Thursday, December 5
The Super Pit
7:05 PM
University of North Texas
-36,00 CUSA
80
vs
82
Oklahoma
7-1,0-0Big 12
1
2
F
Oklahoma
36
46
82
North Texas
41
39
80
Photo by: Rick Yeatts Photography
Mean Green Drop Close One To Oklahoma, 82-80
12/5/2019 10:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball
DENTON – Despite leading 29 minutes of the game and tying a season-high 80 points, North Texas fell to Oklahoma in a nail-biting 82-80 contest on Thursday night in front of 5,637 fans at The Super Pit.
With the game tied 78-78, Oklahoma's Kristian Doolittle knocked down a pull-up three with 14 seconds left to take the lead. Doolittle led the Sooners (7-1) with a game-high 28 points on 11 of 15 from the floor and 3 of 3 from beyond the arc.
After both teams exchanged free throw attempts, the Mean Green had a last look from Thomas Bell from beyond the arc to win the game as the clock expired, but the shot landed just off the mark.
"Give our fans credit, it was a real college basketball environment," head coach Grant McCasland said. "But I'm just disappointed and sick that we didn't deliver and win the basketball game."
Umoja Gibson and James Reese combined for the first nine points as the Mean Green jumped out to a 9-5 lead. Those opening minutes would be a foreshadow of what was to come for Gibson and Reese throughout the night.
Gibson scored a season high 21 points and has now scored at least 18 points in his last five games. The redshirt sophomore had 14 in the first half alone on 7 of 11 shooting and has posted a 20-point outing in three of the last five contests. His 21 points on Thursday were a single-game high for the Mean Green so far this year.
Reese entered the game having made just one of his last 19 shots. Against Oklahoma, he started 3 of 5 from the field and finished with 13 points, tying a UNT career-high. He ignited the Mean Green crowd in the first half with an emphatic block before throwing down an alley oop from Javion Hamlet later in the game.
Midway through the first half, North Texas (3-6) went on an 8-0 run to take a 26-18 lead, capped off by a three-pointer from Roosevelt Smart.
Smart moved into sole possession of fourth-place in program history in career three-pointers with 186. He also moved into 20th in program history with 1,036 career points.
During the second half, North Texas extended the lead to 10 points, its largest of the game. However, the Sooners responded with a 10-0 run from the 12:06 mark to 7:43 to tie the game at 66-66.
The final seven minutes featured both teams trading buckets before Doolittle hit the three-point dagger in the closing minute.
"The one thing I love about this team is that they always get better," McCasland said. "We just had good moments from different people, and you could see the light coming on for different guys throughout the game."
Eighty-two points is the most North Texas has given up in a game this season. The Mean Green entered tonight with the No. 1 scoring defense in Conference USA.
"I feel like we did some good things, but we definitely cannot give up 82 points to a team," Reese said. "We just got to dig a little deeper and get better at getting stops."
DJ Draper continued his torrid start from the three-point line, knocking down 3 of 4 from downtown. Draper eclipsed 100 career three-pointers after knocking down a shot from the corner early in the second half.
QUICK SHOTS
With the game tied 78-78, Oklahoma's Kristian Doolittle knocked down a pull-up three with 14 seconds left to take the lead. Doolittle led the Sooners (7-1) with a game-high 28 points on 11 of 15 from the floor and 3 of 3 from beyond the arc.
After both teams exchanged free throw attempts, the Mean Green had a last look from Thomas Bell from beyond the arc to win the game as the clock expired, but the shot landed just off the mark.
"Give our fans credit, it was a real college basketball environment," head coach Grant McCasland said. "But I'm just disappointed and sick that we didn't deliver and win the basketball game."
Umoja Gibson and James Reese combined for the first nine points as the Mean Green jumped out to a 9-5 lead. Those opening minutes would be a foreshadow of what was to come for Gibson and Reese throughout the night.
Gibson scored a season high 21 points and has now scored at least 18 points in his last five games. The redshirt sophomore had 14 in the first half alone on 7 of 11 shooting and has posted a 20-point outing in three of the last five contests. His 21 points on Thursday were a single-game high for the Mean Green so far this year.
Reese entered the game having made just one of his last 19 shots. Against Oklahoma, he started 3 of 5 from the field and finished with 13 points, tying a UNT career-high. He ignited the Mean Green crowd in the first half with an emphatic block before throwing down an alley oop from Javion Hamlet later in the game.
Midway through the first half, North Texas (3-6) went on an 8-0 run to take a 26-18 lead, capped off by a three-pointer from Roosevelt Smart.
Smart moved into sole possession of fourth-place in program history in career three-pointers with 186. He also moved into 20th in program history with 1,036 career points.
During the second half, North Texas extended the lead to 10 points, its largest of the game. However, the Sooners responded with a 10-0 run from the 12:06 mark to 7:43 to tie the game at 66-66.
The final seven minutes featured both teams trading buckets before Doolittle hit the three-point dagger in the closing minute.
"The one thing I love about this team is that they always get better," McCasland said. "We just had good moments from different people, and you could see the light coming on for different guys throughout the game."
Eighty-two points is the most North Texas has given up in a game this season. The Mean Green entered tonight with the No. 1 scoring defense in Conference USA.
"I feel like we did some good things, but we definitely cannot give up 82 points to a team," Reese said. "We just got to dig a little deeper and get better at getting stops."
DJ Draper continued his torrid start from the three-point line, knocking down 3 of 4 from downtown. Draper eclipsed 100 career three-pointers after knocking down a shot from the corner early in the second half.
QUICK SHOTS
- Thursday was the eighth all-time meeting between the two schools but the first in Denton.
-
Redshirt sophomore guard Umoja Gibson (Waco) led the way for the Mean Green in scoring with 21 points, a new season-high. He had 14 in the first half alone, on 7-11 shooting (including 2-4 from downtown). He has also now made at least one three-point field goal in 14 consecutive games.
Team Stats
OU
UNT
FG%
.500
.492
3FG%
.375
.313
FT%
.760
.923
RB
28
32
TO
8
12
STL
8
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
8
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
Forward
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Guard
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Guard
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