Gameday: Mean Green Host UAPB

Who: Arkansas Pine Bluff (1-6) vs. North Texas Mean Green (1-3)
What: North Texas returns home for just its second home game of the year.
When: Tuesday – Dec. 15 – 7:00 pm CT
Where: Denton, TX – The Super Pit
How (to follow):
– TV: YouTube Live (Dave Barnett and Hank Dickenson)
CLICK HERE to Watch YouTube Live
– Radio: Learfield IMG College Mean Green Sports Network (Dave Barnett and Hank Dickenson)
Listen to Mean Green Sports Network Online: CLICK HERE
– Live Stats: MeanGreenStats.com
– North Texas Game Notes: CLICK HERE
– Arkansas Pine Bluff Game Notes: CLICK HERE
– Return To Play Info: CLICK HERE

DENTON — After a three-game road trip to Arkansas, Mississippi State and No. 11 West Virginia, the North Texas men's basketball returns home Tuesday to host Arkansas Pine Bluff at 7 p.m.

Tuesday's game will be streamed on YouTube Live and on the Mean Green Sports Network IMG College from the Super Pit.

It's been 20 days since the Mean Green (1-3) played at home, which is a welcomed sight for them. UNT last played at the Super Pit on Nov. 26 when they beat Mississippi Valley State 116-62 and made a program-record 21 3-pointers. Fourth-year North Texas head coach Grant McCasland owns a 40-13 record all-time at the Super Pit and the Mean Green have won 12 of their last 13 home games.

Arkansas Pine Bluff (1-6) will be a familiar opponent for McCasland and his returners. This marks the third straight season the two schools have met — all games have been played at the Super Pit. Returning home is also a pleasant sight for North Texas' newcomers who have just played one home game in their respective college careers. Entering Tuesday's contest, UAPB's Terrance Banyard has played more games (2) at the Super Pit than all six of the Mean Green newcomers. Furthermore, there will five other student-athletes on the Golden Lions who enter Tuesday having played as many games at the Super Pit as the UNT newcomers.

The Mean Green have never lost to UAPB. They beat the Golden Lions last season, 86-53. Javion Hamlet led UNT to the victory with a team-high 15 points and had nine assists to go along with his scoring in just 23 minutes of action.
Four of North Texas' five expected starters for this Tuesday's game played last season against the Golden Lions. Hamlet, Zachary Simmons, James Reese and Thomas Bell combined to score 52 of the Mean Green's 86 points in the game. The four shot a blistering 18-of-25 (72 percent) from the field last year against UAPB.

After Tuesday's game the Mean Green will be right back into action on Thursday at the Super Pit when they host Houston Baptist at 7 p.m.

NEWS AND NOTES

This season, North Texas' Javion Hamlet owns an assist rate of 37.2, which ranks 40th in the nation. Assist Rate is assists divided by the field goals made by the player's teammates while he is on the court. Hamlet's assist rate was 34.8 at the end of last year but ranked 30th in the nation.
North Texas' James Reese has attempted the most shots on the Mean Green through four games with 42 total. Through four games that's average of 10.5 per game. 432 NCAA DI men's basketball players attempt more shots per game than Reese. Including UAPB's Shaun Doss who is averaging 16.9 shot attempts per game, which ranks 16th in the nation. Umoja Gibson averaged the most shot attempts per game last year for UNT. He averaged 11.5 per game.
Redshirt senior and former walk-on JJ Murray has seen a noticeable increase in playing time and minutes. The guard has played 35 minutes this season, including 22 at No. 11 WVU on Friday. He played just 19 minutes all of last year. Coach McCasland likes his defensive effort and has simply said he's deserved the playing time.
A win would be Grant McCasland's 63rd at UNT and move him into sixth all-time in program-history. He currently is tied for sixth with his predecessor Tony Benford. John Reid (1924-29) has the fifth-most wins with 79. Pete Shands (1935-59) is the program's winningest head coach with 224 victories.

For more information on North Texas Men's Basketball, follow @MeanGreenMBB on Twitter.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Thomas Bell

Umoja Gibson

Javion Hamlet

JJ Murray

James Reese

Zachary Simmons

Upcoming Events