North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 13, Ed. 1 Tuesday, February 5, 2008 Page: 6 of 8
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Page 6 Iuesday ebruary 5 2008
O
Sports
I ichardC.White
Sports Editor
richieatUNT@hotmail.com
Sports tomorrow:
Basketball Profile on freshman guard,
Josh White.
Jones reaches 00th win against Florida International
By David A. Lucio
Staff Writer
Men's basketball head
coach Johnny Jones scaled
a new plateau in his career,
winning his 100th victory at
NT over Sun Belt Conference
rival Florida International
University Golden Panthers
60-57 Saturday in the Super
Pit.
"It's been good for me, but
I wanted to thank our team,
the guys that are here and the
guys in the past," Jones said.
"It's a credit to them, my staff,
the administration and our
fans really, because they were
just as big a part of making it
happen."
Only two other coaches in
the program's history have
achieved 100 or more wins.
Former NT head coach Pete
Shands coached the team to
217 wins in 24 years while Bill
Blakeley had 134 wins in seven
years with the Mean Green,
jones is currently in his seventh
year coaching at NT.
"We didn't even know, but
we're all proud of coach Jones
and happy for him," senior
forward Keith Wooden said.
"He downplayed it a lot...but
we're happy to be a part of his
100th win."
NT came up with its second
straight Sun Belt Conference
victory by beating FIU (6-15,
3-8). NT is now 14-7 on the
season and 5-5 in conference.
This also marked FIU's 11th
straight road loss.
"The game probably played
out in a similar fashioned that I
envisioned it to," Jones said. "I
thought our guys did an excel-
lent job of winning the game
in a different fashion."
Despite the win, the Mean
Green had one of its worst
shooting records this season,
shooting only 31.4 percent from
the field.
The Panthers' defense
double-teamed freshman
guard Josh White most of the
night.
White still shot 3-for-4 from
the 3-point line and 7-for-9
from the free-throw line,
scoring 16 points.
Senior guard Dez Willingham
dislocated his right kneecap
during Thursday's win against
the University of South
Alabama, missing Saturday's
game.
Wooden started and clocked
31 minutes of playing time
Saturday the most he's played
since injuring his ankle. He
scored six points and came up
with seven rebounds.
"All that matters is getting
the 'W' no matter how you get
it, now matter how ugly it is,"
Wooden said.
NT's bench had solid produc-
tion Saturday.
Junior guard Adam McCoy
sank two 3-pointers while
freshman guard Tristan
Thompson shot 7-for-7 from
the free-throw line, scoring 11
points with five rebounds.
"In the beginning of the year,
I was a starter, but now I'm
like the sixth man," Thompson
said.
For the first four minutes
of the game, both FIU and NT
scored two points each.
After FIU held a small lead
for about four minutes, consec-
utive 3-pointers from White
and McCoy gave NT a 16-12 lead
with 10:11 left in the half.
"They did a good job of
doubling Josh," Jones said.
"They are a good defensive
basketball team, but I thought
we were able to go down on
the other end of the floor and
defensively get the stops we
needed."
NT ended the half with a
32-22 lead.
In the second half, FIU
started to bridge NT's lead as
junior center Russell Hicks led
the charge by scoring 12 points
with 11:13 remaining.
A free throw by FIU senior
guard Chris Fuller tied the
game at 43-43.
The lead changed five more
times before White sank one
of two free throws to tie up the
game again at 53-53 with 4:37
remaining.
Less than a minute later,
White sank two more free
throws to move the Mean Green
back into the lead 55-53.
"You just don't want to get
out of sync when the game is
that close," Jones said, "and
you don't have any room for
error."
Thompson sank two more
free throws at the end of the
game to seal the victory for
NT.
"That's what everybody
dreams of when playing this
game. The game's on the
line, up by one, 10 seconds
left and you've got to go to
the free-throw line, step up
and make two crucial ones,"
Thompson said. "I just went
in with the mindset that these
are just regular free throws and
knocked them down."
J
Photo by Kyle Phillips / Staff photographer
Head coach Johnny Jones won the 100th game of his seven year NT coaching career Saturday in the Super Pit.
N" women's basketball experiences close defeat over weekend, - 0
Photo by Chase Martinez / Staff Photographer
Junior guard Jo Hall drives down the court against a Florida International defender in the Super Pit Saturday night.
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LEARNING CENTER
By Antinique Jones
Intern
The NT women's basket-
ball team suffered its 10th
loss of the season as Florida
International University beat
the Mean Green 77-70 Saturday
in the Super Pit.
The Mean Green (10-12, 5-5)
was in the lead during the first
half, but in the last two minutes
of the game, the Golden
Panthers (9-13, 5-6) crept back
to steal the victory.
"I can feel that one coming
just because we were playing
with tempo the whole game.
I felt like as soon as we quit
shooting from the outside, we
would probably be in trouble,"
head coach Tina Slinker said.
"They played what we call a
'soft defense.' They were basi-
cally giving us an outside
shot."
NT's leading scorer for the
night was junior post Erica
Howard with 23 points, which
counted as her season-high.
NT had two other players
score in the double-digits as
junior forward Amber Jackson
had 16 points while junior guard
Yari Escalera had 13 points.
Escalera and Hall both went
3-for-3 at the free-throw line.
The Golden Panthers, mean-
while, had four players with 10
or more points.
Freshman guard Fanni
Hutlassa's 20 points accom-
panied junior guard Iva
Ciglar's .18 points and senior
guard LaQuetta Ferguson's 15
points. Senior guard Asha Neal
rounded out the top four with
13 points.
"I think [the problem] was
not being able to stop them on
defense," Slinker said. "It was
the match-up. Their number
10 kid was able to shoot from
the outside."
Howard made 11 out of 14
shots at the free-throw line.
She tied her season high with
nine rebounds.
The Golden Panthers
hindered her the opportunity
to score points, which Howard
said she had to fight for.
"They didn't give it to me. I
was taking it. Somebody had to
score," Howard said.
The Golden Panthers had 43
rebounds total, 17 on offense
and 26 on defense.
The Mean Green collected
only 13 offensive rebounds and
16 defensive rebounds for a
modest total of 29.
"Their [the Golden Panthers']
size helps them on the boards,"
Slinker said. "I think with the
lack of the ability to push
the tempo makes it hard for
them."
NT held the lead for the first
half by as many as eight points.
The half ended with NT in the
lead, 38-32.
In the second half, the score
was tied nine times, with seven
lead changes.
"We should have taken more
control of the game early,"
junior guard Jo Hall said. "It was
tough losing a tough lead."
Last year, the teams played
each other once with the
Golden Panthers beating NT
67-55 in Miami. At the time, NT
had won three of its previous
five games.
"You got to be ready game-in
and game-out in this league,"
Slinker said. "The league is
too good to play off your last
performance. You have to come
in each game ready to play."
The Mean Green will
oppose the Western Kentucky
University Lady Toppers, and
their 12-game winning streak,
Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the last
of three straight games at the
Super Pit.
iven Polar Bears Like NTDaily (We Think)
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Research on the topic still remains inconclusive, but it seems that all
factors point to this truism. Doctors, meanwhile, are currently hard at
work to try and protect the species of NTDaily and the Polar Bears, and
is starting a widespread campaign of promotion. Actors such as John and
Eve and that one guy from that one show, had all been officially signed on
to the campaign.
To partake in this huge effort of saving Polar Bears and NTDaily, log on to
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tion.
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North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 13, Ed. 1 Tuesday, February 5, 2008, newspaper, February 5, 2008; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145538/m1/6/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.