Saturday, December 21
The Super Pit
5:00 PM
University of North Texas
-57,00 CUSA
86
vs
53
Arkansas - Pine Bluff
1-10,0-0SWAC
1
2
F
Ark.-Pine Bluff
24
29
53
North Texas
41
45
86
Photo by: Rick Yeatts Photography
Mean Green Score Season-High In Win
12/21/2019 7:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball
DENTON — The North Texas men's basketball team returned to the Super Pit on Saturday and dropped a season-high 86 points as they beat Arkansas at Pine Bluff 86-53.
The Mean Green (5-7) were led by 15 points from Javion Hamlet who also had a season-high nine assists to go along with what was his third-best scoring output of the year. Zachary Simmons led the team early on in scoring and finished with 12 points. The Mean Green are now 16-5 all-time when Simmons makes five or more field goals. He was 6-of-7 on Saturday, Junior Thomas Bell came off the bench and brought the energy on the defensive end but also offensively as he added 11 points and had a monstrous dunk in the second-half.
"Our effort and tempo really broke the game open for us," said head coach Grant McCasland. "To have this kind of offensive performance was great."
Thirteen different UNT players scored on Saturday versus the Golden Lions (1-10).
North Texas has played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in nation this season and has played a few of the best defensive teams.
On Saturday, it was the Mean Green's defense that broke open the game midway through the first half. UNT never trailed UAPB but the Golden Lions kept the game close with free throws and a four-minute stretch where North Texas' offensive struggled. Then the Mean Green broke into a full-court press, which translated into energy and a 17-1 run.
"We did a great job at staying aggressive and guys like Jalen (Jackson), Umoja Gibson and Thomas (Bell) really got things going for us," said Simmons.
Offensively Hamlet was the catalyst.
Entering Saturday, the Mean Green newcomer was averaging 12.6 points per game with a 2.6 assist/turnover ratio over the last four games. Hamlet had seven assists by the end of the first half, which tied a first-half season high. Then in the second half, Hamlet took over the scoring. He dropped nine points in the second half but hitting mid-range jumpers. He was 4-for-5 from the field in the second frame.
"He's really taken his game to another level over the past few weeks," said Simmons. "He's going to be huge for us."
Early in the first half, senior Roosevelt Smart made a corner 3-pointer, which was his 190th of his career. The 3-pointer moved Smart into sole possession of second-place all-time at UNT. The Chicago native is now 19 3-pointers behind Calvin Watson's program-record.
Saturday was the Mean Green's final game before the Christmas break. UNT returns to action on Dec. 28 as they host Texas Wesleyan for the final non-conference game of this season. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 5 p.m. CT and will be broadcasted on the Mean Green Sports Network and on CUSA.tv.
The Mean Green (5-7) were led by 15 points from Javion Hamlet who also had a season-high nine assists to go along with what was his third-best scoring output of the year. Zachary Simmons led the team early on in scoring and finished with 12 points. The Mean Green are now 16-5 all-time when Simmons makes five or more field goals. He was 6-of-7 on Saturday, Junior Thomas Bell came off the bench and brought the energy on the defensive end but also offensively as he added 11 points and had a monstrous dunk in the second-half.
"Our effort and tempo really broke the game open for us," said head coach Grant McCasland. "To have this kind of offensive performance was great."
Thirteen different UNT players scored on Saturday versus the Golden Lions (1-10).
North Texas has played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in nation this season and has played a few of the best defensive teams.
On Saturday, it was the Mean Green's defense that broke open the game midway through the first half. UNT never trailed UAPB but the Golden Lions kept the game close with free throws and a four-minute stretch where North Texas' offensive struggled. Then the Mean Green broke into a full-court press, which translated into energy and a 17-1 run.
"We did a great job at staying aggressive and guys like Jalen (Jackson), Umoja Gibson and Thomas (Bell) really got things going for us," said Simmons.
Offensively Hamlet was the catalyst.
Entering Saturday, the Mean Green newcomer was averaging 12.6 points per game with a 2.6 assist/turnover ratio over the last four games. Hamlet had seven assists by the end of the first half, which tied a first-half season high. Then in the second half, Hamlet took over the scoring. He dropped nine points in the second half but hitting mid-range jumpers. He was 4-for-5 from the field in the second frame.
"He's really taken his game to another level over the past few weeks," said Simmons. "He's going to be huge for us."
Early in the first half, senior Roosevelt Smart made a corner 3-pointer, which was his 190th of his career. The 3-pointer moved Smart into sole possession of second-place all-time at UNT. The Chicago native is now 19 3-pointers behind Calvin Watson's program-record.
Saturday was the Mean Green's final game before the Christmas break. UNT returns to action on Dec. 28 as they host Texas Wesleyan for the final non-conference game of this season. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 5 p.m. CT and will be broadcasted on the Mean Green Sports Network and on CUSA.tv.
Team Stats
UAPB
UNT
FG%
.400
.536
3FG%
.250
.455
FT%
.760
.696
RB
25
29
TO
27
15
STL
7
15
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
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