MBB North Texas 87 Rice 95

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North Texas (7-14 2-6) fell to the Rice Owls, extending the losing streak to five games. Despite putting up 87 points, the defense couldn’t stop the Owls offense.  The Mean Green bench also contributed very little — shooting 1 of 4 (25%) from the floor, making  1 of 2 (50%) from behind the arc, and shot no free throws while contributing 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, picked up 5 fouls, and committed 3 turnovers in 20 minutes of play.

Today’s player of the game was Jeremy Combs, who picked up his seventh consecutive double-double. Combs was 9 of 10 (90%) from the floor and 7 of 10 (70%) from the charity stripe for a total of 25 points while picking up 13 total rebounds (7 offensive; 6 defensive). He also had 3 assists, 1 block, 2 steals with 1 turnover on 38 minutes of play.

Also in double figures was J-Mychal Reese (23), Eric Katenda (16), Deckie Johnson (10), and Ja’Michael Brown (10). Carrington Ward was the only bench player to score any points in the game.

Rickey Brice Jr. was unavailable to play in the game due to a lingering injury (Concussion).

Game stats have been posted.

North Texas returns to the SuperPit to play the Southern Miss Golden Eagles on Thursday, February 4th at 8:00 PM. The game will be televised on the American Sports Network in addition to KHYI for the radio broadcast. The Women’s Basketball game starts at 6:00 PM so I imagine KNTU will join upon the conclusion of that game. EDIT: Tip-off has been moved back an hour from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM, perhaps due to TV coverage for the game.

Hot Sports Opinion

At this point in the season, you have to start to wonder given the recent lack of production by the North Texas bench whether the Mean Green can manage many more wins on the season.  Over the current 5 games losing streak, the North Texas bench has been out-scored 33 to 165.

Bench Production
Opponent         Mins  Points Rebs Asst Blocks Steals
Marshall         63    15     14   0    2      3
Western Kentucky 41    7      2    0    4      0
Middle Tennessee 42    6      8    0    0      2
UAB              27    2      4    0    0      0
Rice             20    3      0    0    0      0

The bench must increase its production in all statistical categories otherwise I predict this team will lose most of its remaining 10 games.  You are starting to see this team fade late in games, starting around the 10:00 mark of the second half, which is due to the starters having to play 35 minutes or more for each and every game.

Current conference standings (as of 1/31/2016)

TEAM                CONF  GB  OVR
UAB                  8-1  -   18-4
Middle Tennessee     7-2  1   15-6
Marshall             7-2  1   11-11
Louisiana Tech       4-3  3   15-5
Old Dominion         5-4  3   12-10
Florida Intl         5-4  3   11-11
Southern Mississippi 4-4 3.5   7-12
Charlotte            4-5  4    7-14
Florida Atlantic     4-5  4    6-16
UTEP                 3-5 4.5  11-10
Western Kentucky     3-6  5   11-11
North Texas          2-6 5.5   7-14
Rice                 2-6 5.5   7-14
Texas San Antonio    2-7  6    4-18

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