North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 100, No. 24, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 7, 2013 Page: 4 of 6
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Page 4
Sports
Thursday, March 7,2013
Tyler Owens, Sports Editor
tylerwilsonowens@gmail.com
UNT basketball ready for na SB burnament
Men's Basketball
Ryne Gannoe
Senior Staff Writer
For the rest of the Mean Green
men's basketball season, it is win
or go home. The single-elimination
Sun Belt Conference Tournament
starts tomorrow in Hot Springs,
Ark.
No. 1 Middle Tennessee State
University (27-4,19-1) is the favorite
to win the tournament. With only
one conference loss and 16 straight
wins, the Blue Raiders have a bye
to the second round. Three MTSU
players were named to all-confer-
ehce teams including senior guard
Bruce Massey - the Sun Belt's
defensive player of the year.
Middle Tennessee awaits
the winner of the No. 9 Mean
Green (12-19, 7-13) versus the No.
8 University of Louisiana-Lafayette
(12-19,8-12.)
ULL has won four of the last
five meetings meetings with UNT,
including both games this season.
The lone Mean Green win came
in last year's Sun Belt tournament
quarterfinals, 65-62.
Head coach Tony Benford said
there is a specific game plan to
limit Louisiana-Lafayette.
"They have a good team with
two all-conference players,"
Benford said. "They shoot the ball
well with some great three-point
shooters. We have to do a great job
of keeping them out of transition
and contest the three-point shot."
The Mean Greeh enters the
tournament with momentum The
final game of the regular season
ended with a 24-point win over No.
2 seed Arkansas State University
(18-12,12-8) and UNT has won four
of its last six games.
"Teams don't want to play
us right now in the tourna-
ment," sophomore guard Jordan
Williams said.
A portion of the team's
revival comes from the return
of sophomore point guard Chris
Jones, who broke his foot in
December. He returned for the
first time last Thursday and
scored eight points, grabbed
seven rebounds and added two
assists.
Senior forward Niko
Stojiljkovic said Jones' return
elevates the Mean Green's play.
"Getting Chris back is very
big," Stojiljkovic said. "It helps
us a lot on and off the court. If
we are able to carry over the
game and just listen to what the
coaches are saying, I don't think
anyone can beat us."
Benford said the tournament
is an opportunity for a whole
new season
"The thing is, everybody
is 0-0," Benford said. "One
difference maker we have is
Tony Mtchell. If he shows up
and plays like he's capable of
playing, he can get 20-20 in a
night."
UNT and ULL tip off at 6:30
pm. at the Convention Center
Court.
Women's Basketball
Mean Green
tournament games
Men's
Game 2
-O @ 6:30 p.m. vs.
£ No. 8 Louisiana-
Lafayette
*Game 5 (on Sun
Td Belt Network)
§ @ 6:30 p.m. vs. No.
ctf 1 Middle Tennessee
GO
>- *Game 8 (on Sun
"O Belt Network)
5 @ 6:30 p.m. vs.
winner of game 4
ST ^Championship
"g (on ESPN)
c @ 6 p.m. vs.
S winner of game 9
Women's
Game 3
@ 2:30 p.m. vs.
No. 11 Louisiana-
Lafayette
"Game 7
@ 6 p.m. vs. No. 3
Western Kentucky
"Game 9 (on Sun
Belt Network)
@ 2:30 p.m. vs.
winner of game 6
^Championship
(on ESPNU)
@ 1 p.m. vs.
winner of game 8
Tim Cato
Senior Staff Writer
A 13-year run of competing
in the Sun Belt Conference
Tournament will end this weekend
as the Mean Green women's
basketball team begins its final
Sun Belt tournament in Hot
Springs, Ark.
UNT (11-18, 10-10) - the tour-
nament's No. 6 seed - is satisfied
with its performance headed into
the playoffs thanks to an impor-
tant win to finish the season. The
■ Mean Green topped the N& 4 seed
Arkansas State University (15-14,
12-8) in a 53-51 thriller on Feb. 27
"We feel good about beating a
really good team in a close game,"
head coach Mke Petersen said.
"We had to make a lot of plays
' down the stretch of that game to
win it."
The win snapped a three-game
losing streak and helped the Mean
Green gather momentum for its
opening game tomorrow against
the No. 11 University of Louisiana-
Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (9-20,3-17).
"I think it gave us confidence;
headed into the tournament,"
junior guard Laura McCoy said.
"We're just trying to work hard
so we call win as many games as
we can."
UNT has already defeated ULL
twice this season. The Ragin'
Cajuns hold the lowest ranking
in the tournament, but Petersen
plays down the effect of his team's
opponent while emphasizing the
importance ctf his own teams play.
"I'm focused on us," Petersen
said. "We'll play whoever comes
up next. I think you have to go into
these tournaments more focused
on you than on anyone else. It's
not like you reinvent the wheel
in the tournament, you've got to
be more concerned about how
you're playing"
The game against ULL tips off at
230 pm tomorrow in the Summit
Arena Should UNT win, the team
would face No. 3 seed Western
Kentucky (20-9,13-7) on Saturday
at 2 pm
"Every game's goingtobeabig
game," freshman guard Loryii
Goodwin said. "It doesn't matter
who we're playing in this league,
everyone's about the same. We're
more focused because the game
coming up is a big game/'
*Game pending win in prior game
For full bracket visit SunBeltSports.org
Graphic by Therese Mendez/Design Editor
UNT to shuttle
students to
Hot Springs
O ntdaily.com
UNT
Forward
Sun Belt
blocks
leader (83)
TONY
MITCHELL
MTSU
FAU
Guard
L ^
Guard
First-team
Sun Belt
All-Sun
points per
Belt
game leader
(21.2)
MARCOS
KNIGHT
Players to watch
GREGG
GANTT
UNT
Guard
FIU
Guard
WKU 1
—
Sun Belt
Freshman
of the Year
Sun Belt
Player of
the Year
First-team A
All-Sun m
Belt 1 X M
LORYN
JERICA
ALEXIS
GOODWIN
COLEY
GOVAN
SAVE THE DATE!
UNT Graduation Fair
UNT Bookstore
March 4th - 7th | 10a - 4p
F or additional information, call 800.854.7464
or visit /vwwjostens.com
Take care of all your graduation needs!
Pick up your cap and gowri
Order your UN Official Class Ring
Order your Official UN' Graduation Announcements
Join the Alumni Association ^
1
?n
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Harvey, Holly. North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 100, No. 24, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 7, 2013, newspaper, March 7, 2013; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth336940/m1/4/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.