UNT Beats FIU

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DENTON, Texas – The North Texas men ended a five-game losing streak in impressive fashion, setting a school-record for shooting percentage, leading for the final 38 minutes of play, and turning in one of their strongest efforts of the season in a 77-67 victory over Florida International Saturday at the Super Pit.

The Mean Green shot a scintillating 75 percent from the field, making 24 of 32 shots and demolishing the school record for shooting percentage. The previous field-goal percent record was 67 percent, set in 1995.

“We did a great job tonight,” North Texas coach Tony Benford said. “We talked about getting paint touches, not settling for threes, creating opportunities for one another. We attacked, and we attacked and finished tonight.”

That attacking style also sent the Mean Green (4-11 in Sun Belt play, 9-17 overall) to the free-throw line, where they hit 84 percent of their attempts.

The win avenges a loss to FIU (8-7, 13-11) in Miami January 17, in which the Mean Green’s rally from an 18-point deficit fell short. Saturday night, it was North Texas playing with the lead, an advantage they took two minutes into the game and held the rest of the way.

“It was a great team win for us,” Benford said. “We’re capable of beating any team in this league. We’re going to get better every day. The team playing well at the end of the season has a chance to win the conference tournament.”

With an injury-depleted roster, North Texas has been dependent on four scorers for the vast majority of its offense in league play. But Saturday, the consistent-four scorers – Tony Mitchell, Roger Franklin, Jordan Williams and Alzee Williams – were supplemented by

some key baskets by Niko Stojiljkovic and P.J. Hardwick and a strong defensive effort from Keith Coleman.

“P.J. has to be aggressive,” Benford said. “When they play off of him, he has to shoot, and he did that tonight.”

North Texas came out in blazing fashion, hitting 15 of their first 17 field-goal attempts and nine of nine from the free-throw line. For the half, the Mean Green shot a season-high 79 percent, led by Alzee Williams with 12 points, Franklin with 11 and Mitchell with 9.

A 5-0 Franklin scoring run gave North Texas a 10-6 lead and turned out to be the last lead change of the night. Dunks by Stojiljkovic and Mitchell made it a five-point Mean Green lead, and Alzee Williams fueled a 9-0 run for an 11-point lead at 29-18.

But the Mean Green began to unravel at the end of the half, suddenly plagued by fouls and turnovers. FIU, down 11 with two minutes to play, rallied to within four of the lead at 39-35 before Alzee Williams closed out the half with a buzzer-beating drive for a layup and a 41-35 Mean Green lead.

The shooting touch continued in the second half for North Texas, but Mean Green turnovers and FIU offensive rebounds kept the Panthers close until the final eight minutes of the game, when North Texas began to edge away. The Mean Green lead, down to as few as four in the second half, grew to nine on a Franklin jumper, to 12 on four-straight free throws by Hardwick, and 13 on another Franklin bucket.

Franklin finished with a team-high 21 points, followed by Alzee and Jordan Williams with 15 apiece. Mitchell had nine points and six boards, and Hardwick had nine points.

The Mean Green goes on the road for its next two games, at Louisiana-Monroe on February 14