Miami, FL (1/18/07) - The North Texas men's and women's basketball teams travel to Miami, Fla., today to play FIU in doubleheader action.
The North Texas men (12-5, 3-3 SBC) have won five of its last seven games, and looks to pull within a game of the Sun Belt’s Western Division lead at Florida International. Tipoff against the Golden Panthers is scheduled for 6 p.m. following the women's game and can be heard on the Mean Green Radio Network.
The North Texas women's game features two teams that are slumping, as both the Mean Green and Golden Panthers are looking to snap four-game losing streaks. The four-game losing streak is the longest of the year for NT. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 pm and can be heard on the KNTU radio station.
The Mean Green men are the nation’s 27th ranked offensive club, averaging a Sun Belt-leading 79.9 points per game and 47.2 shooting percentage. North Texas sits at 141 in the official RPI Ratings following the win over Louisiana-Lafayette last week. NT, 1-1 against the RPI’s top 100 teams, earned a Sagarin rating of 170. One of the nation’s most potent benches, North Texas’ sideline is averaging 13.6 points per game more than its counterpart, outscoring the opponent’s bench 503-272. Florida International snapped a five-game losing streak with a home win over Denver on Saturday, 61-59. The Golden Panthers are hitting only 40.2 percent from the floor this year, and 32.1 percent from beyond the arc.
The Mean Green owns a 6-1 all-time edge over Florida International, all in Sun Belt Conference play. Despite the fact that North Texas has won the last five meetings, two of the games against the Golden Panthers have been decided in overtime. North Texas took the first match on Dec. 30, 2000 in OT, 70-68. The next season FIU took North Texas to overtime again, with the Mean Green falling 79-78. The Golden Panthers are North Texas’ only victim in Sun Belt Tournament action, falling to NT in the opening round of the 2002 tourney, 84-71.
Michael Sturns, the Sun Belt’s leading sixth man, ranks fourth in the nation in bench scoring. The junior ranks third on NT in overall scoring with 14.9 points per game but has only started one of the Mean Green’s 17 games. Sturns led the conference in bench scoring last season as well.
Sanetra Jackson scored a career-high 27 points against Louisiana-Lafayette last week. It was the most points scored by a Mean Green player since the 2005 season. Within the game Jackson had six 3-pointers, the most by a North Texas player since March 5, 1999. Jackson now has three 20-point games this season and with one more she will have the most 20-point games by a Mean Green player since Jalie Mitchell and the 2001-02 season. That season Mitchell has 15 games of 20 points or more.
The North Texas women tied a school-record with 11 3-pointers against Louisiana-Lafayette. Only two other times has the Mean Green hit 11 3-pointers in a game. Not since December 21, 1999 against SMU has the Mean Green hit 11 from behind the arc. It marks the 9th time in school history that North Texas has had ten or more 3-pointers from the floor.
Click here to read this week's women's game notes
Click here to read this week's men's game notes
Click here to listen to the men's game
Click here to listen to the women's game
