Williams Leads UNT To Victory

{fshare id=3540}

TROY, Ala. – A Jordan Williams 3-point barrage and a missed 3-pointer at the buzzer by the Troy Trojans let the North Texas men’s basketball team escape Trojan Arena with a 63-61. Jeff Mullahey’s 3-pointer at the buzzer was no good and the Mean Green (10-18, 5-12) captured its second road win of the season.

Williams had seven 3-pointers on the night, tied for the second most in school history and the most in a single game by a North Texas player since Chris Davis had seven in 2000.

“I thought our defensive plan was great, and we wanted to keep them out of the paint and contest them on the 3-point shot and we did that,” said head coach Tony Benford. “Jordan was great for us tonight hitting so many big shots for us. We got some big rebounds when we had to but I’m really proud of my guys for the way they battled back.

North Texas shot 77.8 percent from the floor in the second half in a game that saw 16 lead changes and 12 ties. Williams, who ended the night a game-high 25 points, had back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the second half to give North Texas a 45-43 lead.

Williams delivered again with four minutes to play with his seventh 3-pointer to

push the lead to four points at 58-54.

Leading 62-56 with 2:20 left, Troy (11-16, 6-10) made one last run. A 3-pointer from Hunter Williams cut the lead in half then a basket by Deonata Jethroe made it a one-point game at 62-61 with 1:19 to play. North Texas rebounded a Troy miss with 9.7 seconds to play, and Alzee Williams made the front end of a one-and-one, but missed the second free throw giving Troy one final chance to win the game but Mullahey’s final look did not fall.

A tight first half saw the two teams trade the lead eight times to go along with six ties. Jordan Williams keyed a 10-2 North Texas run midway through the first half to give the Mean Green a 26-19 edge. Williams knocked down consecutive 3-pointers to open up a seven-point North Texas lead.

Troy answered back with seven straight points to tie the game up at 26-26 with 2:25 left in the half. A Tony Mitchell dunk with 1:16 in the half gave the Mean Green a two-point lead at the break at 28-26.

North Texas returns home on Thursday to square off against Florida Atlantic at the Super Pit at 7 p.m.