Saturday, January 11
Denton
3:00 PM
University of North Texas
-98,31 CUSA
81
vs
58
Florida Atlantic
-116,31 CUSA
1
2
F
Fla. Atlantic
29
29
58
North Texas
36
45
81
Photo by: Rick Yeatts Photography
Mean Green Win Third Straight
1/11/2020 5:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball
DENTON — The North Texas men's basketball team held its third straight opponent to a season-low scoring output as they beat Florida Atlantic 81-58 at the Super Pit Saturday afternoon.
The win is the Mean Green's (9-8, 3-1 C-USA) third straight and Saturday saw career-best performances by Javion Hamlet and James Reese.
"A physical battle that you didn't know if it'd ever free up but I thought Reese's defense really broke the game open," said head coach Grant McCasland. "I told the guys '(Today) is a big win because you're playing right.' We checked all the boxes in what we need to do to win a game against a solid opponent."
The "boxes" McCasland was referring to was the 17 assists and season-low 10 turnovers — previous low 12. UNT outrebounded FAU (11-6, 3-1 C-USA) 34-28 thanks to a defensive field goal percentage of 36.6 percent (22-57).
"Our team is starting to see what good basketball looks like," he added.
Hamlet's 20 points on Saturday were a career-best for the redshirt junior from Memphis and it was the fourth straight game he's led the team in scoring.Reese scored 16 points and had seven rebounds and two steals.
Reese had back-to-back steals with just under seven minutes remaining in the first-half that helped build separation from FAU who had been neck-and-neck with UNT up until then. In a one minute and six-second span, Reese went on a 9-0 run by himself, thanks to a pair of fastbreak layups following steals, a second-chance 3-pointer and sinking two free throws. Reese has yet to miss a free throw this season (12-12).
The 16 points are the most he's scored at UNT and seven rebounds are the most the junior as ever had. Reese played his freshman season at Buffalo and had 18 points in a win over Central Penn in 2017.
"Coach told us before the game it'd be a physical game," Reese said. "And that's what it came down to. Who would be the most physical and we were."
By halftime, the Mean Green had a seven-point lead and then it was Hamlet's turn to take over.
He scored 14 of his 20 in the second-half and after turning it over twice in the first frame he would have zero in the second. But all the while, keeping the ball movement going and dishing out five second-half assists.
"Our ball movement was a big reason for why we broke away," McCasland said. "Our ball movement stretched their defense out and made them guard in different rotations."
Since the start of conference play, Hamlet is averaging 17.5 points per game, 5.5 assists per game, 4.0 rebounds per game and is shooting it at a .565 percentage.
In conference play, Hamlet is first in the league in total assists (22) and fourth in scoring (17.5).
Four Mean Green players (Hamlet, Reese, Umoja Gibson and Zachary Simmons) scored in double figures on Saturday. Meanwhile, FAU's Michael Forrest was the only Owl to score in double figures and finished with 11. Forrest didn't surpass the double-digit total until three minutes remain in the game.
FAU's 58 points scored on Saturday tied their season-low, which South Florida held them to earlier this season. On Thursday, the Mean Green held the explosive FIU offense to just 56 points and last week at Marshall they held the Thundering Herd to 64 points. Both FIU and Marshall were averaging over 77 points per game when they played UNT.
FAU was averaging 72.2 points per game prior to playing the Mean Green.
North Texas hits the road next week as they travel to Southern Miss on Thursday and then at Louisiana Tech on Saturday. USM's (4-13, 0-4 C-USA) season-low was when they were held to 45 points at Iowa State on Nov. 19.
The win is the Mean Green's (9-8, 3-1 C-USA) third straight and Saturday saw career-best performances by Javion Hamlet and James Reese.
"A physical battle that you didn't know if it'd ever free up but I thought Reese's defense really broke the game open," said head coach Grant McCasland. "I told the guys '(Today) is a big win because you're playing right.' We checked all the boxes in what we need to do to win a game against a solid opponent."
The "boxes" McCasland was referring to was the 17 assists and season-low 10 turnovers — previous low 12. UNT outrebounded FAU (11-6, 3-1 C-USA) 34-28 thanks to a defensive field goal percentage of 36.6 percent (22-57).
"Our team is starting to see what good basketball looks like," he added.
Hamlet's 20 points on Saturday were a career-best for the redshirt junior from Memphis and it was the fourth straight game he's led the team in scoring.Reese scored 16 points and had seven rebounds and two steals.
Reese had back-to-back steals with just under seven minutes remaining in the first-half that helped build separation from FAU who had been neck-and-neck with UNT up until then. In a one minute and six-second span, Reese went on a 9-0 run by himself, thanks to a pair of fastbreak layups following steals, a second-chance 3-pointer and sinking two free throws. Reese has yet to miss a free throw this season (12-12).
The 16 points are the most he's scored at UNT and seven rebounds are the most the junior as ever had. Reese played his freshman season at Buffalo and had 18 points in a win over Central Penn in 2017.
"Coach told us before the game it'd be a physical game," Reese said. "And that's what it came down to. Who would be the most physical and we were."
By halftime, the Mean Green had a seven-point lead and then it was Hamlet's turn to take over.
He scored 14 of his 20 in the second-half and after turning it over twice in the first frame he would have zero in the second. But all the while, keeping the ball movement going and dishing out five second-half assists.
"Our ball movement was a big reason for why we broke away," McCasland said. "Our ball movement stretched their defense out and made them guard in different rotations."
Since the start of conference play, Hamlet is averaging 17.5 points per game, 5.5 assists per game, 4.0 rebounds per game and is shooting it at a .565 percentage.
In conference play, Hamlet is first in the league in total assists (22) and fourth in scoring (17.5).
Four Mean Green players (Hamlet, Reese, Umoja Gibson and Zachary Simmons) scored in double figures on Saturday. Meanwhile, FAU's Michael Forrest was the only Owl to score in double figures and finished with 11. Forrest didn't surpass the double-digit total until three minutes remain in the game.
FAU's 58 points scored on Saturday tied their season-low, which South Florida held them to earlier this season. On Thursday, the Mean Green held the explosive FIU offense to just 56 points and last week at Marshall they held the Thundering Herd to 64 points. Both FIU and Marshall were averaging over 77 points per game when they played UNT.
FAU was averaging 72.2 points per game prior to playing the Mean Green.
North Texas hits the road next week as they travel to Southern Miss on Thursday and then at Louisiana Tech on Saturday. USM's (4-13, 0-4 C-USA) season-low was when they were held to 45 points at Iowa State on Nov. 19.
Team Stats
FAU
UNT
FG%
.386
.571
3FG%
.217
.471
FT%
.643
.750
RB
28
34
TO
10
10
STL
3
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
9
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
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