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| By Stephen Howard, Dec. 15, 2009 - 2:02 p.m. |
One game certainly doesn't make a season, but Sunday's 17-point dispatching of ULM gives me, and ESPN, some raised eyebrows about the Mean Green basketball team heading into Sun Belt play.
Johnny Jones' squad showed toughness, 57.1 percent shooting from the floor and a poised defensive presence in sending the Warhawks away empty handed, and it looks like some people are paying attention. I hear Jacksonville is lovely in March.
I don't think it was so much the fact that North Texas beat ULM, but how it beat the Warhawks. The Mean Green got 20-points from Tristan Thompson (who always seems to come alive come conference time), 16 and 15 from Eric Tramiel and Josh White, and a near double-double from George Odufuwa.
But on the other end of the floor, NT rendered a pair of All-Sun Belt caliber players ineffective. Tony Hooper, one of the SBC's top guards, was held to 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting and three turnovers, while big man Rudy Turner had just four points and four turnovers. That means Josh White and George Odufuwa were giving the Warhawks fits on the defensive end as well. Yikes.
For the first time this season, everything was clicking for the Mean Green shooting game. North Texas' starters combined for 73 points and 69.4 percent shooting from the floor. As a team, NT logged season-highs in field goal percentage (57.1), 3-point field goal percentage (53.3), assists (17) and steals (7).
North Texas had shown flashes of its prowess early this season, but was able to fire up the full 8-cylinder Mean Green machine for the entire second half against ULM, which was outscored 44-29 in the frame.
That's a scary proposition for everyone around the Sun Belt, especially for Isiah Thomas and the FIU Golden Panthers. They get the red-hot Mean Green next, this Sunday at 3 p.m. See you at the Super Pit!
