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10:12 p.m. - The postgame press conference video is now available HERE.
9:28 p.m. - The story is up and things are winding down at the Convention Center for the night. The Mean Green coaching staff is currently catching some of the Arkansas State vs UALR contest over in Summit Arena. Some of the North Texas faithful are sticking around to catch some of the two remaining games, but most have cleared out.
9:22 p.m.- For everyone who wishes they could have been here for tonight's game, here's a taste of the atmosphere during the last few minutes of the game. Video of the postgame press conference featuring Coach Jones, Dominique Johnson, and Tristan Thompson will be available shortly.
8:45 p.m.- The Mean Green upset the top overall seed in the tournament, 78-64. Tristan Thompson scores a career high 36. More to come...
8:43 p.m.- Coach Jones is now turning around to the fans and pumping his fist, thanking them for their support. 76-62 lead, under a minute.
8:40 p.m.- The crowd is going crazy inside the Convention Center as the Mean Green have forced several turnovers and had several fast breaks in the last two minutes. The lead is now 15, 75-60 with just over a minute to play. George Odufuwa now 11 rebounds and 8 points. FAU calls time out and the Mean Green Nation in the arena goes crazy!
8:35 p.m.- Alonzo Edwards picks up his third personal foul but remains in the game. 67-58 NT lead. Josh White then picks up his third personal foul on offense, but also remains in the game. On the ensuing possession, FAU turns the ball over and Shorter takes it down the court. Dominique Johnson is then called for an offensive foul, his first personal.
8:29 p.m.- The Mean Green switched to a 2-3 zone in the second half and that has put the brakes on the Owls offense. A charge call against FAU forces Mike Jarvis to call a time out with 4:53 remaining, NT leading 66-57.
8:20 p.m.- North Texas leads 58-54 with 7:57 to play. Both teams are in the double bonus for the rest of the night. First inbound play after the media timeout, FAU is forced to call time out in front of their own bench.
8:15 p.m. - Tristan Thompson now has 32 points, which is a career high. He topped his 30 point output against ULM with 8:12 left in the game this evening.
8:09 p.m. - North Texas just took the lead over FAU with two free throws from Tristan Thompson after Shavar Richardson fouled out for the Owls. Thompson has now made 14 free throws which is his career high for free throws made. Kedrick Hogans also re-enters the game. North Texas 52, FAU 51 with 9:22 left.
8:05 p.m.- The Mean Green charged back into the game and tied it, bringing the crowd back to life. The tie didn't last long, but the crowd is still in it. FAU leads 48-45 with 11:26 to play. Kedrick Hogans just left the game...it appears he was poked in the eye. Alonzo Edwards now in the game, along with Odufuwa, White, Thompson, and Johnson.
7:55 p.m.- Tristan Thompson now has 21 points in the game on only 4-of-7 shooting. He has been to the line and converted 12 free throws.
7:53 p.m. - FAU has scored seven points so far in the second half, all by Shavar Richardson, who also just picked up his third personal foul and left the game. 41-35 FAU, 16:27 left in the game.
7:45 p.m. - North Texas starts the second half with the ball and Tristan drains the first three pointer of the game. Mean Green trail by four, 34-30.
7:40 p.m. - The teams have returned to the court to warm up for the second half. FAU's Brett Royster is showing why he earned the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year award. Raymond Taylor is also playing great defense for the Owls, as Josh White has not had any room to operate tonight. Free throws are keeping the Mean Green in the game, as they shot 13-16 in the first half.
7:31 p.m. - FAU is absolutely shooting the lights out on the Convention Center Court. The Owls end the first half with a shooting percentage of 57.1 percent and lead the Mean Green 34-27 at the half. Tristan Thompson leads North Texas with 12 points while George Odufuwa has five rebounds and four points.
7:24 p.m. - With his two free throws a few minutes ago Tristan Thompson set a North Texas record for free throws made with 181. Jim Mudd held the record from 1959-60 until today.
7:21 p.m. - Alonzo Edwards checks into the game and is playing like a beast. He has three minutes, three points and three boards.
7:13 p.m. - 7:49 left, and now the Owls lead 22-14 after a huge dunk and foul. FAU players and fans are pumped, and Coach Johnny Jones is not happy about it as the Mean Green come to the sideline for the media time out.
7:10 p.m. - Kedrick Hogans goes 0-2 on his free throws, but North Texas is 8-10 as a team so far. FAU leads 18-14 with just under 9 minutes left before halftime. Mean Green players on the court: White, Johnson, Thompson, Odufuwa, and Knox.
7:04 p.m.- Looks like we're in for a very physical game. FAU already has six team fouls and it looks like Tristan Thompson and North Texas are just going at them. Mean Green are currently 6-for-6 from the charity stripe with two more coming.
7:00 p.m. - Tristan Thompson makes two free throws to make it a 10-8 FAU lead. After a slow start, the Mean Green are starting to look better and play their game.
6:53 p.m. - Josh White called for traveling, and Coach Jones apparently disagrees with the call. On the other end of the court on the FAU bench, Coach Jarvis has already lost his jacket four minutes into the game.
6:48 p.m. - FAU is out to a quick 6-0 lead, and Coach Jones calls an early time out. There is a strong Mean Green presence in the crowd tonight, but so far not much to make noise about.
6:45 p.m. - Just in time for tip off, here it is...Hank Dickenson and FAU Coach Mike Jarvis.
6:40 p.m. - The game is just about to start. To see Coach Jones' pregame interview, click here! As a special treat, Hank Dickenson also interviewed FAU head coach Mike Jarvis before the game. Video of that will be up shortly (as soon as it finishes uploading...there's a lot of traffic on the Convention Center wireless network!).
