Saturday, January 18
Ruston, LA
4:00 PM
University of North Texas
-118,51 CUSA
51
at
50
Louisiana Tech
-135,42 CUSA
1
2
F
North Texas
33
18
51
Louisiana Tech
24
26
50
Photo by: Ben Stewart
Hamlet Sinks Game-Winner For Historic Win
1/18/2020 6:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
RUSTON, Louisiana — North Texas men's basketball redshirt junior Javion Hamlet floated in a game-winner at the buzzer to beat Louisiana Tech 51-50 Saturday afternoon in Ruston, Louisiana.
The win is the Mean Green's (11-8, 5-1 C-USA) first victory in Ruston since 1952 — the first time they ever played — and extends UNT's current overall winning streak to five in a row and puts the Mean Green in a tie for first-place in the league standings with Western Kentucky.
LA Tech (13-5, 4-2 C-USA) entered Saturday as the only other team in Conference USA ranked in the top 100 of the NCAA's NET Ranking. The Bulldogs also entered Saturday's game tied with North Texas for second-place in the standings.
"We practice that play every day," Hamlet said of the game-winner. "I knew it was good."
With less than five seconds left on the clock, Hamlet in bounded the ball to Thomas Bell from the opposite baseline of the basket. Bell quickly gave the ball back to Hamlet who raced down the court, found an opening in the defense and from roughly eight feet from the rim, the lefty floated a shot that went right through as the buzzer went off.
After a two-minute review of the final play that felt much longer, the referees determined the shot was good.
"That's why (Hamlet) is here," said head coach Grant McCasland. "To make plays."
Hamlet's shot came right after LA Tech's Amorie Archibald made a layup with five seconds left to give the Bulldogs a lead. Archibald was fouled on the layup but missed the and-one opportunity. Bell grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled by LA Tech, forcing UNT to take the ball out at the baseline, 94 feet from the basket Hamlet eventual scored the game-winner on.
Saturday's game began with Umoja Gibson scoring 11 points in the first seven minutes to give the Mean Green an 18-8 lead. The hot start was huge for the sophomore who the last time played in Ruston was held scoreless. It's still the only time he's been held scoreless and since that game last season has made at least one 3-pointer in every game (23).
UNT increased its first-half lead to as many as 13 but couldn't quite put on a run that felt like they put away the Bulldogs and sure enough in the second-half LA Tech made its run.
Between the 18-minute mark and 11-minute mark of the second-half, LA Tech went on a 14-2 run and tied the game. With a loud home crowd behind it, LA Tech took a lead with nine minutes and 12 seconds remaining. From that point on, there would be a total of just 12 points scored by both teams combined.
With four minutes and 40 seconds remaining, Bell knocked down a pair of free throws to take a three-point lead.
UNT didn't score again until Hamlet's buzzer beater.
"We stuck together, made some big stops, and went after boards," Hamlet said. "This a huge win for our program and has us feeling great."
The Mean Green won't have a lot of time to celebrate. They return home on Monday and host Rice at 7 p.m. They'll enter Monday's game with a five-game home winning streak and overall a five-game winning streak.
With Saturday's road win, UNT is the first Conference USA team to win three road league games.
The win is the Mean Green's (11-8, 5-1 C-USA) first victory in Ruston since 1952 — the first time they ever played — and extends UNT's current overall winning streak to five in a row and puts the Mean Green in a tie for first-place in the league standings with Western Kentucky.
LA Tech (13-5, 4-2 C-USA) entered Saturday as the only other team in Conference USA ranked in the top 100 of the NCAA's NET Ranking. The Bulldogs also entered Saturday's game tied with North Texas for second-place in the standings.
"We practice that play every day," Hamlet said of the game-winner. "I knew it was good."
With less than five seconds left on the clock, Hamlet in bounded the ball to Thomas Bell from the opposite baseline of the basket. Bell quickly gave the ball back to Hamlet who raced down the court, found an opening in the defense and from roughly eight feet from the rim, the lefty floated a shot that went right through as the buzzer went off.
After a two-minute review of the final play that felt much longer, the referees determined the shot was good.
"That's why (Hamlet) is here," said head coach Grant McCasland. "To make plays."
Hamlet's shot came right after LA Tech's Amorie Archibald made a layup with five seconds left to give the Bulldogs a lead. Archibald was fouled on the layup but missed the and-one opportunity. Bell grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled by LA Tech, forcing UNT to take the ball out at the baseline, 94 feet from the basket Hamlet eventual scored the game-winner on.
Saturday's game began with Umoja Gibson scoring 11 points in the first seven minutes to give the Mean Green an 18-8 lead. The hot start was huge for the sophomore who the last time played in Ruston was held scoreless. It's still the only time he's been held scoreless and since that game last season has made at least one 3-pointer in every game (23).
UNT increased its first-half lead to as many as 13 but couldn't quite put on a run that felt like they put away the Bulldogs and sure enough in the second-half LA Tech made its run.
Between the 18-minute mark and 11-minute mark of the second-half, LA Tech went on a 14-2 run and tied the game. With a loud home crowd behind it, LA Tech took a lead with nine minutes and 12 seconds remaining. From that point on, there would be a total of just 12 points scored by both teams combined.
With four minutes and 40 seconds remaining, Bell knocked down a pair of free throws to take a three-point lead.
UNT didn't score again until Hamlet's buzzer beater.
"We stuck together, made some big stops, and went after boards," Hamlet said. "This a huge win for our program and has us feeling great."
The Mean Green won't have a lot of time to celebrate. They return home on Monday and host Rice at 7 p.m. They'll enter Monday's game with a five-game home winning streak and overall a five-game winning streak.
With Saturday's road win, UNT is the first Conference USA team to win three road league games.
Team Stats
UNT
LATech
FG%
.383
.367
3FG%
.278
.389
FT%
.909
.636
RB
28
36
TO
13
17
STL
8
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
Forward
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