Thursday, February 6
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
6:30 PM
University of North Texas
-159,92 CUSA
75
at
70
Middle Tennessee
-618,29 CUSA
1
2
F
North Texas
36
39
75
Middle Tennessee
29
41
70
Photo by: Luke Della
Best Start To League Play In Program History
2/6/2020 8:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
DENTON — North Texas men's basketball head coach Grant McCasland says "the toughest teams wins" and on Thursday at Middle Tennessee, the Mean Green withstood a late 13-3 run by the Blue Raiders and made clutch baskets to pull out the road victory 75-70.
The win gives UNT (15-9, 9-2 C-USA) its best start to league play in program history and is its first victory in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 11 years. The win and LA Tech loss on Thursday means UNT is in sole possession of first place of the Conference USA standings.
"Give Middle Tennessee credit, they didn't go away," McCasland said. "But Thomas Bell was huge for us and Zachary Simmons was our anchor but down the stretch Javion Hamlet had a huge game."
Hamlet finished with a game-high 21 points with four assists and no turnovers. Eleven of his 21 came in the second half but five came in the last 45 seconds of the game. With 45 seconds remaining, Hamlet, a Tennessee native playing in front of friends and family, converted on and an and-one opportunity to push the Mean Green's lead to five points. He then sealed the victory with two late free throws.
"Great teams find a way to win and we did that tonight," McCasland said.
The late run by the Blue Raiders (6-18, 2-8 C-USA) was fueled by an unconscious performance from MT's Antonio Green.
Green, who entered Thursday's game second in the nation for career 3-pointers, was held scoreless in the first half but exploded for 18 in the second half. He made four straight 3-pointers between the 5:39 mark in the second half and the 3:31 mark to tie the game at 63.
"Give Middle Tennessee credit, they're a great second half team," McCasland said. "They rebounded well and hit some big shots and really forced us to dig in."
MT's 10-0 run was snapped by the Mean Green's James Reese who sank a clutch corner 3-pointer shortly after Green had made his fourth straight.
Similar to Green, Reese had been held scoreless in the first half, but scored all 13 of his points in the final 10 minutes of the game.
"We all know he can make shots," McCasland said of Reese. "He works too hard so it was just a matter of getting the ball to the paint and finding Reese open to shoot."
All three of Reese's late 3-pointers were assisted on by Mean Green big-man Zachary Simmons from his post position.
North Texas will look to cap off this road swing on Saturday when it faces UAB in Birmingham at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN+ and the Mean Green Sports Network.
The win gives UNT (15-9, 9-2 C-USA) its best start to league play in program history and is its first victory in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 11 years. The win and LA Tech loss on Thursday means UNT is in sole possession of first place of the Conference USA standings.
"Give Middle Tennessee credit, they didn't go away," McCasland said. "But Thomas Bell was huge for us and Zachary Simmons was our anchor but down the stretch Javion Hamlet had a huge game."
Hamlet finished with a game-high 21 points with four assists and no turnovers. Eleven of his 21 came in the second half but five came in the last 45 seconds of the game. With 45 seconds remaining, Hamlet, a Tennessee native playing in front of friends and family, converted on and an and-one opportunity to push the Mean Green's lead to five points. He then sealed the victory with two late free throws.
"Great teams find a way to win and we did that tonight," McCasland said.
The late run by the Blue Raiders (6-18, 2-8 C-USA) was fueled by an unconscious performance from MT's Antonio Green.
Green, who entered Thursday's game second in the nation for career 3-pointers, was held scoreless in the first half but exploded for 18 in the second half. He made four straight 3-pointers between the 5:39 mark in the second half and the 3:31 mark to tie the game at 63.
"Give Middle Tennessee credit, they're a great second half team," McCasland said. "They rebounded well and hit some big shots and really forced us to dig in."
MT's 10-0 run was snapped by the Mean Green's James Reese who sank a clutch corner 3-pointer shortly after Green had made his fourth straight.
Similar to Green, Reese had been held scoreless in the first half, but scored all 13 of his points in the final 10 minutes of the game.
"We all know he can make shots," McCasland said of Reese. "He works too hard so it was just a matter of getting the ball to the paint and finding Reese open to shoot."
All three of Reese's late 3-pointers were assisted on by Mean Green big-man Zachary Simmons from his post position.
North Texas will look to cap off this road swing on Saturday when it faces UAB in Birmingham at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN+ and the Mean Green Sports Network.
Team Stats
UNT
MT
FG%
.519
.448
3FG%
.318
.286
FT%
.706
.583
RB
28
39
TO
9
13
STL
4
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
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