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8:10 p.m. A great run by the Mean Green. Can't say enough about these seniors. Josh White, Tristian Thompson and George Odufuwa and Dominique Johnson have had carried this team to unprecedented success over the last four years. More to come from Summit Arena soon...
8:07 p.m. I wish I could go back and delete my post from 8:02. Mean Green lose by one 64-63.
8:05 p.m. And they hit a three. Blame that one on me.
8:02 p.m. - There isn't another player I would have rather had shooting free throws than Tristian Thompson, even though he missed the first. It's going to come down to a last shot and UALR has some shooters, although it is only 3-of-11 from three land tonight.
8:00 p.m. - UALR is not going away, big three for the answer to keep the game within one. I still like the poise of this Mean Green team in situations like this.
7:57 p.m. - Read my previous post about Josh White... hits a three with 24 seconds to play. He is as clutch of a player the Mean Green has had in a long time.
7:56 p.m. - Coming down to the wire. Mean Green has been here before.
7:51 p.m. - Josh White is huge at the end of Sun Belt championship games... another big runner tonight to extend the lead.
7:50 p.m. - Shannon Shorter two huge plays down the stretch, the 3-pointer to extend the lead to five and then the offensive rebound off the missed front end of the 1-and-1.
7:48 p.m.- Final media timeout here at Summit Arena. NT leads 57-52 with 2:14 left.Odufuwa has 17 boards!
7:46 p.m. - Mean Green take a 57-52 lead with 2:53 to play after Shannon Shorter nails a HUGE three frm the corner. Timeout UALR.
7:36 p.m. - We are at the second to last media timeout with a tie score yet again. 48 all with 6:08 left. Tune into the MGRN and ESPN2 for the ending!
7:24 p.m. - The under 12 media timeout comes with 10:22 left on the clock. UALR leads 43-42 at the moment and things are really close in every stat category. Odufuwa now has 13 rebounds.
7:19 p.m. - George Odufuwa has been a beast on the boards tonight. He just went over 10 rebounds on the last posession as the Mean Green lead UALR 40-39 with 13:15 left.
7:12 p.m. - We have made it to the first media time out and it remains a truly back and forth game. Score is still tied at 36 all with 15:53 left.
7:05 p.m. - It's Mean Green ball coming out of the break.
7:02 p.m. - The halftime Mardi Gras parade around the arena just concluded. Here are two video clips from the first half. The first is the team entering the court and the starting lineups being announced. The second is the announcement of Tristan Thompson setting a new conference tournament scoring record.
6:49 p.m. - Halftime here at Summit Arena and the scoree is deadlocked at 32-32. Thompson has 10 points, while White and Odufuwa have six a piece.
6:37 p.m. - We just had a fan named Kevin who was selected as the kign of the SBC Mardi Gras. Seeing as it really is Mardi Gras day, we figure it was worth mentioning!
6:34 p.m.- Thompson nails a three and forces UALR to take a time out with 4:53 to play. NT leads 23-19.
6:28 p.m. - With 7:36 left to play in the half it's a tie ball game at 15 points a piece. Josh White and Trista Thompson have five each for the Mean Green while George Odufuwa has been clearing the glass for the team.
6:17 p.m. - Second media timeout sees North Texas with a 12-9 lead. A lot lower scoring game than last night, but thats good for the heart I think. The Mean Green fans have been great so far! Hope you;re all watching on ESPN2 and listening to the MGRN.
6:11 p.m.- Josh White hit a huge lay up and drew the foul to send us to media timeout number one. White will be on the line when we return with the scored tied 9-9 with 14:28 left.
6:04 p.m. - Thompson drains a three and sets the tournament record for most points throughout at 83. He has three tonight with 18:24 left in the first, NT leads 5-0.
6:03 p.m. - The game is underway and Kedrick Hogans pours in the first bucket.
6:01 p.m.- Mean Green going with its normal starting line up. Odufuwa, White, Thompson, Shorter and Hogans will be fronting the North Texas championship game.
5:58 p.m. - Teams are on the court. Fans are loud. As the PA announcer here at the tournament says, "It's time for championship basketball...HOO-AHH!!!"
5:31 p.m. - We have been getting texts from a ton of people both current and former employees who couldn't be here tonight. Kenny 'Midnight' Bybee just sent his well wishes from the Southland Conference Tournament. Thanks everyone!
5:29 p.m. - Coach Jones pregame interview with the Mean Green Radio Network. Also, George Dunham has made it back to Hot Springs and will be calling the game for the MGRN!
5:21 p.m. - The North Texas contingent is showing up in force tonight here at Summit Arena. They are all ready to rock this place and bring home another SBC Championship! Tip-off is 36 minutes away.
5:00 p.m.- One hour to tip-off and the team is in the arena. Also in the arena, Brad Sham to call the game for Westwood One. Who isn't in the arena yet? George Dunham.
3:44 p.m.- According to what we have received via NCAA basketball stat guru Gary Johnson, Tristan Thompson's 20-for-20 night from the free throw line against FAU was the second most consecutive makes in a game all-time, falling just four short of Arlen Clarks' 24 consecutive made free throws for Oklahoma State against Colorado on March 7, 1959.
3:31 p.m. - We're here at Summit Arena and the cleaning crews are hard at work in prep for tonights Sun Belt Championship bout. UALR won the womens championship over WKU 66-59 in a thrilling game. They will advance to the NCAA Women's Tournament automatically.
1:36 p.m. - The MGRN has just gotten back from eating lunch with Brad Sham, who is doing the game for Westwood One. Sham, the Dallas Cowboys' radio announcer, came up last night to observe the semifinal games, and is on the call tonight. A stickler for tradition, the MGRN went with Sham to the same Italian resturant that they ate at last year on Championship Tuesday.
10:58 a.m. - Obviously, Tristan Thompson has gone off for the Mean Green, scoring 80 points through the first three games, and is two points behind the Sun Belt single tournament record, set by ULL's Tirus Wade in 2005. However, UALR's Solomon Bozeman has been almost as spectactular during the Sun Belt tournament, throwing down 68 points so far, and he has a chance to top Wade's mark as well. For those looking for a key to the game, Bozeman, who was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, scored just 9 points on 3-10 shooting against the Mean Green just a week ago in Little Rock.
9:46 a.m. - National bracketology projections this morning now include North Texas--most have the policy to give the automatic bid to the highest remaining seed in the tournament, which is now North Texas. Joe Lunardi at ESPN.com has North Texas as a No. 16 seed playing Duke in Charlotte, North Carolina, while CBS Sports' Jerry Palm has North Texas as a No. 16 playing Notre Dame in Chicago.
9:21 a.m. - North Texas is currently on the Summit Arena court for its morning shootaround. ESPN talent Rob Stone and Mark Adams are here getting their scouting in and talking with Coach Jones as well. We will have some video features to put up later in the day following this session. Stay tuned as the Mean Green look to grab and NCAA automatic tournament bid and its second straight Sun Belt Conference Championship.
