Basketball Recap – BYU 97 , UNT 67

Game Summary

North Texas was beat by a far superior TEAM tonight plain and simple. BYU is a well coached well disciplined team and they showed it. There is no shame in losing to a team like that; you just wish UNT could have put together a solid two halves instead of just one.

UNT was able to hang with BYU for the first 20 minutes, by attacking the rim and knocking down some open shots. They weren’t really ever able to slow down BYU offense. The Cougars made adjustments to their defense in the middle of the first half and it started to show as they built up a 7 point lead.

In the second half UNT took way to many bad contested shots. Too many times UNT would drive in the lane and throw up some crazy shot that eventually led to a fast break for BYU. That’s what happens when you face a good transition team. They take your bad shots and turnovers and convert them into easy baskets.

Telling Numbers

22- The number UNT was out rebounded by

26- The number of points BYU scored on fast breaks. Compare that to 2 which UNT had

28- The number UNT was outscored by in the paint.

55- The most second half points has given up this year

6- Points for UNT’s leading scorer Alzee Williams. That’s down from his normal 16.3.

1- UNT only had one player score in double digits. Maurice Aniefiok with 11

21.4- Jordan Williams shooting percentage, the JR. really struggled to find his shot.

35.7- UNT’s free throw percentage. That’s just a bad number for an unguarded shot.

Concerns Going Forward

Transition Defense- If you’re going to run and put up quick shots you better be prepared to get back on defense. BYU made adjustment to limit UNT’s fast break after the first couple of minutes; UNT was never able to execute something similar. They consistently got beat down the floor and gave BYU to many easy baskets.

Motion Offense- What version is UNT running? I can tell you it’s not a very good one right now. I’m going to be very honest right now UNT is not suited for running the motion. Here is the best definition of what the motion is designed to do:

Through constant player movement, teams of average size and abilities can overcome and defeat teams of superior talent and size. However, this requires players to play together as a single unit. More importantly, it requires players to possess an unselfish attitude to create open shot opportunities for their teammates. This constant player movement must have purpose and patience in attacking the defense. Since all offensive movement is based on defensive reads rather than set action, it is difficult for opponents to scout and defend.

Does that sound like anything UNT is capable of doing at this point? In my basketball wisdom I think that UNT is best suited to run an offense called the dribble drive motion. It’s much better suited for the type of talent that UNT has. It’s an offense that’s all about dribble penetration and using your athleticism to win one on one match-ups.

Positives

Ventrail Vaughns and Maurice Aniefiok continue to be solid contributors. Vaughns got the Mean Green going early with 5 quick points. Aniefiok hit a couple of big shots in the second half to help trim the BYU lead down.

First Half- UNT played very well for the first 20 minutes. They stood toe to toe with a really good BYU team. There was good ball movement and UNT was attacking the basket. Too bad it couldn’t continue on to the second half.

Final Thoughts

No matter where you go it’s always tough to win on the road and especially at a place like BYU. You can’t expect to win those road game playing like UNT did. You have to be on top of your game and you must be able to out execute a team like BYU. BYU was just too much to handle for UNT. UNT put up a good fight for a half, but quickly faded down the stretch. Now UNT gets a long time off before returning to the hardwood. There is a lot to work on and a lot of improvements that can be made. I hope UNT is up to the task. I hope the players and coaches can move past the lopsided loss, and learn from their mistakes.