UNT Wins Over IUPUI

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – North Texas head coach Tony Benford preaches that defense leads to offense, and on Monday afternoon his Mean Green proved him right in an 80-66 win over IUPUI in NIT Season Tip-Off consolation action.

North Texas (3-2) held the Jaguars (2-3) to 37.5 percent shooting, and forced the transition tempo to the tune of 20 fast-break points – the most by NT since it had 23 against Houston Baptist in 2008. The result was a 49.3 Mean Green shooting percentage and 21 points and four blocks for Preseason All-American Tony Mitchell.

“I thought that we came out focused, and executed really well against a well-coached basketball team,” Benford said. “Chris Jones did such a great job of running the offense, and Roger Franklin is flat getting it done for us. I’m really proud of the way we played today.”

The Jones-to-Franklin connection was going all afternoon. Jones racked up a season-high eight assists, and Franklin tallied his fifth career double-double with 13 points and a 10 boards.

NT, which played its first ever game in the Commonwealth of Virginia against the Jaguars, will close out this road swing and the NIT Season Tip-Off on Tuesday against Virginia at 7 p.m.

After starting the game in a 4-0 hole, North Texas used its devastating speed to get back into things. Mitchell picked off a pass at mid-court and wowed the crowd with a windmill dunk, which spurred an 11-0 burst from the Mean Green.

Jordan Williams kept the momentum going with a pair of 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions that pushed the Mean Green lead to 35-19 with five minutes remaining in the half. Williams finished with 13 points on 3-of-3 shooting from 3-point.

Mitchell piled up three first half blocks to lead North Texas into the halftime break with a 41-31 lead. NT kept the pressure going in the second half and led by as many as 21 points.