Men’s basketball comeback falls short after Combs injur

[Skipper]

Reece Waddell | Senior Staff Writer

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With just two games remaining before the Conference USA tournament, North Texas entered its game with Old Dominion University on Thursday night seeking a much needed victory.

Instead, the Mean Green (11-19, 6-11) got perhaps what it needed the least – an injury to its leading scorer, sophomore forward Jeremy Combs to go along with a 76-70 defeat.

Combs hobbled off the court after tweaking his ankle seconds after the opening tipoff, but returned a few minutes later. North Texas ran into even more trouble when junior guard Deckie Johnson picked up his second foul with 17 minutes remaining in the first half. He was delegated to the bench for the next 10 minutes while head coach Tony Benford utilized his taller lineup, inserting freshman center Rickey Brice Jr. for Johnson.

Using a two-guard lineup for most of the first half, the Mean Green hung tough with the Monarchs (18-12, 11-6) despite two of its three leading scorers sidelined with injuries or foul trouble. But Old Dominion switched its defense to combat the larger North Texas lineup, playing a zone defense to take away the interior.

Unable to find a groove offensively, the Mean Green entered halftime trailing only 30-24 after shooting 30.8 percent in the first half.

And unfortunately for North Texas, things took a turn for the worst straight out of the intermission when Combs turned his ankle for a second time and went directly to the dressing room. He emerged 10 minutes later with a towel around his neck and did not return.

With Combs on the bench, the Monarchs went on a 13-2 run and quickly jumped out to a 17-point lead. After Benford took a timeout to rally the troops, the Mean Green went on a run of its own, capped off by junior guard J-Mychal Reese’s and-one layup to pull North Texas to within five.

From there, the back and forth affair began. Old Dominion answered each of the Mean Green’s buckets with one of its own, as no team was able to find an answer defensively. Even with its co-captain on the bench with an injury, the Mean Green refused to fold tent.

North Texas went on an 8-0 run of its own to cut the deficit to five points when Reese converted another and-one layup attempt. Time, however, was not on the Mean Green’s side. With the clock dwindling down, North Texas ran out of opportunities. Johnson tried to provide late-game heroics once again, converting all 10 of his free throws to try and will his team to a comeback.

Ultimately, it was not enough, as a turnover in the final minute combined with a missed three pointer sealed the Mean Green’s fate.

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