Box Score

DENTON, Texas (11/10/10) - Shannon Shorter scored 23 points to lead the North Texas men's basketball team to an 80-73 exhibition victory against Arkansas-Monticello on Wednesday night at the Super Pit.

The Mean Green is now 14-0 in exhibition games under head coach Johnny Jones. North Texas opens its season at Noon on Friday, Nov. 12 at home against Henderson State.

North Texas shot 50 percent from the field and hit 10 three-pointers in the game to keep ahead of the Boll Weevils. Arkansas-Monticello kept the Mean Green lead within single-digits most of the game, aided by NT's 16 turnovers.

Shorter was 7-for-11 from the field and 4 of 6 from three-point range. The senior guard would have set a career high during the regular season with his 23 points. His previous best was 14 points. Shorter hit four three pointers in the win after going 3-for-18 all of last season from behind the arc.

After sitting out last season with an injury, Dominique Johnson came off the bench to score 17 points, including four three-pointers. Kedrick Hogans also came back from a redshirt season to score seven points and pull down nine rebounds.

George Odufuwa returned to double-double ways with 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Mean Green held the edge in rebounds, 39-38.

The Boll Weevils cut the Mean Green lead to two points, 55-53, at 7:30 after a three-pointer by Jerrell Boswell. Johnson responded with back-to-back three-pointers to put the Mean Green back ahead by eight points. Arkansas-Monticello would not get closer than six points the rest of the way.

After scoring only two points in the first half, Thompson scored 10 of NT's opening 16 points in the second stanza. The senior hit his second three-pointer at 13:21 to give North Texas its largest lead of the game, 51-38.

Arkansas-Monticello kept pace with the Mean Green in the opening 12 minutes of the game until Shorter and Johnson hit back-to-back three-pointers to go ahead, 23-16. Shorter hit his second shot from behind the arc and then a free throw two minutes later to go ahead, 27-20.

Shorter and Johnson combined for five three-pointers in the final eight minutes of the first half to help give North Texas a 37-28 halftime lead.

The Boll Weevils shot 37.8 percent from the field. Ten Mean Green players saw action in the exhibition win.