Thursday, January 9
Denton
7:00 PM
University of North Texas
-88,21 CUSA
74
vs
56
FIU
-115,21 CUSA
1
2
F
FIU
26
30
56
North Texas
38
36
74
Photo by: Jesus Gutierrez
Mean Green Win Big Over FIU
1/9/2020 8:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
DENTON – The North Texas men's basketball team held Florida International, the league's highest scoring offense, to 26 points below its season scoring average during a 74-56 win on Thursday night at the Super Pit.
Fifty-six points is the lowest FIU has ever scored under current head coach Jeremy Ballard. The Mean Green also held the Panthers to 57 during the first round of the 2018 Conference USA Tournament.
"I'm really proud of our guys," head coach Grant McCasland said. "That's a good team. That's an aggressive scoring team, and to hold them to 56 points says a lot about what we did defensively for 40 minutes. I thought we did a really great job of getting back and playing without fouling."
FIU is known for its relentless full-court pressure and rank 13th in the nation and first in C-USA with an impressive 18.4 forced turnovers per game. However, the Mean Green handled the Panthers' full-court man-to-man pressure well for a portion of the game and outscored the Panthers 19-16 in points off turnovers.
"For our team to be successful, we're going to have to take care of the basketball," McCasland said. "For the majority of that game and especially against the press, we handled it well. Against the press, they didn't get a lot of baskets off of turnovers."
Point guard Javion Hamlet continued his torrid run since the start of conference play with game-highs of 16 points and five assists. Hamlet is averaging 16.7 points per game since the start of C-USA play.
Umoja Gibson added another 14 points and four assists in the win, while Thomas Bell and Roosevelt Smart scored 10 points apiece on a combined 8-of-11 shooting.
Deng Geu got the Mean Green off and rolling on the night, scoring the first four points before rejecting a dunk from FIU's (11-5, 2-1 C-USA) Osasumwen Osaghae, who stands at 6 feet 9 inches and leads C-USA in shot blocks. Geu finished the night with a career high four blocks, and the Mean Green out blocked FIU by two shots, who entered the night No. 1 in the nation in blocks.
"I'm going to try to do what I can to help the team," Geu said. "It doesn't always have to be scoring. Everybody was rotating where they needed to be. I know during one block that Thomas [Bell] was in front of the shooter, so it makes it easy on me when our defense doesn't allow the shooter to see me coming."
With 15 minutes left in the first half, a Thomas Bell layup and a DJ Draper 3-pointer ignited a 10-0 run that put the Mean Green up 14-7. And North Texas didn't stop there.
The Mean Green (8-8, 2-1 C-USA) – who entered Thursday ranked 25th in the nation in 3-point percentage – used a three-point barrage to create some separation in the first half. From the 8:27 mark to the 3:11 mark in the first half, North Texas made five of six from beyond the arc to extend its lead to 36-22 near the end of the first half.
After both teams traded buckets in the second half, North Texas put the nail in the coffin with six minutes remaining in the game. Thomas Bell sparked a 7-0 run with a one-hand jam before Hamlet followed the dunk with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Gibson then stole a pass and found Smart for a transition layup that gave the Mean Green a 22-point lead with five minutes remaining.
North Texas will have another pivotal conference matchup on Saturday at 3 p.m., when they host Florida Atlantic (11-5, 3-0 C-USA) at The Super Pit.
Fifty-six points is the lowest FIU has ever scored under current head coach Jeremy Ballard. The Mean Green also held the Panthers to 57 during the first round of the 2018 Conference USA Tournament.
"I'm really proud of our guys," head coach Grant McCasland said. "That's a good team. That's an aggressive scoring team, and to hold them to 56 points says a lot about what we did defensively for 40 minutes. I thought we did a really great job of getting back and playing without fouling."
FIU is known for its relentless full-court pressure and rank 13th in the nation and first in C-USA with an impressive 18.4 forced turnovers per game. However, the Mean Green handled the Panthers' full-court man-to-man pressure well for a portion of the game and outscored the Panthers 19-16 in points off turnovers.
"For our team to be successful, we're going to have to take care of the basketball," McCasland said. "For the majority of that game and especially against the press, we handled it well. Against the press, they didn't get a lot of baskets off of turnovers."
Point guard Javion Hamlet continued his torrid run since the start of conference play with game-highs of 16 points and five assists. Hamlet is averaging 16.7 points per game since the start of C-USA play.
Umoja Gibson added another 14 points and four assists in the win, while Thomas Bell and Roosevelt Smart scored 10 points apiece on a combined 8-of-11 shooting.
Deng Geu got the Mean Green off and rolling on the night, scoring the first four points before rejecting a dunk from FIU's (11-5, 2-1 C-USA) Osasumwen Osaghae, who stands at 6 feet 9 inches and leads C-USA in shot blocks. Geu finished the night with a career high four blocks, and the Mean Green out blocked FIU by two shots, who entered the night No. 1 in the nation in blocks.
"I'm going to try to do what I can to help the team," Geu said. "It doesn't always have to be scoring. Everybody was rotating where they needed to be. I know during one block that Thomas [Bell] was in front of the shooter, so it makes it easy on me when our defense doesn't allow the shooter to see me coming."
With 15 minutes left in the first half, a Thomas Bell layup and a DJ Draper 3-pointer ignited a 10-0 run that put the Mean Green up 14-7. And North Texas didn't stop there.
The Mean Green (8-8, 2-1 C-USA) – who entered Thursday ranked 25th in the nation in 3-point percentage – used a three-point barrage to create some separation in the first half. From the 8:27 mark to the 3:11 mark in the first half, North Texas made five of six from beyond the arc to extend its lead to 36-22 near the end of the first half.
After both teams traded buckets in the second half, North Texas put the nail in the coffin with six minutes remaining in the game. Thomas Bell sparked a 7-0 run with a one-hand jam before Hamlet followed the dunk with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Gibson then stole a pass and found Smart for a transition layup that gave the Mean Green a 22-point lead with five minutes remaining.
North Texas will have another pivotal conference matchup on Saturday at 3 p.m., when they host Florida Atlantic (11-5, 3-0 C-USA) at The Super Pit.
Team Stats
FIU
UNT
FG%
.392
.466
3FG%
.333
.385
FT%
.529
.833
RB
29
39
TO
19
18
STL
12
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
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