NT sports desk article on Baylor game

[OldTimer]

Smith, Hopkins Pace Mean Green Past Baylor, 73-69

DENTON (12/9/03) -- A pair of veterans, senior forward Will Smith and junior guard Leonard Hopkins, sparked North Texas with a powerful inside-outside presence Tuesday night as the Mean Green battled past Baylor, 73-69, at the Super Pit.

Smith grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds and finished with a double-double while Hopkins connected on 4-of-7 three pointers and led the Mean Green with a season-high 19 points as North Texas ended a four game losing streak against the Bears (3-3) to improve to 3-2 this season.

Four North Texas players scored in double figures as Smith finished with 10 points to go with his 13 rebounds, Ron Harris chipped in with 13 points and Jerome Rogers ended with 12 points.

"This was a great win for us tonight against a quality opponent," said North Texas head coach Johnny Jones. "I thought our guys did a good job. This was a total team effort. I thought Will Smith was big for us, and Leonard Hopkins played his best game since injuring his foot last year."

In a tight first half, the lead bounced back and forth before a three-pointer NT's Marqus Mitchell with 3:33 left lifted the Mean Green to a two-point advantage at 27-25. NT never relinquished the lead and owned a 32-28 halftime edge.

Three unanswered three pointers at the start of the second half by North Texas -- including two by Hopkins and one by Michael Jones -- widened the Mean Green's lead to 11 and North Texas eventually went up by as many as 14 points.

But Baylor, in the Bears' first road game of the season, fought back and went ahead, 52-50 at the 10:04 mark on a lay-up by Terrance Thomas. A couple of free throws by NT's Harris tied the game moments later before the Mean Green grabbed the lead for good on a Rogers three-pointer.

Baylor got as close as a point, at 62-61 with 3:57 left and again at 64-63 with 2:52 on the clock, but North Texas was able to hold off the Bears for the win.

In addition to Smith setting a career high with his rebounding and reaching a season high with his 10 points, he also set a season high with two blocked shots. It was his second career double-double.

Hopkins was sizzling from the outside, connecting on 6-of-10 field goals, including 4 of 7 from three-point range. His 19 points, along with two assists, were both season-high efforts.

The Mean Green knocked down 10 three-pointers, one shy of their season high and the team's 15 assists tied a season high mark. NT's seven total blocked shots -- Ty Thomas led with three -- also set a new season high.

North Texas now faces a four-game road swing that begins with a game at TCU in Fort Worth on Saturday at 7:05 p.m.

-Box Score-