6:31 p.m. - Back in Denton, Mean Green Softball run-ruled Wichita State earlier this afternoon, putting a 9-1 defeat on the Shockers. Lesley Hirsch had four RBI for the Mean Green, who have now won nine of ten.
6:24 p.m. - We are getting ready for tip here in Hot Springs. Both the FAU and North Texas bands have been alternating numbers as we prepare for what should be a great game. FAU will accept their East Division and Regular Season Championship Trophies pregame. For instant analysis and notes during the game, follow facebook.com/MeanGreenSports or twitter.com/MeanGreenSports.
5:39 p.m. - The team's are warming up and stretching on the floor right now as we are courtside at the Convention Center. FAU will be presented with their regular season and East Division championship trophies pre-game, so maybe the Mean Green will have that chip on their shoulder from the start. Coverage on the MGRN begins at 6 p.m. on 100.7 the word with Hank Dickenson on the call.
4:33 p.m. - FIU's women just escaped with a 52-51 victory over ULM on the Convention Center Court, hitting a free throw in the last half-minute of the game to take the lead. Next up on this court will be North Texas' men against FAU at 6:45 p.m. We'll keep you updated as we approach game time.
4:11 p.m. - The North Texas Sports Info department just got back from lunch at Granny's Cafe in downtown Hot Springs. Stephen Howard, David Waxman and Ryan Kasmiersky all challenged each other to eat one of Granny's XXL X-treme Burger's. Needless to say, the feat was completed in it's entirety by all three. Great pre-game meal for the SIDs and they're back and ready for tonights match-up against FAU. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. on the Convention Center Court.
1:56 p.m. - The No. 1 Seed in the women's side of the tournament fell just moments ago, as Middle Tennessee fell to Arkansas State 77-62 in front of a lively crowd at the Summitt Arena. One regular season champion fell today, could we see another one fall tonight?
Elsewhere in Mean Green Nation, Softball finishes up the Courtyard Classic at 3 p.m. today, as they host Wichita State at Lovelace Stadium. Softball has had a great weekend so far, defeating UTEP, Louisiana Tech, Ole Miss, and beat Wichita State in their first matchup. T.J. Hubbard's squad has won eight out of nine games, with the only loss in that stretch coming against No. 10 Oklahoma. Fans in Denton should check out the game--you should be back home in time to follow the men's game against FAU (6:45 p.m.)
12:56 p.m. - What is Steven Bartolotta of MGRN fame doing at the Western Kentucky vs. Denver women's basketball game? Steven is doing the commentary for the webcasts on SunBeltSports.org for the first three days of the tournament. (Of course, the finals will be on the ESPN family of networks, ESPNU for the women and ESPN2 for the men) Steven has been hard at work this weekend, calling both North Texas games and is working on his third non-Mean Green game this week for the conference. MGRN Announcers: so good that even the conference wants to use their talents.
12:03 p.m. - North Texas plays FAU tonight on the Convention Center Court. The court, which adjoins the Summit Arena, is set up in convention space, but is actually a phenomenal setup. The court used last year in the Summit Arena is laid down in the middle, while scoreboards are set up on each wall. Temporary seating, which is similar to what you would see at the Colonial, the Byron Nelson or any other PGA TOUR event, lines each side. It results in a very inimate setup--last night for South Alabama vs. UALR men's game, the stands were nearly full and it created a great atomsphere. The courts are so close that fans, staff and media typically walk to the other court when their game is at halftime. Overall, this temporary setup is on par with average Sun Belt arenas--it's just a little smaller.
11:40 a.m. - We understand there have been some issues with some of the video content failing to play on these blog pages. So today we're going to try it a different way. After the alumni breakfast this morning, the Mean Green Radio Network provided a quick recap of last nights victory over Troy and a preview of the game tonight against FAU. Click here to see George Dunham, Hank Dickenson, Steven Bartolotta, and Stephen Howard give their thoughts on the men's team.
11:39 a.m. - BREAKING NEWS FROM HOT SPRINGS: We have photographic evidence of the avian visitor! It took a great hustle play by the Green Gang to get the camera in time to take the photo!
11:26 a.m. - There is a bird flying around the Convention Center Court, prior to the women's game between Denver and Western Kentucky. Sun Belt Conference officials are trying to determine how this rogue avian spectator received a credential. Officials are trying to recall the rules if a bird interferes with the ball in play. Anyone remember Randy Johnson's spring training adventures?
11:11 a.m. - Dumping some content from last night, we have some fans entertaining themselves on the concourse playing NCAA Basketball on Playstation 3. The digital location should be familiar to most Mean Green fans...
10:54 a.m. - We have some good video shot with MGRN commentators George Dunham and Hank Dickenson previewing tonight's matchup and recapping last night's 83-69 victory over Troy. We'll post it on the blog shortly.
10:37 a.m. - This morning's alumni breakfast is one of the special events that you only see at conference tournaments. Every Sun Belt Conference School had their alumni association there, with a table set up for alumni to get involved with their respective instution. There is a jazz band playing on stage, and alumni from all twelve schools sit together and have breakfast. A really cool event you'll never see outside of a conference basketball tournament.
10:06 a.m. - We're back at the Summit/Convention Center here in Hot Springs, Ark., for Sunday's action. The men will take on No. 1 overall seed FAU tonight at 6:45 p.m. on the Convention Center Court. About the only thing going on right now is the Alumni Breakfast, so we are going to head over there and get some video to post later today.
