DRC Mens BB Green (St Boney) is key for NT Sat

OldTimer · December 20, 2003

Basketball: Green is key for UNT on Saturday

Boeheim gives Jones solid scouting report

08:48 AM CST on Saturday, December 20, 2003

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

North Texas basketball coach Johnny Jones found out all he needed to know about Marques Green from one of the grand old masters of coaching this week.

Jones was looking for information about St. Bonaventure, the Mean Green’s opponent in a 3 p.m. game Saturday in New York, so he called Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim.

Syracuse edged St. Bonaventure, 87-78, earlier this year.

"Green is one of the most exciting players in the country," Jones said. "Coach Boeheim told me he is comparable to Allen Iverson."

The evaluation from a coach who is in his 27th season and led his team to the national title last year only confirmed what Jones already knew: UNT (4-3) will face a monumental challenge against the Bonnies (3-4).

Green, a 5-7 guard, scored a career-high 43 points in a 107-98 loss to Niagara on Wednesday. The standout game pushed Green’s season scoring average to 24.6 points a game, a total that ranks among the national leaders.

"We going to have to try to slow him down and contain him," Jones said. "We will throw a combination of defenses at him and hope he doesn’t have a career night."

Containing Green would give UNT a chance to build on a win over Texas-Pan American on Wednesday. Senior forward Shawnson Johnson had a career night against the Broncs, scoring 20 points to go along with 13 rebounds and four blocked shots.

Johnson and sophomore Ty Thomas started at the forward spots for the Mean Green for the first time this season. Johnson was playing in his second game for UNT after becoming eligible at the end of the first semester.

Johnson sat out the first semester after transferring from LSU.

Junior guard Leonard Hopkins is averaging 10.6 points a game after playing in all seven of UNT’s games. Johnson is averaging 11.5 points in two games.

"I thought the new lineup worked out well for us," Jones said. "I like the way we started and the guys who came off the bench played well."

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870.

Zeke · December 20, 2003

Man, what happened to the team in the second half? They were close at the break and then who knows what happened. It appears Shawnson Johnson is the real deal.