Monday, January 20
Denton
7:00 PM
University of North Texas
-128,61 CUSA
79
vs
59
Rice
-911,16 CUSA
1
2
F
Rice
36
23
59
North Texas
44
35
79
Photo by: Rick Yeatts Photography
UNT Beats Rice 79-59, Wins Sixth Straight
1/20/2020 8:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
DENTON – The North Texas men's basketball team is off to its best conference start since 1988-1989 after defeating Rice 79-59 on Monday night to extending its win streak to six games.
The six-game winning streak is the first time the Mean Green have won six consecutive league games since the 2009-10 season, when North Texas won the Sun Belt Conference and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The win also marks the fifth straight over Rice, the longest active streak against a Conference USA opponent for UNT.
During the winning streak, North Texas (12-8, 6-1 C-USA) has showcased one of the stingiest defenses in the league. The Mean Green have now held their past five opponents under 60 points — something it hasn't done in over 60 years.
UNT had four different players finish in double figures on Monday and three that scored more than 15. Javion Hamlet led the way with 24 points and five assists, while Zachary Simmons scored 17 and Umoja Gibson added 15.
The Mean Green also took care of the ball while finishing with a season-low nine turnovers. They also shot an efficient 54% from the field and 44.4% from the 3-point line.
"[The winning streak] is what we hoped to do, but this isn't our goal," head coach Grant McCasland said. "Obviously our goal is to win the league, and the only way to do that is to keep winning. We've got a long way to go, but we shared the basketball, limited turnovers and did a great job of playing inside out."
The Mean Green targeted Simmons in the paint during the first half due to several mismatches against Rice's guards. Simmons finished the opening 20 minutes with 14 points on 6-of-6 from the floor.
"Going down low was a big emphasis today," Simmons said. "They switched a lot of stuff, especially on-ball screens, which created a mismatch. Guys were getting it to me and we played with some great space."
After both teams displayed an efficient shooting performance in the first half, North Texas and Gibson came out firing after the break to pull away from the Owls. Gibson nailed two 3-pointers in the first 48 seconds of the second-half to give the Mean Green a 50-36 cushion, one that would serve comfortable enough to cruise to a sixth consecutive victory.
"I thought when we went from being up eight to 14 in three possessions during the second-half really broke the game open for us," McCasland said. "It really set the tone for how we were going to play."
Gibson – who is just a redshirt sophomore – moved into seventh place in program history with 160 career 3-pointers.
The Mean Green and the Owls (9-11, 1-6 C-USA) will square off again on Feb. 1 in Houston.
North Texas will play their fourth game in a week's span on Thursday when they host UTSA at 7 p.m.
The six-game winning streak is the first time the Mean Green have won six consecutive league games since the 2009-10 season, when North Texas won the Sun Belt Conference and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The win also marks the fifth straight over Rice, the longest active streak against a Conference USA opponent for UNT.
During the winning streak, North Texas (12-8, 6-1 C-USA) has showcased one of the stingiest defenses in the league. The Mean Green have now held their past five opponents under 60 points — something it hasn't done in over 60 years.
UNT had four different players finish in double figures on Monday and three that scored more than 15. Javion Hamlet led the way with 24 points and five assists, while Zachary Simmons scored 17 and Umoja Gibson added 15.
The Mean Green also took care of the ball while finishing with a season-low nine turnovers. They also shot an efficient 54% from the field and 44.4% from the 3-point line.
"[The winning streak] is what we hoped to do, but this isn't our goal," head coach Grant McCasland said. "Obviously our goal is to win the league, and the only way to do that is to keep winning. We've got a long way to go, but we shared the basketball, limited turnovers and did a great job of playing inside out."
The Mean Green targeted Simmons in the paint during the first half due to several mismatches against Rice's guards. Simmons finished the opening 20 minutes with 14 points on 6-of-6 from the floor.
"Going down low was a big emphasis today," Simmons said. "They switched a lot of stuff, especially on-ball screens, which created a mismatch. Guys were getting it to me and we played with some great space."
After both teams displayed an efficient shooting performance in the first half, North Texas and Gibson came out firing after the break to pull away from the Owls. Gibson nailed two 3-pointers in the first 48 seconds of the second-half to give the Mean Green a 50-36 cushion, one that would serve comfortable enough to cruise to a sixth consecutive victory.
"I thought when we went from being up eight to 14 in three possessions during the second-half really broke the game open for us," McCasland said. "It really set the tone for how we were going to play."
Gibson – who is just a redshirt sophomore – moved into seventh place in program history with 160 career 3-pointers.
The Mean Green and the Owls (9-11, 1-6 C-USA) will square off again on Feb. 1 in Houston.
North Texas will play their fourth game in a week's span on Thursday when they host UTSA at 7 p.m.
Team Stats
Rice
UNT
FG%
.407
.540
3FG%
.368
.444
FT%
.727
.739
RB
33
28
TO
16
9
STL
4
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
24
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
8
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's Basketball
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