University of North Texas
FIU
Mean Green Return Home On Thursday
1/8/2020 12:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Mean Green (7-8, 1-1) defeated the Panthers (11-4, 2-0) last season in the first round of the 2019 Conference USA Tournament. The last time they hosted FIU, DJ Draper hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 3.4 seconds remaining.
Thursday's game, which will be broadcast on ESPN+ and on the Mean Green Sports Network (88.1 KNTU, 95.3 KHYI) features two completely different style of teams. The Mean Green are a slower pace team that averages 65.3 possessions per 40 minutes. Meanwhile, FIU is averaging 75.9 possessions per 40 minutes, which makes them one of the top 10 fastest tempo teams in the nation. Last year, the Panthers led the nation with 79.0 possessions per 40 minutes.
Last week, UNT split its first two conference games of the year. They and LA Tech were the only teams in C-USA last week to win a road conference game. North Texas beat Marshall on Saturday in Huntington, West Virginia, 67-64. Javion Hamlet and Umoja Gibson led the Mean Green with 15 points each.
TOP SHOOTER
North Texas' Umoja Gibson's .42.7 3FG percentage not only leads Conference USA but it ranks 27th in the nation as of Tuesday. Gibson's 41 total 3-pointers are also second most in C-USA behind UTSA's Jhivvan Jackson's 52.
BELL'S LAST FOUR GAMES
After scoring 16 points in the sea- son-opener on 11/5, Thomas Bell didn't score in double figures in the next 10 consecutive games and averaged just
4.0 points per game during that 10-game stretch. However, he has scored in double figures in each of the last four games and has averaged 11.7 points per game. Furthermore, he is 8-of-14 (.571) from deep over the last four games compared to just 3-of-20 (.150) in the 10 games prior.
ZACH ATTACK
After starting the season 20-of-41 (.487) from the field over the first seven games of the year, junior Zachary Simmons is 34-of-46 (73.9) in the eight games since.
Draper vs. FIU
UNT's DJ Draper is averaging 10.5 points per game in his career vs. FIU. On Jan. 27, 2018, Draper hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 3.4 seconds left in the game to beat FIU in Denton, 69-67.
TOP 3-POINT SHOOTING TEAM
As of Tuesday, North Texas is one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the nation. Their .382 3-point field goal percentage ranked 25th in the nation.
FINDING HIS GROOVE
Redshirt junior point guard Javion Hamlet has started to find his groove as the team's floor general. In the team's first seven games, Hamlet had 15 assists and 24 turnovers (.6 A/TO). But in UNT's last eight games, he's had 48 assists (6.0 per game) and just 19 turnovers (2.5 A/TO). Over the last eight games, Hamlet's 48 assists and 2.5 A/ TO ratio is tops in C-USA.
