DRC Men's BB dealing with Denver

OldTimer · January 15, 2004

Men's basketball: Dealing with Denver

Mean Green have to guard outside to be successful

07:43 AM CST on Thursday, January 15, 2004

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

The North Texas men’s basketball team has encountered a few teams that posed problems because of their prowess shooting the ball from long distance this season.

None present the dilemma the Mean Green will face tonight in a 7 p.m. game against the University of Denver at the Super Pit.

The Pioneers have multiple players who excel at piling up points from beyond the 3-point arc.

DRC/Hiroyuki Komae

North Texas forward Shawnson Johnson dunks during the Mean Green’s loss to New Mexico State on Saturday at the Super Pit.

"We know this team coming in will shoot it from the outside," UNT coach Johnny Jones said. "To defend it well, we will have to get out there and play aggressively. ... The main thing we have to do is keep their point guard from penetrating. That will help a lot."

Reaching those goals and posting a win over Denver will be key for UNT, which is trying to take advantage of a four-game homestand.

UNT lost to New Mexico State in its Sun Belt Conference opener Saturday and has just two games left at the Super Pit before a two-game road trip.

The Mean Green would like to enter that road trip with a winning record in league play, a goal that will require UNT to sweep Denver and Florida Inter-national in its next two games.

"This is an important game for us," junior guard Marqus Mitchell said. "We need to get rolling again."

UNT won three of four games during one stretch early in the season, but has lost five of its last six games heading into its tilt with Denver.

The Mean Green appeared as if it was getting back on track when it ended a four-game losing streak with a convincing 71-53 win over Texas-Pan American on Jan. 8. The momentum UNT generated in that game quickly disappeared in its loss to New Mexico State.

The Mean Green led early on in its game against the Aggies, but went through an offensive drought in the second half when NMSU pulled away. UNT didn’t hit a shot from the field for more than six minutes after the break.

The Mean Green will have a tough time overcoming a similar drought against Denver.

The Pioneers rank fifth in the Sun Belt in scoring offense with an average of 71.8 points a game and also lead the league in 3-point shooting. Denver has hit 40.3 percent of its 3-point shots.

Junior guard Erik Benzel has hit 52 3-point shots this season while making 48.6 percent of his attempts. Senior forward Zeljko Zupic has made 18 shots from beyond the arc this season and gives Denver a second threat to shoot the ball from deep in its starting lineup.

"We are going to have to put pressure on them on the perimeter," UNT senior forward Michael DeGrate said. "We have seen a lot of good 3-point shooters this season and have gone over what we have to do to stop them. We have to fight through screens and stay with them."

Denver showed what it is capable of when a team fails to keep track of its 3-point threats in a game against Southern Utah earlier this year. The Pioneers made 18 shots from behind the arc in an 88-82 win.

UNT will try to counter Denver’s outside attack with a balanced offense led by Shawnson Johnson. The senior forward averages 15.9 points and 8.9 rebounds a game. Junior guard Leonard Hopkins is averaging 10.0 points a game and is one of four UNT players scoring at least eight points a game.

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