DENTON – North Texas returns to The Super Pit this week with two home games against Florida Atlantic and Marshall. The Mean Green look to rebound from a tough 13-point loss last weekend against Louisiana Tech.
After playing their last three games on the road, the comforts of The Super Pit should play to the benefits of UNT. Last time the Mean Green played in Denton, over 8,000 people showed up to support this 20-win basketball team.
It would be awesome to see this type of environment in The Pit on Thursday and Saturday to help North Texas (20-8, 8-7 in C-USA) end their current four-game skid.
Senior guard Jorden Duffy returned to the lineup last Saturday after missing the last eight games and finished with nine points. Ryan Woolridge – the team leader in minutes, assists and steals – has missed the past three games but is expected to play in Thursday night’s game against FAU.
The return of Duffy sparked the Mean Green to a 34-20 halftime lead last Saturday against Louisiana Tech. However, North Texas shot a dismal 28 percent from the field while the Bulldogs got hot and outscored UNT by 27 in the second half to grab a win.
With only three games remaining in the regular season and just two weeks away from the C-USA Tournament, the Mean Green need to get their mojo back if they want any chance at a March Madness run.
Now, let’s take a quick look at the Mean Green’s opponents this weekend:
Florida Atlantic (16-12, 7-8 C-USA): Tip-off at 7 p.m.
Like UNT, the Owls are coming off a loss during their first game of C-USA Bonus Play. FIU outlasted FAU on Saturday to hand the Owls a 69-66 loss.
UNT and FAU matched up just two weekends ago, and the Owls held North Texas to a season-low 47 points while grabbing a win in Boca Raton.
I believe the Mean Green will look towards Woolridge to orchestrate the offense as he has all season. Sharp shooter Umoja Gibson and big man Zachary Simmons also need to have big nights to grab a crucial win against the Owls.
Also, it would be nice to Roosevelt Smart break out of his offensive slump and turn it on as the season winds down.
Marshall (14-13, 7-7 in C-USA): Tip-off at 3 p.m.
The last win for North Texas was three Thursday’s ago when they ran the Thundering Herd out of the gym in a 78-51 dominating win.
Marshall came into the game as one of the most prolific offense in C-USA, but the UNT defense held Marshall to 5 of 24 from behind the 3-point line and 28 percent from the field.
Also, the knocked down 43 percent of their 3-pointers while shooting the lights out of The Super Pit. Smart scored 20, Gibson had 19 and Woolridge added 18 during the win.
It would be great to see this basketball team have another impressive offensive performance sometime during the weekend to grab momentum.
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