Drc Article On Mens Win Over La Lafayette/ Stats

[OldTimer]

Men's basketball: Davis finally hits trey to lift UNT

12:05 AM CST on Sunday, February 25, 2007

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

LAFAYETTE, La. -- Kendrick Davis finally found a way to break North Texas’ Cajundome curse on Saturday.

The senior guard had missed all seven shots he had taken from behind the 3-point arc against Louisiana-Lafayette before gathering in a pass from fellow senior Calvin Watson and draining the Mean Green’s only shot from deep in a 72-70 win over the Ragin’ Cajuns.

UNT was 0-for-14 from behind the arc in one of its worst shooting games from distance in recent memory before Davis hit what proved to be the winning shot with three seconds left. The win gave the Mean Green (19-10, 10-8) the No. 5 seed in next week’s conference tournament, where it will get a rematch with ULL (9-20, 7-11) in a first-round game at the Super Pit.

“I felt like I was 0-for-90 before that last shot,” Davis said. “I look at myself as a pretty decent player and just tried to make a shot.”

Watson missed a 3-pointer with five seconds left but grabbed the rebound and whipped a pass to Davis, who was wide open on the wing. Watson’s assist not only helped save the game for the Mean Green, it extended UNT’s streak of games with at least one 3-pointer to 531.

The Mean Green’s streak began all the way back in the 1987-88 season.

UNT not only extended its streak of games with at least one 3-pointer, it also broke its drought at the Cajundome.

UNT had lost all eight of its previous games at the arena before winning at the venue that will host the quarterfinals through championship game of this season’s Sun Belt tournament.

“It’s a huge win,” UNT head coach Johnny Jones said. “This is a tough place to play. Lafayette has been one of the top teams in the league year in and year out. This year they have had a tough time but had won their last two games at home. … It’s a great feeling to win here because the tournament is going to be here.”

ULL had one last chance to extend its winning streak on its home floor after setting up an in-bounds play, but Quincy Williams intercepted a pass from Adam James near half court.

ULL guard David Dees hit a half-court shot against UNT in a game at the Super Pit earlier this season that officials ruled was released after the buzzer. The Mean Green changed its strategy from that game and others earlier in the season by having 6-10 sophomore center Justin Howerton guard the inbounds pass.

“You live and you learn from the past,” Williams said. “I knew the pass was coming once I saw the setup. I tried to anticipate it and go get it.”

The steal was one of several key plays UNT made in the final minutes. Junior point guard Ben Bell hit a runner in the lane with 16 seconds left after ULL had taken a 69-67 lead with 23 seconds left on a Rhett Hebert free throw.

“We finished strong and made the plays we needed to at the end,” Jones said.

UNT trailed by as many as six in the first half before coming back to tie the score at 30-30 at the break.

Davis scored 10 points in the first half when ULL squandered an opportunity to take control with an abysmal performance from the free-throw line. The Ragin’ Cajuns finished just 5-of-18 from the line before the break and went 20-for-39 for the game.

Ross Mouton and David Dees helped make up for ULL’s struggles at the line by scoring 22 and 21 points, respectively.

UNT never led by more than six, but hung on thanks to 19 points from Davis, 17 from Williams and 13 off the bench from junior guard Michael Sturns.

“This is the way we wanted to go to the tournament,” Davis said. “It was a big win that gave us momentum.”

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

North Texas 72, Louisiana-Lafayette 70

NORTH TEXAS (19-10, 10-8) – Williams 5-7 7-11 17, Bell 3-6 0-0 6, Wooden 2-8 0-0 4, Davis 8-19 2-2 19, Watson 2-9 1-1 5, Sturns 3-9 7-10 13, Young 1-6 2-2 4, Stewart 2-6 0-1 4, Howerton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-70 19-27 72.

LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (9-20, 7-11) – Hart 2-2 1-6 5, James 0-2 2-2 2, Williams 1-2 0-2 2, Mouton 7-18 3-4 22, Hebert 3-6 1-2 8, Millsap 1-9 2-4 4, Lago 0-0 0-0 0, D. Dees 6-13 7-10 21, S. Dees 0-0 0-0 0, Milson 0-0 0-0 0, Gray 0-0 0-0 0, Wallace 1-3 4-9 6. Totals 21-55 20-39 70.

Halftime – UNT 30, ULL 30. 3-point goals – UNT 1-14 (Bell 0-1, Davis 1-7, Watson 0-3, Sturns 0-2, Young 0-1), ULL 8-17 (Mouton 5-11, Hebert 1-3, D. Dees 2-3). Fouled out – Wooden. Rebounds – UNT 44 (Young 8), ULL 49 (Millsap 11). Assists – UNT 9 (Bell 5), ULL 10 (D. Dees, Mouton 2). Total fouls – UNT 26, ULL 23. A – 2,931.