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Ok, just got back and I have more on my mind than I can put on the screen. This isn’t a recap, but more general thoughts from a very exciting game. You can find the recap in the DRC.
First and foremost, I am VERY proud of this team. More on why in a bit. This team played what has become Mean Green basketball for the first half and kept it going much into the second half. True team basketball was seen with driving and dishing with productive defense on the other end.
Quincy played well in the post. Keith Wooden seemed very active in the paint with hustle plays. Probably one of the worst non-calls I have seen came when Wooden was smacked across the face going up for a shot in the 2nd half. He made the shot anyway, but this no-call resulted in a broken nose with blood on the floor. I can’t quite say what the ref was looking at on that play. Stuff like that happens.
The Mean Green Defense played well in the first half. They were focused on Courtney Lee – a p_layer_ touted as an NBA prospect. No doubt he has major talent. He had the “overrated” chant began on him many times – probably not deserved, but usual fan heckling that comes with being a talented p_layer_.
Western Kentucky brought a large group of vocal fans that were solidly behind their team for the entire game. Many seemed to be there in support of #20 Orlando Valdez, a San Antonio native. While their crowd was very active, they were outmanned and outmatched in Denton. The new rowdy student section was a force all night. Chants were constantly yelled during almost every trip down the floor. The volume of The Pit rose as the night wore on. Something happened in the second half though. With NT playing pretty poorly on offense, WKU was making their second half run (which whittled an 18 point lead down to 1) the TALONS/Pit Crew stepped up. You read that correctly, The Talons. The student section was rowdy, but the alumni of both sides just wouldn’t get out of their seats.
“Stand-Up” **Clap Clap** “Stand-Up” **Clap Clap**
It was then that the place went crazy. Everyone in The Pit jumped to their feet and cheered on THEIR team. The energy in Denton was the best I have ever witnessed in The Pit. I truly believe that the crowd played a large part tonight. P_layer_s LOVED it. One unidentified p_layer_ came over to The Pit Crew and stated , “You guys won this game”.
Which brings me to the team and why I was so proud of them. They played amazing and then played very poorly to let a feisty Hilltopper team come back. Johnny Jones takes a lot of crap from us fans and many times it is justified for times like tonight’s comeback. But tonight we saw the team buckle down and demand that this game was theirs. P_layer_s were constantly waving their arms to pump up the crowd. But wait…….it gets better. They just didn’t want to win a game………..they wanted to win for the University of North Texas. Mike Sturns hit two clutch shots and flashed the eagle claw to the crowd on his way back down the court. Jared Ruffin was making the letters U-N-T with his arms right along with the crowd during the fight song. The bench p_layer_s were just as much fans as we were. For this reason I was spilling over with pride because for the first time, I felt like they loved this school as much as I did. I wanted to win so badly so that our guys could taste this victory that they wanted us fans to taste even more. After the win the team came around the entire arena and high fived the front row. This is something that has been done before, but not like this. This time it was more slow and deliberate and genuine.
Mean Green fans be proud - There are guys wearing green and white that want to win for YOU and YOUR SCHOOL.
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