University of North Texas Athletics
Sun Belt's Top Rebounders Face Off Thursday
2/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
North Texas (16-8, 5-6 SBC) vs. South Alabama (10-13, 4-8 SBC)
Denton, Texas • The Super Pit (10,500)
Feb. 17, 2011 • 7:00 p.m. CST
Radio: KWRD 100.7-FM, KNTU 88.1-FM
George Dunham (PBP), Hank Dickenson (Analyst)
TV: NTTV (Denton Charter 22, Verizon 42)
Live Stats
Webcast
Series: USA leads 13-5 • Last: NT won 86-78 (1/21/10)
Game Notes
DENTON, Texas - On Thursday night at the Super Pit, North Texas and South Alabama will battle for key positioning in next month's Sun Belt Conference Tournament. In the paint, the league's two leading rebounders will be battling for key position for the rebound that could make the difference.
USA's Augustine Rubit ranks 6th in the NCAA with 11.2 rebounds per game (12.9 points), and North Texas' George Odufuwa isn't far behind at 22nd with 10.0 boards. All eyes will be on these two forwards as they lock horns on Thursday night at 7 p.m.
South Alabama leads the all-time series with North Texas 13-5, including a slim 5-4 edge at the Super Pit. The Mean Green has taken the last two meetings in Denton, including last year's 86-78 victory.
In the last two seasons, Odufuwa has only faced off against one player that averaged more rebounds than him (Arsalan Kazemi of Rice on 11/23/10), and Odufuwa out-boarded him 16-12 that night.
Odufuwa and Josh White are already the Sun Belt's active career rebounding and scoring leaders, respectively, and are climbing the NCAA charts. Odufuwa (794 career rebounds) ranks 23rd in career boards among active players nationwide, and White (1,568 points) is 38th in scoring.
Jacob Holmen has found increasing success as the season goes on. The sophomore, who took 15 games to reach double-figures, has reached that plateau in three of his last four games, including 15 points at Louisiana-Lafayette and 14 at Western Kentucky.
