NORTH TEXAS vs. UT-ARLINGTON
The Super Pit Monday, December 29, 2008
Game Notes / Quotes
Collin Dennis poured in a season-high 21 points to lead the Mean Green in scoring. Five of his seven made field goals came from behind the three-point line along with a 2-for-2 effort at the free throw line. It was his sixth double-figure game this season.
Josh White was one of three Mean Green players in score in double digits, finishing with 16. Six of those points came with a 6-for-6 effort at the free throw line, extending his streak of consecutive made FTS to 22 dating back to the Houston game on Nov. 29.
Dennis shot 5-of-8 from three-point range, with his five three-pointers a new season-high for him and one shy of his career best from behind the arc.
For White, his 16-point performance marked his fourth straight game to score in double figures. It was his 8th double-figure effort of the season.
Eric Tramiel also ended in double figures with 10 points, the third time in the last five games he’s produced in double figures.
George Odufuwa pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds, marking his fifth career double-figure rebounding game at North Texas. It was a strong effort after finishing with just one rebound in his last game against New Orleans last week.
Odufuwa also contributed a team-leading three steals, tying his career high.
As a team, the Mean Green connected on 8-of-25 three-pointers, marking the fifth straight game in which NT has hit at least eight three-pointers in the game.
NT now faces a two-game losing streak for the first time this season.
NT has now lost its last five meetings with UT-Arlington. The Mean Green return to Sun Belt Conference action on Wednesday when they host Middle Tennessee in a 4:00 pm game at the Super Pit.
The top two career scorers in NT history were in attendance at the game, including No.1 Kenneth Lyons and No. 2 Chris Davis.
Johnny Jones Quotes
“I thought they (Texas-Arlington) came in and played a very tough and inspired game. I thought we played hard, but they played tougher for 40 minutes tonight. It is rare that we get (out-toughed) at home, but credit UTA for playing the way they did. They have guys that come in and make big shots. Their posts players Vereen (Anthony) and Moffitt (Tommy) had big games tonight. I thought they were the difference.”
“We are a better shooting team than what we showed tonight. UTA did a good job of defending and we missed several shots that we normally make
Free Throws:
“We have to do a better job of getting to the free throw line. Tonight we had only 21 opportunities while we normally are around 30. Our guys penetrated tonight and kicked the ball back out. We need to also look for our post guys for points in the paint with possible three point opportunities. We only had 12 shots taken by our starting post players tonight.”
On the Last Shot:
“We possibly could have come off a ball screen and maybe stretched the defense a little, but we have confidence in Domo (Dominque Johnson) and his shooting ability. He has made a ton of big shots for us and is not afraid to take the big shot. That shot (Johnson’s miss) did not lose the ball game for us. We lost it earlier in the game when we didn’t defend as well as we should have.”
