UNT Rally Falls Short Against MTSU

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DENTON, Texas – North Texas put on a frenetic second-half rally behind Alzee Williams and Tony Mitchell but could not find one more score to cap the comeback, falling to Middle Tennessee, 68-66, Thursday night at the Super Pit.

The Mean Green was down 15 points to the Blue Raiders, who remained undefeated in Sun Belt play (21-3, 10-0), with 13:33 left in the game, then charged back furiously and got within one score of the lead. But three trips for the lead came up empty, including a possession in the final minute when North Texas missed four shots, two blocked by the Blue Raiders.

“I thought we did a great job, we just never could get over the hump,” Mean Green coach Johnny Jones said. “The second half we had great effort, great intensity.”

Williams had a career-high 29 points, and kept the Mean Green (13-10, 6-4) in the game while the rest do the offense floundered.

“Alzee gave a great effort on both ends,” Jones said. “He did a great job defensively. He was the one providing the spark, and then they guys followed his lead.”

Mitchell battled his way to a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Trailing 51-36, North Texas went on an 8-0 run, then an 11-6 burst brought them within two at 57-55. The Blue Raiders nursed the lead into the final minute, when a Mitchell block set up a Mean Green possession with 37.2 seconds to play. North Texas managed four shots on the possession, two of which were blocked by

the long Middle Tennessee interior defense, but could not score.

Noth Texas started the game quickly, playing aggressive defense, moving the ball well on offense, and hitting 50 percent of their shots through the first eight minutes of play to open a 20-11 lead, led by Williams, who had the Mean Green’s first six points, nine in the opening salvo, and 12 for the half.

But just as quickly, the pace slowed and the Mean Green cooled. North Texas would score just six points the remainder of the half, their shooting percentage slipping to 33 percent for the half. A 14-0 MTSU scoring

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run put the Blue Raiders on top 25-20, and during that time Tony Mitchell picked up his second foul of the game and was forced to the bench for the last 6:34 of the half.

North Texas drew within three at 26-23 on a bucket by Niko Stojiljkovic, The Mean Green’s first field goal in over 10 minutes. MTSU, however, finished strong to take a 36-26 lead at halftime.

The Mean Green will be on the road for their next two games, at FIU on February 9 and FAU on February 11, before returning home to meet Louisiana-Monroe on February 16.

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