Shooting the Area Code J (10 Thoughts from Last Nights Game in the 940)

I don’t like to jump into doing quick recaps of games that’s why we had no post last night. I like to let the dust settle and let my emotions cool off before telling Mean Green Nation how I felt about a game. Quick recaps are great and all, but they just give you a synopsis of what happened with no analysis and no break down. Not my cup of tea. Instead I prefer to hit you with a solid dime (pass) of my thoughts the morning after.

That was big win for Tony Benford and his Mean Green basketball team no doubt about it. It was pretty at times and sloppy at others, but in the end it was a W. Two of Benford’s biggest victories as a head coach have come this season. He needs more of those to keep rolling in.
The first half was a thing of beauty. UNT was executing on offense as well as I’ve seen under Benford. They kept their TO’s down (4). They handled the full court pressure well. They also hit every shot they took, well almost. Shooting 72% in the first half is almost unheard of. Not sure what every player’s pre-game meal or ritual was, but they need to keep that up.
Second half was as ugly as they come. For the life of me I cant figure out why this team can be so on in the first half and so off in the second half. This isn’t the first time its happened. They’ve played tough against good teams in the first half only to fall apart in the second. So far this season North Texas has been outscored 692-578 in the second half this season. Coach Benford whatever you do at half time you need to change it up. It just doesn’t work.
Consider this UNT’s win probability to start the game was about 15%. At halftime that jumped to 90%. With 10 mins left it went back down to 65%. With seven minutes left it fell even further to 35%. That is a wild swing. Luckily UNT was able to hold off the comeback and come out with a W.
La Tech came into the game averaging 75.6 PPG and was the most efficient offense in CUSA. UNT locked them down and kept them quite for most of the night. North Texas did a great job of limiting fast break opportunities. They got back and got settled in their zone. Tech was content on trying to beat them from deep instead of penetrating. Its a good offensive strategy when you’re making those deep shots, but when you shoot 28% from down town its not.
Jeremy Combs played a grown mans game last night. I love this kid’s aggressiveness and drive that he plays with. When you show up to watch a North Texas basketball game there is one thing I promise you will see. That is Combs hustling and playing hard. His gritty, tough play down the stretch helped seal this big win. The deflection and tip in to close the book on Tech was as clutch as they come. Now Son just make your free throws!
Colin Voss had a Colin Voss type of game. It wasn’t fancy or remembered by many, but it was solid. If Voss is scoring then it usually means its going to be a good night for UNT. It was also nice to see T.J Taylor get back to his scoring ways with 16 points. North Texas needed some more scoring with DeAndre Harris out. Finally Jordan Williams was solid too. His veteran leadership and good play was the catalyst to UNTs win.
It will be interesting to see if this win catapults this team the rest of the way. You’re starting to see some good basketball being played, but the inconsistency really bothers me. There remains a lot of question marks with this team. Don’t come at me for being skeptical. I love good basketball. I study good basketball. UNT is half way there to playing good basketball right now. Until they put it all together I will remain skeptical.
Kudos to the @NT_PitCrew. Well done Ladies and Gents. Keep bringing the energy and enthusiasm. If you’re a student and weren’t at the game last night you missed a 3 S game…. Super, Scintillating, Sensational BABY!
This win will mean nothing if UNT comes out Saturday and lays an egg. Southern Miss is a very winnable game. If UNT wants to be taken seriously they need that win. They don’t need to play uninspired like they did after beating Creighton and then losing to Prairie View A&M.