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College Notebook: Home finale comes at right time for UNT

08:38 AM CST on Wednesday, February 15, 2006

North Texas’ final home game of the season tonight couldn’t have come at a much better time for the Mean Green.

UNT has lost five straight games to slip to fourth place in the Sun Belt Conference West Division. The Mean Green will look to break out of that skid at 7 p.m. when they take on Texas-Pan American.

The game will give the UNT a chance to get back on track heading into its final three games in conference play, not to mention send three seniors out on a positive note in their final appearance at the Super Pit.

UNT comes into the game off a 97-71 loss to Western Kentucky, which clinched the Sun Belt’s East Division title on Saturday with a win over the Mean Green.

“It’s a home game that comes at a good time for us because it gets us off the road,” UNT head coach Johnny Jones said. “I wouldn’t want to have to go back on the road after playing Western Kentucky.”

UNT still has a chance to recover from its recent slide and move back up in the West Division standings over the final few days of the season. Reaching that goal appears as if it will be a challenge for UNT, which will face Denver, Troy and South Alabama — all on the road.

USA leads the division with an 8-3 record. Denver is second at 6-6, while Troy is third with a 5-6 mark. The Mean Green (12-11, 5-7) beat Denver and Troy at home, but lost to USA.

The loss to the Jaguars marked the beginning of UNT’s recent slump.

UNT can reach a few milestones with a win over UTPA in addition to building momentum for its road trip. The Mean Green can pick up their 11th win at the Super Pit this season. The total would rank third in the history of the building. A win would also give UNT eight non-conference wins, a figure that would tie for the most in the last 23 years.

The game will also mark the last appearance at the Super Pit for point guard Isaac Hines and centers Justin Barnett and Jeffrey Simpson.

Hines became the fastest player in school history to reach 100 steals earlier this season and currently ranks seventh on UNT’s career leaders list with 103. Simpson is the Mean Green’s all-time leader in blocked shots with 104.

Barnett has had an injury-plagued career, but has contributed in each of his four seasons.

“Hines will be sorely missed,” Jones said. “I have never had to say anything to him about practicing or playing harder. … Jeffrey has had a good two-year career and has been a defensive presence. … Justin has had an injury-riddled career and tried to play through it. I commend him for his effort.”

UNT will try to send those players out on a positive not against a UTPA team that has lost its last two games to fall to 7-19 on the season.

—Brett Vito

unt Briefs

Football

Replay on way to Sun Belt

The Sun Belt Conference announced on Tuesday that it will adopt the same set of rules regarding instant replay for all of its games that several of the major conferences across the country used last season.

The Sun Belt used a replay system at UNT and Louisiana-Lafayette for six games last season as part of an information-gathering process. No calls were overturned.

The NCAA Football Rules Committee recently approved the use of instant replay on a permanent basis after a two-year trial run. In each game, a replay official will review questionable calls on the field. Head coaches can also challenge a call on the field by signaling game officials. If the call is overturned, the coach who challenged the call is not charged with a timeout. If the call is upheld, the coach who challenged the call loses a timeout.

“We thought it was important to have replay,” Sun Belt associate commissioner Todd Stewart said. “Most people were using it. This was the way to go to have our games be consistent with those in other conferences.”

The NCAA Football Rules Committee approved the use of replay on a permanent basis at a Feb. 6-8 meeting. Replay was used by several major conferences last season.

The Sun Belt used existing video replay boards at both UNT and UL-Lafayette last season for replays, but decided to go in another direction in the fall.

“We are not going to go with the replay boards because of the disparity in the league in the quality of the boards,” Stewart said.

The Sun Belt is considering hiring an outside company to set up a system that was include four to five cameras at every conference venue. Stewart said that the conference would absorb the cost of instituting replay for next season.

Douglasinterviewing for running backs job

Troy Douglas is interviewing for UNT’s opening for a running backs coach this week, head coach Darrell Dickey confirmed on Tuesday.

Douglas worked with Dickey at SMU and UTEP and coached running backs at both stops.

Bruce Bell coached UNT’s running backs during the 2004 and 2005 seasons before retiring.

The Mean Green have had a running back rush for at least 1,000 yards in each of the last five years and have produced a pair of national rushing champions in Patrick Cobbs and Jamario Thomas during that span.

UNT also has an opening for a tight ends coach. Dickey said he plans on filling both openings in the next few days.

Women’s basketball

UNT controls fate in SBC

The road to the Sun Belt Conference West Division title is right in front of the Mean Green heading into their last three games of the season.

UNT still has games left on the road against Denver, Troy and South Alabama. If the Mean Green win all three, they will capture the conference championship and a bye in the first round of the conference tournament.

The situation is one UNT head coach Tina Slinker likes because the Mean Green won’t have to depend on anyone else.

“We are excited with where we are,” Slinker said. “At least our destiny is in our hands. We don’t have to depend on anyone else to win if we take care of these last three games. It’s good to be in that position if we respond.”

Revenge a factor for UNT

UNT responded well to an opportunity to avenge a loss last week when the Mean Green knocked off Middle Tennessee.

UNT head coach Tina Slinker is hoping that is a good sign heading into Saturday’s game against Denver.

The Lady Raiders bounced UNT from the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in the second round last season in overtime. The Mean Green faced MTSU for the first time since that loss last week and came away with a 69-64 win.

UNT is hoping for a similar result after dropping two straight games to the Pioneers, including a 56-54 setback earlier this year.

“It will help us to have beaten Middle,” Slinker said. “The girls felt like that was a revenge-type championship game.”

