DRC: Men/women on road for tough matchups

OldTimer · November 30, 2005

UNT men, women go on the road for tough matchups

ASU, La.-Monroe pose problems for Mean Green

07:52 AM CST on Wednesday, November 30, 2005

By BRETT VITO / Staff Writer

North Texas coach Johnny Jones believes the early portion of a college basketball team's schedule can serve as a teaching tool, one that can prepare a team for critical conference games later in the season.

The review for lesson No. 1 comes tonight when the Mean Green head out on the road for the second time.

UNT played an exhibition and its season opener at the Super Pit before venturing out on the road for its first test away from home against UNC-Wilmington.

UNT failed that test in a 70-52 loss.

UNT's second opportunity to play on the road will come today when both the Mean Green men and women play away games.

Gary Payne / DRC

UNT men's coach Johnny Jones watches his players run a drill during practice. The men will travel to Tempe, Ariz., to take on Arizona State while the women will look to continue their hot start in a game at Louisiana-Monroe.

"It's important when you are in a tough conference like we are to go on the road and have your team tested," Jones said. "You find out where you are and gain experience. When you get into conference play you experience a lot of tough environments on the road. That is why I like to play as tough a road schedule as possible."

UNT's first road game of the year lived up to Jones' parameters for an early season quiz. UNCW jumped out to a 39-20 halftime lead and cruised to the win that helped spark a solid start.

The Seahawks have since raced out to a 5-1 record and a No. 19 ranking in CollegeInsider.com's Mid-Major Top 25 poll.

A game against ASU doesn't appear as if it will be any less of a challenge for UNT.

The Sun Devils won their first three games and play in the Pac 10, one of the country's premier conferences.

ASU guard Kevin Kruger is averaging 17.0 points a game and is just one of three players averaging double figures for the Sun Devils, a team that features a group of guards who can shoot from deep playing around a solid post player in Craig Austin, a 6-10 sophomore center.

The Mean Green believe they are more prepared to take on ASU after a tough game against UNCW. UNT features three players averaging double figures in scoring, including senior center Jeffrey Simpson and junior guard Kendrick Davis who are averaging 15.0 and 12.0 points a game, respectively.

"We learned that we have to have a business mindset from the start and throw the first punch instead of taking it," Davis said. "Wilmington made all the tough plays early and we didn't take charge. It was an important lesson."

The UNT women will also face a tough test on the road against ULM.

The Lady Indians hammered Memphis by 20 in their season opener and have also posted wins over Alabama-Birmingham and Denver, one of the Mean Green's rivals in the Sun Belt.

"This is a really big test on the road against a good team," UNT women's coach Tina Slinker said. "Outside of Boston College, this will be our biggest test of the season so far because we are on the road."

UNT has passed nearly all of the tests it has faced thus far this season while running out to a 3-1 start. The Mean Green knocked off Stephen F. Austin for the first time in the history of the program and also beat Cornell over the weekend for its first win on the road this season.

UNT will look to build on that start and break through what has been a fifth-game barrier that has hampered the Mean Green the last few years. UNT has started three out of the last four seasons with a 3-1 record only to lose its fifth game.

Slinker said UNT would have to handle the Lady Indians' pressure defense and do a better job of executing offensively to break through against ULM in the last game of a three-game road swing.

A win against ULM would give UNT two wins on the trip and momentum heading into perhaps the biggest game of its non-conference schedule, a Dec. 3 home game against rival SMU.

The Mean Green haven't beaten SMU since the 2001 season.

"I know the players are looking forward to the SMU situation and being at home," Slinker said. "They understand that the best situation we could be in for that game would be if we go on the road and win and go into that game 4-1."

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