Box score

season statistics

C-USA stats

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Freshman guard A.J. Lawson sprinted up the court but his last-second layup missed as Marshall escaped with a 106-104 win against North Texas Saturday night.

Playing in front of over 6,000 fans, North Texas had its best offensive night of the season with a season-high 104 points and shot 60.6 percent from the field (43-of-71).

With 25 seconds left, North Texas held a slim 104-103 lead and had the basketball. The Mean Green couldn't get the ball inbounds and Marshall took over. Senior Ryan Taylor made a tough layup to give the Thundering Herd a 105-104 lead with seven seconds left.

Another costly turnover as senior guard J-Mychal Reese stepped out of bounds. Taylor made one of two free throws and Lawson's final attempt didn't fall in a 106-104 defeat. Reese had a spectacular final game tying his career-high with 25 points off 9-for-14 from the field.

Freshman guard A.J. Lawson continued his terrific first year with North Texas ending his season with 26 points (11-for-19), four rebounds, and three assists. Graduate transfer Derail Green added 16 points off four three-pointers and junior Shane Temara scored 13 with seven rebounds. Freshman Ryan Woolridge had another solid performance running the team with 10 points, eight assists, five rebounds, and four steals.

The Mean Green finished the season with an 8-22 overall record and 2-16 in Conference USA. Marshall improved to 17-14 and 10-8 in league play. North Texas finished the game with a season-best 19 assists and earned 11 steals.

In the second half, North Texas remained hot from the field starting 4-for-5 to build a 12-point lead at 61-49 off a jumper by Green. The Mean Green went ahead by 13-points off a driving layup from Lawson to make the score 63-50.

Marshall chipped away at the lead but a key 11-2 run tied the game at 69-69 with 13:21 remaining. North Texas wouldn't go away as sophomore Ja'Michael Brown created a steal and fast break layup to move ahead 78-74.

With 8:13 on the clock, Lawson hit two free throws to tie the game for the eighth time at 85-85. Marshall outscored North Texas 13-9 down the stretch to open up a five-point lead at 98-94 with 2:55 left.

The Mean Green wouldn't quit with a 10-1 run, including a wild three-pointer from Reese with the shot clock winding down to make the score 104-99.

In a game full of runs, Marshall responded once more scoring the last seven points of the game as Lawson missed two crucial free throws with 40 seconds left.

In a run-and-gun first half, North Texas came out swinging scoring a season-high 53 points to lead 53-45 at Marshall. The Mean Green shot the lights out going 22-for-35 (62.9 percent) from the field and 6-for-11 (54.5) from downtown.

Three players scored in double-figures with Reese leading the way with 12 points off 4-for-4 shooting. Lawson added 11 points and Temara chipped in with 11. Green had nine points off three three-pointers and freshman guard Ryan Woolridge scored eight.

North Texas built a 13-point lead at 49-36 at the 4:42 mark of the first half. The Thundering Herd cut the lead to eight points twice but couldn't get any closer to end the half at 53-45.

Mean Green Quick Hitters
• First career start for Jacob Gross and had an assist
• 53 first-half points is a season-high
• Shot a season-best 62.9 percent in the first half (22-for-35)
• Senior J-Mychal Reese finished his North Texas career with 787 points and 1,034 for his collegiate career, tied his career-high with 25 points
• Graduate transfer Derail Green finished the season with a team-best 56 three-pointers
• North Texas scored a season-high in points with 104, first time scoring 100-plus points since last season against Texas College
• Mean Green dished out a season-high 19 assists