University of North Texas Athletics
Thursday, February 7
The Super Pit
7 PM
University of North Texas
vs
Marshall
Photo by: Luke Della
Maturation
2/6/2019 12:33:00 AM | Men's Basketball
GAME NOTES
DENTON — So close, yet not good enough.
That was the vibe for much of the North Texas basketball team's 2017-18 regular season before its CBI Tournament championship run.
Fourteen regular season games decided by five points or fewer, the Mean Green ended up winning half of them in route to a 15-16 overall regular season record and an 8-10 Conference USA record under then first year head coach Grant McCasland.
Of those 14 games decided by five or less, 10 came in league play. UNT won just four of those 10.
"A next step for our program will be learning how to execute late in games and winning those close games," McCasland said at the 2018 Preseason C-USA Tip-Off.
One of those narrow losses last season that stood out maybe more so than any other was their 74-72 loss to Marshall at home.
Tied at 72 with just five seconds left in the game, the Thundering Herd inbounded from the opposite baseline to their all-conference guard C.J. Burks. After initially fumbling catch, Burks zoomed past the entire Mean Green defense to go coast-to-coast and lay the ball in at the rim right before the buzzer went off to win the game for Marshall, 74-72.
"Our team is so close to being great," McCasland said following the loss. "You could tell there was a little more maturity on one side tonight. I think as we get a little older and more mature we'll find ourselves on the other side. The sense of urgency to compete is great, but to win them, we have to take another step."
Less than a month later, the Thundering Herd won the C-USA Tournament to earn an automatic bid into the 2018 NCAA Tournament where they'd win their first round game for the first time in program history and finish the season with a 27-11 overall record.
If gaining maturity late in games was taking another step for North Texas so they'd find themselves on the other side of close games, then they've done that in year two under McCasland.
North Texas (19-4, 7-3 C-USA) enters Thursday's 7 p.m. matchup at the Super Pit against Marshall (13-10, 6-4) 5-2 this season in games decided by five points or fewer. Furthermore, the execution late in games and in the second half in general has been the difference in many games, including their most recent game that wasn't decided by five or fewer points but needed a second-half comeback.
"It was a tough start," McCasland said of Saturday's game at Charlotte. "We had to fix some things and overcome some earlier mistakes, while down. I'm proud of our team's fight and mental toughness tonight."
A few days following its 73-66 win at Charlotte, McCasland, jacked up and and excited about his team's performance on the road, showed them in film roughly the last seven minutes of the game action. While there were still plenty of stoppages to critique, teach and improve on things that happened in the end of the game, the North Texas coach spent a lot of the time showing them how well they performed in executing the game plan on offense and defense. Additionally, how little things, such as foot work on free throw rebounding, can be the difference between being 19-4 and 13-10, which UNT was at this point last year.
"We've gotten so much better at playing as a team and doing what the coaches ask of us," said senior Michael Miller. "We've always been a competitive group but we're more mature, selfless and mentally tough than we were last year and it shows late in games."
Miller is a prime example of the team's improvement.
While he spent most of last regular season injured and trying to recover and get in game shape, he has twice this year against a conference opponent made a game-winning shot by making the right read on the defense.
"We all have a role on the court," Miller said. "It doesn't matter if its to shoot the ball, set a screen or stand in the corner to draw the defense or be ready to shoot as a second option. It's all important, especially late in games and none of us really care who is taking the shots late in games, we first and foremost want to do our part to help the team win, because at the end of the day that's all that matters."
Not worried about taking the shot is exactly what Miller did against Charlotte on Saturday.
In a team huddle during the second-half of the game, Miller went to McCasland and suggested a play that he thought would work against the 49ers defense. It was a play that did not involve him trying to score.
And the play worked.
"A huge character win for our guys," McCasland said following the win. "From a mentality standpoint, you could see our team overcoming adversity tonight and I love it."
Thursday when the Mean Green host Marshall, they'll once again face adversity and its in the form of one of the best offenses in the nation. Along with Burks, the Thundering Herd's guard Jon Elmore is back for his senior season after flirting with the NBA. The all-conference backcourt this season is averaging 39 points per game between the two and 42.1 points per game in conference.
The Mean Green are one win shy of their eleventh 20th win season. It would not only tie last season's win total but it'd be the first time since 2009-10 that North Texas won 20 regular season games.
