UNT Finishes Regular Season With Win
{fshare id=3579}
DENTON, Texas – The North Texas men’s basketball team closed out the regular season with a 74-50 win against division leader Arkansas State on Thursday night at the Super Pit.
The Mean Green (12-19, 7-13) wins its eighth game at the Super Pit this season, securing a winning season at home. North Texas has had a winning season at the Super Pit in each of the last 10 seasons.
With the win against Arkansas State (18-10, 12-7) and the Troy loss, North Texas secured the No. 9 seed in the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
North Texas quickly jumped out to an early lead in the game and extended that advantage to double-digits at the half. The Mean Green would only extend that lead in the second half, leading by as many as 26 points.
Arkansas State made the opening basket, but North Texas came running out at full speed, scoring the next 10 points and did not look back the rest of the way. The Mean Green had one of its most complete games, shooting 48 percent in the game and holding the Red Wolves to 25 percent shooting from the field.
Jordan Williams led the Mean Green offense in the first half, scoring 11 points, and finished the game with 16. Alzee Williams took over the scoring in the second half, scoring 14 of
his 19 points in the second period. Alzee Williams led all scorers with 19 points, one point shy of tying a season high.
Jordan Williams and Niko Stojiljkovic hit back-to-back 3-pointers to take an early 8-2 lead in the opening three minutes. ASU missed 15 of its first 18 shots, while NT hit seven of its first 14 to take a 17-8 lead.
Tony Mitchell made the team’s fourth 3-pointer to stay ahead, 25-16. ASU was 0-for-8 from behind the arc in the first half. The visitors shot 21 percent from the field in the first period. North Texas scored seven of the last nine points of the first half to enter half with a double-digit lead, 34-24.
North Texas hit all four of its 3-pointers in the first half, while Arkansas State made just one in the entire game. ASU went 1-for-23 from behind the arc.
Jordan Williams started the second half with a 3-pointer, leading the Mean Green on a 9-2 run. The sophomore capped the run with a dunk to give North Texas a 17-point lead at 17:40.
Alzee Williams took over for the Mean Green midway through the second half. Scoring six points, he led North Texas on a 12-3 run to extend NT’s lead to 20 points, 63-43, at 6:55.
Mitchell led the Mean Green on the boards with 13 rebounds. North Texas outrebounded ASU, 45-38. Mitchell recorded his 19th career double-double with 10 points. He and Roger Franklin each had three blocks, increasing the team’s season block total to 149. North Texas needs two blocks to tie the single-season team record.
In their final home game, Roger Franklin and Niko Stojiljkovic scored 12 and seven points, respectively.
