Walton Explodes In Mean Green 68-61 Win

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MIAMI – A tight game was turned into the Brandan Walton show as the junior scored 13 straight points in the second half in a four minute span and North Texas defeated FIU 68-61 at U.S. Century Bank Arena.

The Mean Green was locked in a defensive battle, leading 47-46 with eight minutes left in the game when Walton exploded three straight 3-point and 11 consecutive points to put North Texas (14-10, 7-4) ahead 60-48 with under four minutes to play.

“He (Walton) had good looks in the first half and they didn’t go down, but we just needed ot make sure we were patient offensively and when he got good looks and got going I thought that was the difference in the game and he really stepped up for us,” said head coach Johnny Jones.

The Mean Green pushed the lead to 14 points at 62-48, when FIU (7-16, 3-7) made one final run with less than a minute left with an 11-3 run, but North Texas closed out the Golden Panthers with a Walton steal and a basket from Alzee Williams in the waning seconds.

Walton finished the night with 15 points as the Mean Green had three players in double figures with Tony Mitchell posting a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds and Williams with 16.

North Texas outrebounded FIU 44-30 and has now beaten the Golden Panthers in five of the last six meetings.

Trailing by three at the break, FIU took a one-point lead at 33-32 to begin the second half, but North Texas went on an 8-0 run to open up a 40-33 lead. It was a 47-46 Mean Green with eight minutes to play when Walton ignited the 11-0 run to make it 60-48 with 3:55 remaining.

FIU jumped out to an early 11-6 lead on North Texas on the strength of three 3-pointers from Taylor. North Texas rallied and took its first lead of the game at 16-15 on a 3-pointer from Tyler Hall.

Mitchell made it a 20-17 lead on a thunderous windmill dunk on a fast-break pass from Trey Norris. Mitchell ended half with 10 points as North Texas took a three-point lead into the half at 26-23.

North Texas closes out its two-game road trip as the face Florida Atlantic Saturday night in Boca Raton at 6 p.m.  Follow scores on DFWsportsonline