DRC article on Mens BB win over Middle TN

[OldTimer]

Men's basketball: Mitchell plays unlikely role as Mean Green beats Blue Raiders

01:15 AM CST on Friday, February 13, 2004

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Marqus Mitchell didn't appear to be a likely candidate to play a key role in the North Texas men's basketball team's game against Middle Tennessee on Thursday.

Then again, not much played out as anticipated during the Mean Green's 69-64 win over the Blue Raiders at the Super Pit.

Mitchell entered the game averaging 4.1 points a game, a total that ranked 10th on the team. The junior nearly doubled that total in the second half alone when UNT held off a late Middle Tennessee comeback and ended a two-game losing streak.

Blue Raiders guard Mike Dean missed a 3-point shot that could have tied the game with 10 seconds left. Junior guard Leonard Hopkins then hit a pair of free throws to ice the victory.

"This win puts us one step closer to where we want to be," said Mitchell, who scored seven points in the second half. "We're just trying to get our foot in the door at the [conference] tournament."

UNT (11-11, 6-4) needed all the points it could get from Mitchell to move closer to that goal. The Mean Green entered its game against the Blue Raiders (12-10, 4-5) in a three-way tie for second place in the Sun Belt's West Division standings with New Orleans and Denver.

UNT earned that spot in the standings in large part because of the play of Shawnson Johnson. The senior forward entered the game averaging 12.8 points and 8.4 rebounds a game.

The Mean Green's game against Middle Tennessee shaped up to be a showdown between Johnson and Blue Raiders' guard Tommy Gunn, who was averaging 17 points a game.

Both players struggled in the face of defenses that were designed to slow them down.

Johnson missed all four of his shots from the field and finished with three points. Gunn didn't fare much better, scoring six points.

UNT was able to overcome an off night by Johnson with a balanced scoring attack and some key contributions from its bench.

"This was a great team effort," UNT coach Johnny Jones said. "A lot of guys came in and played positive minutes for us."

Jones cited the play of Mitchell as one of the keys to UNT's win. The junior spent part of the night guarding Gunn and helped limit him to five shots. Mitchell also hit three shots from behind the 3-point arc.

"Coach told us that if we could guard Gunn, we would have a good chance to win," Hopkins said.

Hopkins and Mitchell not only shared the duty of guarding Gunn, but also excelled offensively. Hopkins led UNT with 22 points.

Senior forward Michael DeGrate scored 17 points and nearly doubled his season average of 8.9 points a game. Senior guard Jerome Rogers added 10 points.

Rogers and Hopkins both got off to a quick start in the opening moments of the game when UNT appeared as if it might pull out to a comfortable lead. Each hit a 3-point shot to help give UNT a 10-2 lead.

"It helped get us going early in the game when we made a few outside shots," Hopkins said. "It gave us momentum."

Middle Tennessee responded with a 13-0 run in a game that remained tight through the early stages of the second half.

UNT cranked up its defensive pressure in the late stages of the game and pulled out to a 66-56 lead with 2:28 left in the game.

Dean began Middle Tennessee's comeback with a 3-point shot. The Blue Raiders pulled to within 67-64, but saw their rally come up short.

"Our bench really played well," Jones said. "It was a strong defensive battle. We were just able to hold on."

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.