University of North Texas Athletics
Mean Green Face Jacksonville State In CBI Semifinals
3/21/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 21, 2018
DENTON - The North Texas men's basketball team looks to keep the momentum going as they host Jacksonville State in the College Basketball Invitational semifinals on Wednesday, March 21, at 7 p.m. at the Super Pit.
The Mean Green (17-17) earned another double-digit victory after a 96-67 home win against Mercer on Monday, March 19. It was the largest margin of victory in the 11-year history of the CBI. North Texas remained hot from the three-point line shooting 12-for-29 and held the Bears to just 5-for-26 from downtown.
UNT continued to start small with a four-guard lineup featuring juniors Jorden Duffy and Michael Miller. Duffy exploded with a career-high 31 points off 11-for-16 shooting and hit a career-best six three-pointers. Sophomore Roosevelt Smart recorded his first-career double-double off 31 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Smart went 11-for-12 from the free throw line and hit four three-pointers.
Smart is closing in on another school record having scored 669 points, which is third-best for a single season and is 59 points away from tying Kenneth Lyons mark of 728 set in 1982-83. Sophomore Ryan Woolridge tied his career-high with 11 assists against Mercer and is now just 12 assists away from tying the school record. Woolridge has 196 assists and is chasing a record held by Walter Johnson, who set the mark of 208 in 1976-77.
The Mean Green have scored 90 points or more in back-to-back games against division one opponents for the first time since 1998-99.
Only 34 division one men's basketball teams are still playing in postseason tournaments with three from Conference USA in Western Kentucky (NIT) and UTSA (CIT).
About the Opponent: Jacksonville State (CBI Semifinals)
• This will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools. North Texas has never played against Ohio Valley member Jacksonville State.
• Jacksonville State is 23-12 on the season and have won five of their last six games. The Gamecocks won two road games to advance to the CBI semifinals with wins at Canisius (W, 80- 78 in OT) and at Central Arkansas (W, 80-59).
• Senior guard Malcolm Drumwright leads the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game and has hit 68 three-pointers on the season. Junior forward Jason Burnell is second in scoring at 11.1 points per game and second in rebounding at 6.1 boards per game. Marlon Hunter is third in scoring at 10.6 points per game. Junior forward Christian Cunningham leads the team in rebounding at 7.1 boards per game and has a team-leading 57 blocks.
• The Gamecocks are 74th in the nation in offensive rebounds per game at 11.5 per game. Jacksonville State has grabbed 406 on the season, including 84 by Cunningham.
• Head coach Ray Harper is no stranger to Conference USA opponents as he was the former Western Kentucky coach from 2011-16. Harper is 6-1 against the Mean Green, including 2-0 in Conference Tournaments. Harper has won his last six meetings with North Texas.
• JSU won the OVC championship in 206-17 and lost in the NCAA Tournament to second-seeded Louisville on March 17.
| North Texas men's basketball vs. Jacksonville State (CBI semifinals) | |
| Date | Time | Wednesday, March 21 | 7 p.m. |
| Location | Denton, TX | The Super Pit (10,500) |
| Live Stats | meangreenstats.com |
| Stream | ESPN3 - John Liddle (PxP), Kyle Youmans (Color) |
| Radio | MGRN - 88.1 KNTU-FM, 95.3 KHYI-FM - Dave Barnett (PxP), Hank Dickenson (Color) |
| @MeanGreenMBB | |
| Game Notes | North Texas | JSU |
DENTON - The North Texas men's basketball team looks to keep the momentum going as they host Jacksonville State in the College Basketball Invitational semifinals on Wednesday, March 21, at 7 p.m. at the Super Pit.
The Mean Green (17-17) earned another double-digit victory after a 96-67 home win against Mercer on Monday, March 19. It was the largest margin of victory in the 11-year history of the CBI. North Texas remained hot from the three-point line shooting 12-for-29 and held the Bears to just 5-for-26 from downtown.
UNT continued to start small with a four-guard lineup featuring juniors Jorden Duffy and Michael Miller. Duffy exploded with a career-high 31 points off 11-for-16 shooting and hit a career-best six three-pointers. Sophomore Roosevelt Smart recorded his first-career double-double off 31 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Smart went 11-for-12 from the free throw line and hit four three-pointers.
Smart is closing in on another school record having scored 669 points, which is third-best for a single season and is 59 points away from tying Kenneth Lyons mark of 728 set in 1982-83. Sophomore Ryan Woolridge tied his career-high with 11 assists against Mercer and is now just 12 assists away from tying the school record. Woolridge has 196 assists and is chasing a record held by Walter Johnson, who set the mark of 208 in 1976-77.
The Mean Green have scored 90 points or more in back-to-back games against division one opponents for the first time since 1998-99.
Only 34 division one men's basketball teams are still playing in postseason tournaments with three from Conference USA in Western Kentucky (NIT) and UTSA (CIT).
About the Opponent: Jacksonville State (CBI Semifinals)
• This will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools. North Texas has never played against Ohio Valley member Jacksonville State.
• Jacksonville State is 23-12 on the season and have won five of their last six games. The Gamecocks won two road games to advance to the CBI semifinals with wins at Canisius (W, 80- 78 in OT) and at Central Arkansas (W, 80-59).
• Senior guard Malcolm Drumwright leads the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game and has hit 68 three-pointers on the season. Junior forward Jason Burnell is second in scoring at 11.1 points per game and second in rebounding at 6.1 boards per game. Marlon Hunter is third in scoring at 10.6 points per game. Junior forward Christian Cunningham leads the team in rebounding at 7.1 boards per game and has a team-leading 57 blocks.
• The Gamecocks are 74th in the nation in offensive rebounds per game at 11.5 per game. Jacksonville State has grabbed 406 on the season, including 84 by Cunningham.
• Head coach Ray Harper is no stranger to Conference USA opponents as he was the former Western Kentucky coach from 2011-16. Harper is 6-1 against the Mean Green, including 2-0 in Conference Tournaments. Harper has won his last six meetings with North Texas.
• JSU won the OVC championship in 206-17 and lost in the NCAA Tournament to second-seeded Louisville on March 17.
Players Mentioned
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