North Texas (4-6, 0-1 SBC) vs. Southeastern Louisiana (1-6)
Dec. 16, 2012 • 1:00 p.m.
Denton, Texas • The Super Pit (10,500)
Radio: MGRN - 88.1 KNTU-FM, 95.3 KHYI-FM
TV: None • Webcast: MeanGreenSports.com
Series: NT leads 4-1 • Streak: NT won two straight
Last Meeting: NT won 71-61 on Dec. 22, 2009 in Denton
GAME NOTES
DENTON, Texas – Dating back to the 2006-07 season, North Texas has been a tough team to beat during the month of December. In fact, the Mean Green 36-14 (72 percent) during the holiday month since that season, and will look to only improve that figure against Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday.
Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. at the Super Pit, and all of the action can be heard on the Mean Green Radio Network.
North Texas leads the all-time series with the Lions 4-1, and has taken all four previous meetings at the Super Pit. The first meeting between these two schools, a 90-84 triple-overtime thriller, was the longest game in school history at the time, and is still tied for the second longest.
SLU is off to a 1-6 start this year, including a 0-5 mark on the road. In its last outing, Sun Belt rival ULM knocked off the Lions 68-61 in overtime at Fant-Ewing Coliseum, snapping the nation’s longest home-court losing streak at 20.
After a 12-17 season in 2011-12, the Lions were tabbed to finish sixth and seventh respectively in the Southland Conference ‘s preseason coaches and SID polls. Fifth-year senior Brandon Fortenberry was a First-Team Preseason All-Southland selection for a second straight year despite missing the final 22 games of last season with a foot injury. He was averaging 17.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game at the time of his injury.
NT committed only five turnovers against Jackson State. In the last 20 years, NT has posted only two games with fewer than five turnovers. This season, NT has had 15 or fewer turnovers in eight of the 10 games so far, and ranks second in the Sun Belt and 94th in the country with 12.8 turnovers per game.
One could argue that Alzee Williams is the nation’s most efficient guard. The junior is averaging a turnover every 54.2 minutes, which is the second best ratio in the nation, and tops among all guards nationwide.
