DRC artical on last nights mens win

OldTimer · January 13, 2006

Men's basketball: Hines scores career high in UNT win

Simpson ties career block record for Mean Green

07:58 AM CST on Friday, January 13, 2006

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

On most nights, North Texas guard Isaac Hines makes his mark by setting up teammates for easy baskets.

DRC/Gary Payne

North Texas’ Quincy Williams, left, and Michael Sturns battle for a rebound with Florida International’s Ivan Al-monte on Thursday at the Super Pit.

A change in the Mean Green’s lineup on Thursday against Florida International gave Hines the chance to do a little more scoring and he responded with a career night in a 90-81 win over the Golden Panthers at the Super Pit.

Hines took his usual spot at point guard in UNT’s backcourt, where he was joined by fellow point guard Lionel Brown for the first time this season. Hines finished with a career-high 19 points, while Brown had eight points, seven rebounds and five assists.

The duo’s performance was the highlight of a solid night for the Mean Green (9-5, 2-1) that saw four players score in double figures, including senior center Jeffrey Simpson who also tied the school record for career blocked shots.

Simpson finished with three to push his career total to 81 to match Wendell Williams, who played for the Mean Green from 1986-89.

“We did a great job in terms of getting a balanced attack from all of our guys,” UNT head coach Johnny Jones said. “Most of our guys shot pretty close to 50 percent or better.”

Jones and several UNT players attributed that balance in part to the Mean Green moving Brown into the starting lineup. The junior had gained a larger role during UNT’s last three games when he had averaged 10.3 points and just one turnover a game.

That performance convinced Jones to go with a smaller lineup against FIU that included Hines, Brown and Kendrick Davis, the Mean Green’s starting shooting guard and leading scorer. Brown is 5-11, while Hines is 6-0. Davis is the tallest of the group at 6-4.

“Teams are going to have a tough time stopping us with all three of us in there,” Hines said. “Lionel and I are quick on the perimeter and Kendrick is a big scoring threat. It’s something coach wanted to try, and it worked out pretty good.”

Putting Hines and Brown in the starting lineup, pushed Davis to the small forward spot. Davis led UNT with 20 points, despite playing against a bigger player for the majority of the night.

Hines took just six shots from the field to get his 19 points. Sophomore guard Michael Sturns came off the bench to score 18, while Simpson added 17.

Elvis Lora led FIU (3-12, 0-3) with 19, but couldn’t help the Golden Panthers overcome a slow start and a solid defensive performance from Simpson. The senior center has played less than two seasons for the Mean Green, but has already established himself as one of UNT’s best defensive centers in recent years.

Simpson came into the night leading UNT with an average of 6.5 rebounds a game to go along with 11.9 points and 2.1 blocks, a total that ranked fourth in the Sun Belt Conference coming into the night.

“It means a lot to me,” Simpson said of the record. “It shows that all the hard work I have put in has paid off.”

Simpson was one of several UNT players who said they were eager to get back onto the court after falling to New Orleans in a tightly contested game on Saturday. The Mean Green had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds, but failed to complete the comeback.

The position is one the Mean Green made sure they wouldn’t be in again by getting off to a quick start against FIU. UNT jumped out to a 15-3 lead and held the Golden Panthers without a field goal until Facundo Giorgi hit a 3-point shot with 12:09 left in the first half.

UNT pushed its lead to 20 points late in the first half and maintained a double-digit lead until FIU cut its deficit to 82-73 with 1:31 left. Jones responded by putting his new backcourt back in along with the rest of the team’s starters.

The Mean Green held on the rest of the way for a win they hope will get them back on track following their loss to UNO last week. Despite that setback, UNT has won six of its last eight.

“We lost to a team that we shouldn’t have last time,” Davis said. “We were all looking forward to this game and getting back on track.”

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

North Texas 90, Fla. International 81

FIU (3-12) — Simms 4-9 1-4 9, N’Diaye 5-7 1-2 11, Bright 0-3 4-4 4, Fuller 2-3 2-5 7, Lewis 0-4 4-4 4, Giorgi 1-3 0-0 3, Lora 6-12 3-4 19, Villegas 3-8 1-1 9, Almonte 4-9 7-13 15. Totals 25-58 23-37 81.

UNT (9-5) — Williams 0-3 1-2 1, Simpson 4-9 9-12 17, Brown 2-5 2-2 8, Davis 5-10 8-9 20, Hines 4-6 8-8 19, Ruffin 0-1 0-0 0, Sturns 6-11 5-6 18, Young 0-0 0-0 0, Higgs 0-0 0-0 0, Edwards 0-1 0-0 0, Stewart 1-1 0-0 2, Watson 2-5 0-0 4, Howerton 0-1 1-4 1, Barnett 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 24-58 34-43 90.

Halftime—UNT 42-27. 3-Point Goals—FIU 8-19 (Lora 4-7, Villegas 2-6, Fuller 1-1, Giorgi 1-1, N’Diaye 0-1, Lewis 0-1, Bright 0-2), UNT 8-17 (Hines 3-4, Brown 2-4, Davis 2-5, Sturns 1-2, Watson 0-1, Edwards 0-1). Fouled Out—Giorgi, Simms, Williams. Rebounds—FIU 35 (Almonte 11), UNT 44 (Brown, Stewart 7). Assists—FIU 13 (Almonte, Lewis, Lora 3), UNT 12 (Brown 5). Total Fouls—FIU 30, UNT 26. A—1,871.