Men's Basketball: Sun Belt-ed

untwillrise · January 1, 2007

Mean Green rocks struggling Pioneers

11:16 AM CST on Sunday, December 31, 2006

By Brett Vito/Staff Writer

Of all the teams in the Sun Belt Conference, Denver has probably gone through the toughest times this season.

DRC/Gary Payne

North Texas forward Keith Wooden (2) looks to drive to the basket against Denver's Adam Tanner during their Sun Belt Conference game on Saturday at the Super Pit.

The Pioneers dropped 12 of their first 13 heading into a game against North Texas on Saturday, had to dodge a blizzard to get to Denton and played for a second straight night without head coach Terry Carroll, who has left the team due to an undisclosed illness.

Those obstacles proved to be too much for Denver to overcome against red-hot North Texas, which raced past the Pioneers for a 91-79 win at the Super Pit.

Junior forward Keith Wooden scored a career high 20 points to lead five Mean Green players who finished in double figures and junior forward Quincy Williams posted UNT’s first double-double of the year with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

“I tell people all the time that guys are going to continue to fight,” UNT head coach Johnny Jones said. “These kids have substance, are very resilient and are going to continue to play. At some point they are going to get it together, knock down shots and win that next game. You have to guard against that.”

UNT (11-3, 2-1) made sure it wouldn’t be the team Denver (1-13, 0-4) jumps up and surprises with one of its more complete offensive performances of the season. The Mean Green shot 62 percent from the field for the game and was especially efficient in the second half when UNT hit 70 percent of its shots and pulled away for its fourth straight win.

“We feel like we have a lot of people on our team that can score,” Wooden said. “A lot of teams don’t have that luxury. When you look up at the scoreboard and you have four or five guys in double figures, it shows that we are playing as a team and no one is trying to be selfish.”

UNT’s balanced scoring was particularly impressive because the Mean Green was without one of its top players for nearly the entire game. Senior guard Calvin Watson sprained his ankle in practice this week and played just one minute before taking the rest of the night off. Junior guard Michael Sturns helped fill the void by coming off the bench to lead UNT with 22 points.

Wooden and Williams complemented Sturns’ scoring production on the perimeter by dominating under the basket. UNT finished with a 38-29 edge in rebounds.

UNT’s power inside helped the Mean Green overcome Denver’s hot shooting from the outside. The Pioneers went 14-for-29 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Denver was particularly effective in the first half when it hit eight 3-point shots and led by as many as seven points. Six different players hit a 3-point shot for the Pioneers before the break.

“They shot it unbelievable in the first half,” Williams said. “We did everything we could just to stay close.”

That strategy included getting the ball to senior guard Kendrick Davis, who hit back-to-back 3-point shots in a 9-0 run that gave UNT a 24-22 lead with 9:38 left before the break. The game remained close through the rest of the first half before DaShawn Walker hit Denver’s last 3-point shot before the break to give the Pioneers a 48-45 lead at intermission.

UNT answered with a 16-6 run early in the second half and maintained control the rest of the way in a game that set the stage for a key Sun Belt road trip to Arkansas-Little Rock and Arkansas State next week.

UNT will enter that stretch at full strength and playing at its best. Davis scored 18 points in just his second game back from a wrist injury that kept him out nine games and Wooden returned after a one-game suspension for violating team rules.

Having both back proved to be critical against a Denver team that proved for at least a while that it is still dangerous, despite what has been a tough few weeks.

“This was a very important game for us and our home opener in conference play,” Williams said. “We knew they had been in some close games. They were very hungry and very capable.”

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

North Texas 91, Denver 79

DENVER (1-13, 0-4) — Porch 2-7 2-4 7, Cox 2-5 1-2 7, Tanner 3-7 3-5 11, Walker 9-16 5-5 27, Bullock 5-12 0-0 12, Timms 0-0 0-0 0, Wetrich 3-6 0-0 9, Jackson 2-10 0-0 4, Rohnert 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 26-64 13-18 79.

NORTH TEXAS (11-3, 2-1) — Young 5-6 1-3 12, Williams 8-12 0-0 16, Howerton 0-1 0-0 0, Bell 1-4 0-0 3, Watson 0-0 0-0 0, Wooden 8-12 4-5 20, Sturns 10-18 1-2 22, Davis 6-8 2-4 18, Mangrum 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 38-61 8-14 91.

