Hank Dickenson (Color)
TV: None
Live Video
Live Stats
Series: NT leads 58-28 • Last: NT 81-77 (Nov. 27, 2010)
Game Notes
DENTON, Texas - A 14-point cushion wasn't enough for Texas State last month as North Texas completed its biggest comeback of the season in topping the Bobcats, 81-77, at Strahan Coliseum. Now it's time for the rematch, as Texas State comes to the Super Pit for a Sunday afternoon showdown.
Tip off is slated for 5 p.m., and can be heard on the Mean Green Radio Network.
North Texas outscored Texas State 28-12 over the final 5:12 to steal the win. Down 67-56 with four minutes left, Josh White and Tristan Thompson knocked down two 3-pointers apiece in just over a minute to put North Texas on top for good. The Mean Green shot 69.6 percent in the second half, and got 23 points on 6-of-7 from 3-point from Thompson. White landed 21 points on 3-of-4 shooting from deep.
NT has faced Texas State on the hardwood more than any other opponent in school history. This will be the 87th meeting between the two schools, with the Mean Green holding a 58-28 edge in the series which began in 1921. North Texas was 31-13 against Southwest Texas State, as it was known then, prior to World War II. Since the 1987-88 season when the Bobcats joined the Southland Conference, NT is leading the series 12-9 overall.
Texas State has dropped its last five games dating back to a 126-127 overtime loss to Our Lady of the Lake (NAIA) in San Marcos on Nov. 24. In this skid, the Bobcats have also lost to the Mean Green (81-77), Houston Baptist (88-81), Texas (101-65) and Texas Southern (78-64).
The Mean Green, on the other hand, is off to an 8-2 start, the program's best since 1976-77. NT seems to have found its shooting touch in the month of Dec. NT is 99-of-198 (50.0 percent) from the floor in four games this month. By comparison, NT was 152-of-341 (44.6 percent) as a team in Nov. Kedrick Hogans is the biggest culprit for NT's turnaround, shooting 74.2 percent from the floor in Dec.
Few teams can get the free throw line, and make it count like North Texas. NT ranks 5th in the NCAA with 21.7 free throws made per game, and is 19th in the country with a free throw percentage of 76.7. NT has three players that rank among the nation's top 140 in free throw percentage - Dominique Johnson (68th), Josh White (77th) and Tristan Thompson (140). NT has led the nation in free throws made per game in each of the last two years.
