Mitchell’s Epic Night Lifts UNT Past South Alabama
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MOBILE, Ala. – It seemed fitting that the Tony Mitchell coming-out party would occur at South Alabama’s Mitchell Center. The freshman poured in 34 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Mean Green to a 78-73 overtime win in the building that has caused North Texas so much heartbreak over the years.
Mitchell’s performance is third best combined scoring/rebounding outing in school history, and the best since Jesse Ratliff poured in 38 points and 16 boards against South Alabama on Dec. 12, 1992. North Texas (9-7, 2-1 Sun Belt West) picks up just its second-ever win at South Alabama in 10 tries, and the first since 2002.
The Dallas product’s performance was almost for naught, as NT turnovers keyed a 7-0 USA run over four crucial minutes late in the second half, culminating in an Antione Lundy dunk that gave the Jaguars a 64-63 lead with a minute remaining. USA had trailed by as many as seven points with 8:19 remaining, but Lundy hit a free throw to put the Jaguars on top by two with 19.4 remaining.
That’s when NT’s Chris Jones took a Mitchell handoff into the lane and nailed a floater with 1.5 on the clock to tie the game at 65 apiece and send the game into overtime. Mitchell was clutch in overtime with a pair of dunks and 3-of-4 free throw shooting from the line in the frame.
Alzee Williams continued his hot shooting for the Mean Green with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, and he was joined in double figures by Jones with 12 points.
Mitchell showed his range and sparked an 8-0 Mean Green run early in the second half that gave NT all of the game’s momentum. Mitchell nailed 3-pointers and hauled in his 10th rebound in back-to-back possession to give NT a 38-35 edge with 17 minutes left. Mitchell finished the game 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.
North Texas forced 24 South Alabama turnovers and turned them into 17 points. NT also controlled
the lane with a 40-24 edge in points in the paint.
Mitchell got the Mean Green on the boards with a thunderous put-back dunk just a minute in to the game. The freshman tied things at nine apiece five minutes later with a free throw.
NT took its first lead of the game at 13-12 with 11:30 on the first half clock thanks to a Brandan Walton jumper from the free throw stripe. Niko Stojiljkovic padded the lead on the next trip down the floor with a tough bucket and the foul.
Roger Franklin finished off a fast break bucket after a Chris Jones steal to give NT its biggest lead of the day at 22-17, which prompted a USA timeout.
South Alabama’s Xavier Roberson and the three-ball kept the Jaguars in the game. Roberson hit 3-pointers on back-to-back trips down the floor to narrow the Mean Green lead to a bucket, 26-24. Freddy Goldstein scored the final seven points of the half for USA to send them into the break on top, 31-28.
North Texas continues the road swing at Arkansas State on Saturday. Tip time from the Convocation Center is slated for 7 p.m.