DENTON — So close, yet not good enough.
That was the vibe for much of the North Texas basketball team's 2017-18 regular season before its CBI Tournament championship run.
Fourteen regular season games decided by five points or fewer, the Mean Green ended up winning half of them in route to a 15-16 overall regular season record and an 8-10 Conference USA record under then first year head coach Grant McCasland.
Of those 14 games decided by five or less, 10 came in league play. UNT won just four of those 10.
"A next step for our program will be learning how to execute late in games and winning those close games," McCasland said at the 2018 Preseason C-USA Tip-Off.
One of those narrow losses last season that stood out maybe more so than any other was their 74-72 loss to Marshall at home.
Tied at 72 with just five seconds left in the game, the Thundering Herd inbounded from the opposite baseline to their all-conference guard C.J. Burks. After initially fumbling catch, Burks zoomed past the entire Mean Green defense to go coast-to-coast and lay the ball in at the rim right before the buzzer went off to win the game for Marshall, 74-72.
"Our team is so close to being great," McCasland said following the loss. "You could tell there was a little more maturity on one side tonight. I think as we get a little older and more mature we'll find ourselves on the other side. The sense of urgency to compete is great, but to win them, we have to take another step."
Less than a month later, the Thundering Herd won the C-USA Tournament to earn an automatic bid into the 2018 NCAA Tournament where they'd win their first round game for the first time in program history and finish the season with a 27-11 overall record.
If gaining maturity late in games was taking another step for North Texas so they'd find themselves on the other side of close games, then they've done that in year two under McCasland.
North Texas (19-4, 7-3 C-USA) enters Thursday's 7 p.m. matchup at the Super Pit against Marshall (13-10, 6-4) 5-2 this season in games decided by five points or fewer. Furthermore, the execution late in games and in the second half in general has been the difference in many games, including their most recent game that wasn't decided by five or fewer points but needed a second-half comeback.
"It was a tough start," McCasland said of Saturday's game at Charlotte. "We had to fix some things and overcome some earlier mistakes, while down. I'm proud of our team's fight and mental toughness tonight."
A few days following its 73-66 win at Charlotte, McCasland, jacked up and and excited about his team's performance on the road, showed them in film roughly the last seven minutes of the game action. While there were still plenty of stoppages to critique, teach and improve on things that happened in the end of the game, the North Texas coach spent a lot of the time showing them how well they performed in executing the game plan on offense and defense. Additionally, how little things, such as foot work on free throw rebounding, can be the difference between being 19-4 and 13-10, which UNT was at this point last year.
"We've gotten so much better at playing as a team and doing what the coaches ask of us," said senior Michael Miller. "We've always been a competitive group but we're more mature, selfless and mentally tough than we were last year and it shows late in games."
Miller is a prime example of the team's improvement.
While he spent most of last regular season injured and trying to recover and get in game shape, he has twice this year against a conference opponent made a game-winning shot by making the right read on the defense.
"We all have a role on the court," Miller said. "It doesn't matter if its to shoot the ball, set a screen or stand in the corner to draw the defense or be ready to shoot as a second option. It's all important, especially late in games and none of us really care who is taking the shots late in games, we first and foremost want to do our part to help the team win, because at the end of the day that's all that matters."
Not worried about taking the shot is exactly what Miller did against Charlotte on Saturday.
In a team huddle during the second-half of the game, Miller went to McCasland and suggested a play that he thought would work against the 49ers defense. It was a play that did not involve him trying to score.
And the play worked.
"A huge character win for our guys," McCasland said following the win. "From a mentality standpoint, you could see our team overcoming adversity tonight and I love it."
Thursday when the Mean Green host Marshall, they'll once again face adversity and its in the form of one of the best offenses in the nation. Along with Burks, the Thundering Herd's guard Jon Elmore is back for his senior season after flirting with the NBA. The all-conference backcourt this season is averaging 39 points per game between the two and 42.1 points per game in conference.
The Mean Green are one win shy of their eleventh 20th win season. It would not only tie last season's win total but it'd be the first time since 2009-10 that North Texas won 20 regular season games.
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's BasketballThursday, March 05
Thursday, March 05
Monday, February 23
Monday, February 23