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University of North Texas
Langston
Williams Sparks NT, Combs Finishes Off 78-65 Victory
12/17/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jeremy Combs had a career-high 25 points against Langston. (photo by Beth Hall-USA TODAY Sports)
DENTON - Looking to snap a three-game losing streak, North Texas looked to its best player to take the lead.
Jordan Williams answered the call with the seventh double-double of his career, scoring 20 points and pulling down 11 rebounds to ignite the Mean Green to a 78-65 win over Langston in a lunch-time start Wednesday at the Super Pit.
Following Williams's lead, freshman Jeremy Combs scored a career-high and team-season-high 25 points and senior Colin Voss added a double-double with 10 points, 10 boards and a career-best four assists.
"I was pleased to see a great effort from some of our guys on offense," North Texas coach Tony Benford said. "Jeremy and Jordan did a solid job, and Colin was solid. Defensively, we had too many breakdowns in our zone."
After jumping out to a quick 7-0 lead, North Texas struggled with its shooting touch through the first 12 minutes of play and trailed by as many as four, weighed down by sub-40-percent shooting and six turnovers. But in the final eight minutes of the half, the Mean Green began to exert its dominance inside. North Texas out-rebounded the Lions 22-13 behind six boards apiece from Voss and Williams and out-scored them 20-6 in the paint to take control of the game, then used six steals to spark a late 19-6 run for a 34-23 halftime lead.
But Langston was resilient throughout. The Lions immediately narrowed the gap to four in the second half, then held on as the Mean Green repeatedly tried to open a comfortable lead, keeping the North Texas lead in single-digits and trailing by just three at 54-51 with seven minutes to play.
Combs, however, put the game away by scoring 15 points in the final 6:26 of the game. Combs shot an efficient 73.3 percent on 11 of 15 field-goal attempts for the game.
Quick Hits
• Wednesday's double-double was the seventh of Jordan Williams's career and his second this season. It was also his 10th game to score 20 points or more.
• Williams moved past Willie Davis into 14th place on the North Texas career scoring list. Williams now has 1,174 points for his career, surpassing Davis's 1,166.
• Voss's double-double was the fourth of his career and first of the season.
• Langston received 20 votes in the latest NAIA Division I Basketball Coaches Poll, narrowly missing landing in the top 25.
• In the second half, Voss missed a free throw for the first time since Nov. 19.
• This was the first meeting between North Texas and Langston.
Up Next
North Texas hosts perennial-NCAA-tournament team Creighton this Sunday, Dec. 21, at 1 p.m. at the Super Pit, then hosts Prairie View A&M on Tuesday, Dec. 23 at 7 p.m. in their final game before Christmas.
