DRC NT men/women set for final tune-up

[OldTimer]

Basketball: UNT men, women set for final tune-up

Mean Green to begin Sun Belt play next week

11:41 PM CST on Friday, December 8, 2006

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

The journey has been anything but easy for the North Texas men during their non-conference campaign the last few weeks.

UNT lost leading scorer Kendrick Davis to injury and dropped a last-second decision to UT-Arlington. A road trip to Nebraska turned out to be as tough as advertised.

But the Mean Green (6-2) overcame each obstacle during what is shaping up to be a solid non-conference run heading into its last tune-up before the opening of Sun Belt play today at Nicholls State.

The UNT women (2-5) will also play their final non-conference game before league play tonight at Dallas-area rival SMU.

"It's very important that we carry our momentum over to conference play," UNT guard Calvin Watson said. "You always want to go into conference with confidence. … Getting a road win going into a conference road game would be good for us."

The UNT men and women will face New Orleans in a doubleheader on the road to open Sun Belt play on Dec. 16.

A few weeks ago, it appeared as if the UNT men might stumble into league play after losing Davis following its loss to UTA. The Mavericks won the game on a last second-shot before Davis injured his wrist while breaking a window in a hallway door of the Super Pit.

UNT was 2-1 when Davis suffered the injury that is likely to keep him out until later this month. The Mean Green responded to losing Davis by going 4-1 in its next five games with wins over Rice and Tulsa.

UNT's latest win in the streak was a 76-70 win at Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday in one of its best outings of the season in terms of execution. The Mean Green shot 65.9 percent against the Lumberjacks, the second-highest shooting percentage in school history.

UNT shot 67.4 percent from the field in a win over Sam Houston State in the 1994-95 season.

UNT has started to receive national recognition for its quick start and is ranked No. 21 in CollegeInsider.com's Mid-Major Top 25 Poll.

"We did an excellent job of sharing the basketball," UNT men's coach Johnny Jones said of the Mean Green's win over SFA. "We had open looks and knocked shots down. Everyone was really clicking."

Jones is convinced keeping his team's run going against Nicholls will be tough, despite the Colonels’ 0-9 record. Nicholls has not played a home game this season and has lost to national powers LSU and Texas.

Nicholls had a 17-point lead at Auburn before falling in overtime.

"Nicholls has been in a lot of games they have played," Jones said. "They have played a grueling schedule on the road. … They will be excited about getting home."

While the UNT men are looking to extend their solid start against Nicholls, the Mean Green women are trying to break out of an early slide. UNT has lost two straight, including a 75-68 loss to SFA on Thursday.

UNT led by four in the second half, but couldn't hang on and suffered its third loss this season by seven points or less.

"It's a matter of getting over the hump," UNT women's head coach Tina Slinker said. "The road trip has been tough, but we can't get down."

UNT has suffered a series of injuries early in the season that only became worse at practice on Friday when senior guard DiDi Wali sprained her right ankle. The Mean Green has already lost JUCO transfer Mamie James to a back condition, while leading scorer Sanetra Jackson has been battling a sprained ankle and a strained hip flexor.

Sophomore guard Tricia Lee scored a career-high 14 points to help fill the scoring void and junior guard Amanda Quattrocchi had one of the best games of her career against SFA, scoring nine points and grabbing five rebounds in 29 minutes of action.

UNT will look to both to help carry the load offensively against SMU, which is 5-2 on the season. Junior center Janielle Dodds is averaging 16.4 points a game to lead the Mustangs.

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