Men’s basketball

UNT does not look back

UNT had a couple of chances to break out during a losing streak that reached five games with a setback against Western Kentucky on Saturday — and it is trying to forget all of them.

UNT lost by two to Middle Tennessee and saw New Orleans guard Jamie McNeilly hit a jumper with 4.3 seconds to hand the Mean Green another loss.

Those setbacks have contributed to a skid that has dropped UNT (12-11) to 5-7 in Sun Belt Conference play. The Mean Green opened the conference season with a 5-2 mark.

“We try to move on and work on the things we need to work on,” UNT head coach Johnny Jones said. “We had a lot of good looks against Middle and had high percentage shooters taking them. I try to not put too much pressure on our shooters because they work hard.”

Track and field

Wiggins falls short of mark

UNT head coach Rick Watkins thought freshman Lauren Wiggins was on her way to qualifying for the national indoor meet in the 60-meter hurdles at the ISU Classic over the weekend, right up until she clipped a hurdle in the finals.

Wiggins posted a time of 8.47 in the semifinals, the best mark in the Sun Belt Conference this season. The former Hebron standout appeared to be on her way to an even better time in the finals before she hit a hurdle.

“Lauren was very close to qualifying,” Watkins said. “She looked good in the finals and that really prevented her from having a better time.”

Wiggins finished eighth in a field of 78.

She will rest this weekend before looking to reach the provisional qualifying standard for the national meet of 8.43 at the Sun Belt Conference championships on Feb. 24-25.

UNT to tune up for meet

UNT will compete for the last time before the Sun Belt Conference meet this week when the Mean Green travel to Sooner Indoor in Norman, Okla.

UNT head coach Rick Watkins said he planed on taking 40 athletes to the meet.

“Most of them will run one race to sharpen up,” Watkins said. “Some of them will run two if they are shorter events. We want to sharpen up a little bit.”

Softball

UNT to open home season

UNT will play its first home game of the season today when the Mean Green take on Texas State in a doubleheader at Denia Park.

UNT went 2-2 to open the season at the Sam Houston Tourna­ment over the weekend.

The Mean Green will move into a new softball complex that is still under construction on campus later this season. UNT will play at Denia until the facility is completed.

The Mean Green played their first two seasons at Denia.

Muller gets off to quick start

Katya Muller posted one of the biggest days for an individual player in the history of the UNT softball program on Sunday.

The sophomore went 4-for-9 with eight RBIs, two home runs and a triple during games against Sam Houston and Louisiana Tech. Muller had her best game of the weekend when she went 3-for-4 with two home runs and five RBIs against Sam Houston.

Muller is the only player in Mean Green history to drive in five runs in a single game.

She also went 1-for-5 with a triple and three RBIs against La. Tech the same day.

Swimming and diving

UNT to compete in SBC meet

UNT will compete in the Sun Belt Conference championship this weekend in Denver.

The Mean Green finished fifth in the conference meet last season under Mona Nyheim-Canales, who is now in her fourth year at UNT.

The Mean Green will look to Alesha Olesen, Bonnie Garcia-Meitin and Gwen Rourke to lead the team at the conference meet.

—Brett Vito

Player of the week

North Texas waited a long time for a performance to match the one Brandi Stanfield produced last weekend at the ISU Classic in Ames, Iowa.

The freshman from Austin Connally posted a mark of 42-6 3/4 in the triple jump in just her second collegiate attempt. The mark provisionally qualified her for the NCAA Indoor National Championships and shattered the school record. The mark is also the best in the Sun Belt Conference this season by more than two feet.

Stanfield’s mark is the 11th-best in the country this season. The NCAA takes all of the athletes who reach the automatic qualifying standard and then fills out the rest of the field with provisional qualifiers.

There is no set amount of athletes who advance to the national meet in individual events, but the NCAA typically takes 18-20 competitors. UNT coach Rick Watkins said Stanfield’s current mark would give her a good chance of advancing to the national meet.

UNT has not had an athlete compete in the indoor national meet during Watkins’ 13-year tenure with the Mean Green.

“It’s big for Brandi and the program for her to provisionally qualify for nationals,” Watkins said.

The Sun Belt Conference named Stanfield its Female Field Performer of the Week for her performance over the weekend. Stanfield’s outing made her the obvious choice for Denton Record-Chronicle UNT Athlete of the Week.

—Brett Vito

Seven-Day Schedule

Wednesday

Men’s Basketball: UT-Pan American at UNT, 7 p.m.; Softball: Texas State at UNT (DH), 3 p.m.

Softball: Wichita State at UNT (DH), 3 p.m.; Tennis: Arkansas-Little Rock at UNT 2 p.m.

Friday Swimming: UNT at Sun Belt Conference Meet, Denver

Saturday

Men’s Basketball: UNT at Denver, 3 p.m.; Women’s Basketball: UNT at Denver, 8 p.m.,; Swimming: UNT at SBC Meet, Denver; Track: UNT at Sooner Indoor Meet; Tennnis: Sam Houston St. at UNT, 10 a.m.

Sunday

Swimming: UNT at SBC Meet, Denver; Men’s Golf: UNT at Club De Golf Santa Anita NT Classic, Guadalajara, Mexico

Monday

Softball: UNT at Nicholls State (DH), 1 p.m.; Men’s Golf: UNT at Club De Golf Santa Anita NT Classic, Guadalajara, Mexico; Women’s Golf: UNT at Islanders Spring Classic

Tuesday

Women’s Golf: UNT at Islanders Spring Classic

Edited February 15, 2006 by OldTimer