North Texas Basketball Wins Opener

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DENTON, TX – Alzee Williams and Brandan Walton combined for 35 points as North Texas fought off an upset bid from Northwood, 72-67, in the Mean Green’s season opener Friday night at the Super Pit.

Williams had a game-high 22 points, 16 in the second half, including a three-point play with seven seconds to play and two game-icing free throws with two seconds left. Walton, in his return from a season-ending injury suffered in last season’s opener, scored 13 points, including a three-point play with 3:51 to play that gave the Mean Green a 62-55 lead.

But the tenacious Knights played aggressively all night and refused to fold, battling back every time North Texas opened a little breathing room. Northwood drew within one at 65-64 before Colin Voss, a transfer from Northern Oklahoma who struggled in his Mean Green debut much of the night, calmly sank a pair of free throws with 25 seconds left, then Williams closed out the win.

“I thought we were out of character a little,” North Texas coach Tony Benford said. “We didn’t do a good job keeping them out of transition, and we didn’t execute on offense. We’ve got to get better attacking the zone. We’re going to see it a lot.”

Chris Jones also scored in double figures for North Texas with 13, and Jordan Williams added nine.

Both teams struggled with their shooting in the first half. North Texas hit just

35 percent (13 of 37) but enjoyed a considerable edge on the boards, out-rebounding Nortwood 31-19. The Knights, meanwhile, were good on just 31 percent of their shots from the floor (10-of-32) but made up the difference at the free-throw line and with five steals and three blocked shots to fuel a productive fast break.

The Mean Green held an early eight-point lead before Northwood took its first lead of the game, 26-25. North Texas quickly retook the lead but could not shake the Knights, taking a slim 35-33 lead into halftime.