University of North Texas Athletics
NT Can Take Another Step Forward Against ULM
2/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Denton, Texas • The Super Pit (10,500)
Feb. 19, 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)
Series: ULM leads 27-21 • Last: NT won 79-62 (1/20/11)
Live Stats
Webcast
Game Notes
DENTON, Texas - North Texas righted its ship with a tough defensive stand on Thursday night against South Alabama. On Saturday night against ULM, the Mean Green looks to take another step toward the top of the Sun Belt West Division standings.
NT is currently the West's No. 4 squad, but is only 2.5 games back of division leader Denver, and only 1.5 games behind Arkansas State which currently owns a bye in the opening round of the Sun Belt Tournament. The Mean Green will face both of those squads next week in the regular season's final week.
First, NT will need to take care of business against a 1-13 ULM team that has struggled this season. The Mean Green has a stranglehold on the Warhawks over the last few years, taking the last eight meetings with ULM, including the matchup in January (79-62).
In fact, there isn't a player on the NT roster that has ever lost to ULM. The average margin of victory over this eight-game span is 13.0 points, and includes a 72-40 win which was ULM's largest ever margin of defeat at Fant Ewing Coliseum. The last time ULM bested NT was on Feb. 10, 2007 (66-62).
NT's trio of Preseason All-Sun Belt honorees have excelled against ULM over their careers. Tristan Thompson is averaging 16.5 points on 51.8 percent shooting, including 17-of-30 (56.7 percent) from 3-point. George Odufuwa is just shy of a double-double average with 10.4 points and 9.6 rebounds, while Josh White is averaging 13.4 points on 41.4 percent shooting from deep.
As a matter of fact, NT's entire roster has had success against ULM. The career shooting percentage of NT's entire roster against ULM is 48.5 percent, including a 47.2 percent clip from 3-point.
On Thursday, George Odufuwa became just the 14th player in Sun Belt history to record over 800 career rebounds. The senior now ranks 7th in NT history with 804 boards, and is one of just four players in the nation to average a double-double in each of the last two seasons. The senior ranks 19th in the NCAA with 10.0 rebounds per game in 2010-11 and has 12 double-doubles.