Halftime — Denver 48-45. 3-point goals — Denver 14-29 (Porch 1-2, Cox 2-2, Tanner 2-5, Walker 4-7, Bullock 2-4, Wetrich 3-5, Jackson 0-4), UNT 7-13 (Young 1-1, Bell 1-3, Sturns 1-4, Davis 4-5). Fouled out — Porch, Wooden. Rebounds – Denver 29 (Jackson 7), UNT 38 (Williams 12). Assists — Denver 7 (Cox, Walker Wetrich 2), UNT 17 (Bell, Wooden 4). Total fouls — Denver 15, UNT 15. A — 1,880.

gksmith · January 1, 2007

3-point goals — Denver 14-29 (Porch 1-2, Cox 2-2, Tanner 2-5, Walker 4-7, Bullock 2-4, Wetrich 3-5, Jackson 0-4), UNT 7-13 (Young 1-1, Bell 1-3, Sturns 1-4, Davis 4-5).

Again, NT gets out shot on 3 pointers. While I don't expect NT to dominate all opponents in all phases of the game, this is something that can come back to bite them if this is a trend.

That and 2 games in a row, the lesser opponent is close at the half (w/in 2 vs. Bellheaven and down 3 to Denver). Not sure they can rely on the "big second half" all the time.

untwillrise · January 1, 2007

Again, NT gets out shot on 3 pointers. While I don't expect NT to dominate all opponents in all phases of the game, this is something that can come back to bite them if this is a trend.
That and 2 games in a row, the lesser opponent is close at the half (w/in 2 vs. Bellheaven and down 3 to Denver). Not sure they can rely on the "big second half" all the time.

This game UNT couldn't do anything against the three. First they had a small lineup in and Q had to gaurd a much faster player and then they were just htting crazy shots. Even though I love threes its not good when you don't have an offensive rebounder or defense.

chrisfisher · January 1, 2007

This game UNT couldn't do anything against the three. First they had a small lineup in and Q had to gaurd a much faster player and then they were just htting crazy shots. Even though I love threes its not good when you don't have an offensive rebounder or defense.

I really believe that we played a great first half against a hot-shooting Denver team. We hung with them shot-for-shot and kept the score close, knowing that they couldn't keep that up the whole game. When teams "just make their shots" their is little you can do (aside from fouling) except to get a hand in their face and apply pressure. IMO, that was the best all around game we have played in 2 seasons (since I started as a fan). I also think this may have been a break out game for our team. Our guards now have full confidence in Williams and Wooden under the basket and went to them more often than I have ever seen. Our guards also found out that even when Quincy and Wooden are scoring often, they will still get their points, if not more.

untwillrise · January 1, 2007

I really believe that we played a great first half against a hot-shooting Denver team. We hung with them shot-for-shot and kept the score close, knowing that they couldn't keep that up the whole game. When teams "just make their shots" their is little you can do (aside from fouling) except to get a hand in their face and apply pressure. IMO, that was the best all around game we have played in 2 seasons (since I started as a fan). I also think this may have been a break out game for our team. Our guards now have full confidence in Williams and Wooden under the basket and went to them more often than I have ever seen. Our guards also found out that even when Quincy and Wooden are scoring often, they will still get their points, if not more.

I am still not sold on or posts just yet. I am fastly turning around but they haven't played a good post team in a while. How they play against UALR shows me who they realy are.

chrisfisher · January 1, 2007

I am still not sold on or posts just yet. I am fastly turning around but they haven't played a good post team in a while. How they play against UALR shows me who they realy are.

I agree with you. But I think we may have turned a major corner with Williams having a break out year, Wooden starting to play like a big-time player (now that he is almost 100%), Sturns/Watson huge scoring, and Davis returning to the line up. This is getting very exciting.

untwillrise · January 1, 2007

I agree with you. But I think we may have turned a major corner with Williams having a break out year, Wooden starting to play like a big-time player (now that he is almost 100%), Sturns/Watson huge scoring, and Davis returning to the line up. This is getting very exciting.

After last year i thought Q was a bust, but now i think he is top 5 posts in the belt.

BleedGreen · January 1, 2007

This game UNT couldn't do anything against the three. First they had a small lineup in and Q had to gaurd a much faster player and then they were just htting crazy shots. Even though I love threes its not good when you don't have an offensive rebounder or defense.

I want to see our three point defensive stats. I have always been upset at games when we don't guard the hot shooter on the 3 ball. Ex. Jamie what's his name from New Orleans. Even the 3 point shooter from Bellhaven was not guarded adequately. I am not talking about Bobby Johnson who went off for 24 or so. I am talking about the Dax kid. What really gets to me is when another team has a guy who does nothing but shoot 3's and do it well, and they are not guarded closely around the arc. I'll reserve making a general statement about our 3 point D until I see some numbers about where we rank in the conference in that category.