North Texas rains 3-pointers to win

[MeanGreen61]

Posted on Fri, Jan. 27, 2006

North Texas rains 3-pointers to win

By JEFF WILSON

Star-Telegram Staff WriterDENTON -

Call the Troy Trojans stubborn, or maybe just really, really committed.

They never switched out of their 2-3 zone defense Thursday night against North Texas, and because of that, call them losers.

Kendrick Davis scored a career-high 27 points, and the Mean Green hit a season-high 15 3-pointers in an 84-77 victory over Troy at the Super Pit.

"That's the story of the game: We hit some 3s tonight," Davis said. "We spent a lot of time shooting during this week, and I guess it paid off for us."

UNT's 32 3-point attempts are a season high and the most since taking 45 in a 1998 loss at Maryland. The 15 conversions were four short of the 1996 school mark against Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Four UNT players accounted for the 15 3-pointers, with Davis leading the way with six on 13 tries. Troy took 38 3-pointers and made 11. Bobby Dixon led all scorers with 28 points.

North Texas (12-6, 5-2 Sun Belt) was simply taking what Troy (10-8, 3-3) was giving. The key to getting so many open shots against the zone, coach Johnny Jones said, was making sure the offense flowed inside out.

"We wanted to get our posts touches and fan it and get good shots," he said. "I'm surprised we took 32, but I'm glad we made our share."

The Mean Green hit 9 of 18 during an up-and-down first half and took a 46-33 lead at halftime.

Four of UNT's first five baskets were from long range, and Calvin Watson hit three more in two minutes to give UNT a 30-24 lead.

UNT opened the second half on a 13-5 run to take its biggest lead, at 59-38 with 12:58 remaining. Davis hit four of his six 3-pointers in the second half, including two late as the clock shot expired during Troy's final flurry.

"I don't really like games like that when we hit a lot of 3s because, eventually, you're going to miss them," Davis said. "Sometimes, when it's on, it's on. It went for me tonight, and I'll take it."

UNT jumped to the top of the West Division standings, a half-game ahead of South Alabama. The Jaguars, who lost at Denver, come to Denton on Saturday.

NORTH TEXAS MEN 84, TROY 77

IN THE KNOW

BREAKDOWN

Why North Texas won: The Mean Green dismantled Troy's zone defense, hitting 15 3-pointers. Jeffrey Simpson and Harold Stewart helped stake UNT to 50-33 rebounding edge.

Why Troy lost: The Trojans struggled shooting much of the game and didn't go to a full-court press until eight minutes remained. By then, they were down 19 points.

Notable

Senior guard Isaac Hines has scored in double figures in five consecutive games after tallying 10 or more points in only two of UNT's first 13 games.

Up next

South Alabama at UNT, 7 p.m. Saturday.