Mean Green pulls away from Raiders late in Frisco

Wednesday, March 10

Frisco, TX

9:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

-518,313 CUSA

North Texas

-149,95 CUSA

Middle Tennessee

North Texas

3/10/2021 11:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: @MTAthletics

FRISCO, Texas – A Blue Raider squad with nothing to lose went down fighting Wednesday evening at the Ford Center at The Star, dropping a 76-56 contest that was much closer than the final score would indicate for a majority of the night.

North Texas (14-9, 9-5) – who returned almost its entire roster from a squad that won the Conference USA regular season title a year ago – had its hands full with Middle Tennessee (5-18, 3-13) for 30 minutes before the tide turned in favor of the Mean Green in a big way.

"I truly thank our guys for what they have battled through not just tonight, but all season long," Head Coach Nick McDevitt said. "I don't think many of us thought at first that we would still be dealing with COVID the way we are in March, so we're all thankful just to be here and competing.

"Our team really battled tonight and fought a very good team for a long time, but in some critical moments down the stretch we couldn't get the stops or baskets we needed to keep it close or take the lead."

The Blue Raiders opened the game with a clear desire to win the energy battle on and off the floor, but the Mean Green knocked down their first two 3-point attempts of the evening to take an early 8-5 lead and answer MT's energy level on their end of the floor.

North Texas's 3-point onslaught to begin the game wouldn't stop there as its fifth in six tries quickly made the score 21-8 in Frisco.

After a timeout called by McDevitt to talk things over, Middle Tennessee began to scratch and claw their way back into the game with stops on one end and points on the other.

A stretch of five straight made field goals – including 3-pointers from Jordan Davis, Jayce Johnson and Jo'Vontae Millner-Criss – fueled a 13-3 run that forced a timeout from the opposing bench as MT had turned a once 13-point deficit into a one-possession game with eight minutes to go in the half.

The ran continue for MT out of the timeout, as trifectas by Eli Lawrence and Millner-Criss sandwiched around a pair of freebies for Jalen Jordan saw the Blue Raiders take their first lead of the game, 29-28.

The Blue Raiders and Mean Green continued to jockey for position with eight lead changes over the next three minutes, but North Texas would pull away again with seven consecutive made field goals to close the half while Middle Tennessee missed its final five attempts before the buzzer.

MT shot an impressive 58.3 percent (7 of 12) from beyond the arc and 84.6 percent (11 of 13) from the charity stripe before the break, but UNT's 64.3 percent (18 of 28) clip from the field and 63.6 percent (7 of 11) mark from 3-point range handed the Mean Green the 45-36 advantage 20 minutes in.

DeAndre Dishman went right at North Texas big man Zachary Simmons to start the second half, laying it in for two on a drive from the top of the key.

That layup sparked a 9-0 run to bring MT within two, and it was game on once again. The Raiders had a sense of urgency about them in postseason play, refusing to allow last season's Conference USA regular season champions to put them away.

North Texas would keep them at arm's length, however, not stretching their lead beyond two possessions again until an 8-0 run as the clock ticked under 10 minutes.

"It was a six or seven point game late, and all of a sudden the ball doesn't bounce our way and we're having to go to full court press to try change the pace and (Javion) Hamlet was just too good against it," McDevitt said. "That series of events really changed the game.

Middle Tennessee showed nothing but fight despite going down by double digits, but had gone ice cold from beyond the arc with just one of its nine 3-point attempts falling in the second half. North Texas went on to close the game out on a 27-7 run to bring MT's season to its end.

"We have to get stops in those clutch moments," Dishman stated after the game. "Even when we are in a dry stretch we have to be able to get stops on defense and then use that to go the other way and get easy buckets."

The trio of Davis (12), Jordan (12) and Dishman (10) led Middle Tennessee with double digit outings, while Davis also tallied team highs in rebounds (5) and assists (3).

The Blue Raiders shot 34 percent (16 of 47) from the field, 38.1 percent (8 of 21) from 3-point range and 76.2 percent (16 of 21) from the charity stripe while allowing the Mean Green to shoot 54.5 percent (30 of 55) from the field, 62.5 percent (10 of 16) from beyond the arc and 54.5 percent (7 of 11) from the free throw line.

"I hate that our fans didn't get very much of a chance to watch this team in person and really get to know this group of guys, because that's something that's very important to us as a staff," McDevitt concluded. "We really look forward to having Murphy Center open to our fans again in the future."

"With everything we've been through over the summer and throughout the season, I think we showed a lot of heart and showed what we're really made of battling through adversity and putting together a strong performance tonight," Dishman added. "It means the world to me just to have been back on the floor this season after my knee injury."