A Little Ut Love

[emmitt01]

http://forums.hornfans.com/php/wwwthreads/...;o=0&fpart=

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[filmerj]

The posters have really good things to say about our little team.

[StealthEagle84]

The posters have really good things to say about our little team.

We did look tiny out there. Wooden was the only one comparable. Williams even looked small. And am I the only one that thinks Josh White looks like Avery Johnson when he's on the court? The little guy can play some ball. Great pick up by JJ.

[filmerj]

The posters have really good things to say about our little team.

Although they are blaming a late return for the semi meltdown...

[Eagle1855]

Although they are blaming a late return for the semi meltdown...

well they are right, and on the flip side, we could blame our abysmal start on a meltdown to begin the game. The reality is, oftentimes meltdowns are created by another team's intensity. UT clearly brought it to start the game, caught our guys off-guard. Our guys brought it with a fury in the middle of the second. Honestly, I was amazed we got within 9 points after being down 17-3 to start the game. Im not content to lose games by 16, but for a team that is still coming together, I see a lot of good things.

[LongJim]

Some UNT-related comments from Rivals:

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From the start on Wednesday night at the Frank Erwin Center, the Longhorns took it to a good North Texas Mean Green (5-2) team, hitting seven of the first eight shots of the game and wreaking havoc on the Mean Green with a 2-2-1 trap that forced a handful of turnovers, but the Horns also received some gifts from the Mean Green on unforced turnovers.

When the Mean Green did score, diminutive freshman guard Josh White did the damage scoring 13 of the Mean Green's 26 first half points. Junior guard Collin Dennis added a couple of scoring drives, but the positive offensive possessions were few and far between as the Longhorns controlled the game from the start and took a 48-26 lead into the half.

While Texas scored four of the first five possessions of the second half, the Mean Green came out on fire and stayed that way for the better part of 10 minutes also due to less inspired transition defense by the Longhorns.

The man again for North Texas was freshman guard Josh White, who scored 28 points on the night, as he hit three of three from 19-feet and beyond to jump start North Texas. Senior big man Keith Wooden shook off early turnovers and foul trouble to respond with a terrific second half effort finishing with 17 points and six rebounds.

The Mean Green cut the Texas lead down to nine points with around nine minutes left in the game before Texas regained the focused needed and controlled the game the rest of the way before eventually winning 88-72 for a seventh 15+ point win in eight games.

A look at the numbers

Texas shot 47 percent (31-66) overall, 39 percent (7-18) from three-point land and 79 percent (19-24) from the free throw line.

North Texas converted 46 percent (27-59) from the field, 40 percent (8-20) from three and 67 percent (10-15) from the foul line.

The Longhorns committed just nine turnover, while North Texas committed 21.

North Texas won the battle of the boards 36-35.

Texas scored 25 points off of Mean Green turnovers to four for North Texas off of Texas turnovers.

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And a couple of fan comments:

"North Texas could be the 2007-2008 version of (George) Mason. Great and deep guard play, and a hoss in the middle. If Wooden can stay out of foul trouble North Texas is going to give some teams problems."

"I would not want to play UNT in the tourney."

Edited December 6, 2007 by LongJim

[Green Lantern]

well they are right, and on the flip side, we could blame our abysmal start on a meltdown to begin the game. The reality is, oftentimes meltdowns are created by another team's intensity. UT clearly brought it to start the game, caught our guys off-guard. Our guys brought it with a fury in the middle of the second. Honestly, I was amazed we got within 9 points after being down 17-3 to start the game. Im not content to lose games by 16, but for a team that is still coming together, I see a lot of good things.

Agreed to an extent. In the 2nd half, when we made our run, the half court offense actually looked pretty good compared to the 1st half. We were feeding Wooden under the basket, and he was having his way early in the 2nd. Having Wooden back on the court in the 2nd half made all the difference in my opinion (we became a threat inside and out). When the half court offense started producing results, the UT press seemed to cease. When that occurred and we were able to dictate pace, good things started to happen. White caught a hot hand, and started scoring at will during this stretch, and UT went cold with their shots from the perimeter for a stretch.

Ultimately, we cooled off a bit, and UT got their wheels back on. It was just too big of an early game hole to dig out of. Still proud of the way the guys played in the 2nd half, especially when they could have just mailed it in.