University of North Texas Athletics
SBC Scoring Leaders Clash In Mobile Thursday
1/3/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
North Texas (8-7, 1-1 SBC) at South Alabama (8-4, 0-1 SBC)
Mobile, Ala. • Mitchell Center (10,000)
Jan. 5, 2012 • 7:00 p.m. CST
Radio: 88.1 KNTU-FM, 100.7 KWRD-FM • Hank Dickenson
TV: None
Live Stats & Webcast: UsaJaguars.com
Series: USA leads 13-6
Last: NT won 82-79 on Feb. 17, 2011 in Denton
GAME NOTES
MOBILE, Ala. – Two of the best young players in the Sun Belt Conference will square off on Thursday at the Mitchell Center when North Texas takes on South Alabama. Tip off from Mobile is slated for 7 p.m. and can be heard on the Mean Green Radio Network.
Mean Green freshman Chris Jones, who ranks in the top 10 in the Sun Belt with 14.9 points (2nd), 2.3 steals (3rd), 4.3 assists (4th), 4.1 defensive rebounds (T8th) and 1.1 assists-to-turnovers (10th) per game, will try to slow down last year’s SBC Freshman of the Year, Augustine Rubit – the league’s leading scorer (15.7 ppg) and rebounder (9.4 rpg).
With his 21 point, 10 assist outing against Troy, Jones notched the first points/assists double-double by an NT player since Terence White on Feb. 2, 2000 (15 pts, 13 asst vs TAMU-CC). But the freshman also pulled down nine rebounds, making him one board shy of the first NT triple double since Jesse Ratliff on Feb. 18, 1993 (20 pts, 16 reb, 10 asst vs SHSU).
South Alabama leads the all-time series with NT, 13-6, including an 8-1 margin in Mobile. Including a Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinal loss to Western Kentucky in 2008, NT is 1-8 in the Mitchell Center, with the lone win coming in a 78-72 victory over the Jaguars in the 2001-02 finale. The Mean Green has taken the last three meetings in Denton and three of the last four overall.
Last year’s 82-79 win over the Jaguars at the Super Pit snapped the Mean Green’s season-high four-game skid. Four NT players scored in double figures, with senior Tristan Thompson leading the way with 18 points and six rebounds. The double digit scoring effort was Thompson’s 22nd of the season. Augustine Rubit led the way for USA with 17 points, as the Jaguars shot 57 percent from the floor and whittled the NT lead to three points twice inside the game’s final 23 seconds. NT answered with free throws each time.
