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2007-2008 Season Recap Part 2 |
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Written by Courtland
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Saturday, 03 May 2008 |
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Our conference title defense began on December 22nd, 2007 with a trip to face the Denver Pioneers. The Mean Green got off to a horrendous start from the field and fell into an early hole. Josh White came off the bench and led a run to keep us with striking distance. At the break we trailed by 7. Collin Dennis was our high scorer with 14, but it wasn’t enough as Denver was clutch from the line in the 2nd half, repelling every run we threw at them. The Pioneers escaped with a 63-59 win, and we were left to seek revenge later in the campaign.
We stepped out of Sunbelt action one last time as we ended 2007 destroying the Dustdevils of Texas A&M International. North Texas grabbed 71 rebounds in the affair led by Justin Howerton’s 13. Every player on the roster had at least 2 points and 1 rebound (Quincy led the way with 13). It was an all around great confidence booster for the rest of the season & we stayed undefeated at home.
The Belt scheduling committee did us no favors in early league play as we again went on the road. This time the Troy Trojans were awaiting our visit and one of the more compelling endings of the season unraveled. Trailing by 6 with less than a minute to go in regulation Dez Willingham cut the lead in half. Then after Troy missed on the front half of a one and one we had a chance to tie. Josh White’s shot was blocked, but on the scramble for the loose ball Collin Dennis hit a trey with under 5 seconds to go. Off the overtime we went. The extra frame was all us initially as NT went up 86-79. Troy then proceeded to go on a 9-0 run to take 88-86 lead. Wooden tied the game at 88, but O’Darien Basset hit three late free throws (he had a game high 30) as the Trojans were victorious 91-88.
Returning home was just what we needed as on January 7th we hosted the Warhawks of Monroe. We jumped on them early and never let up as we posted a 78-57 win. Josh White and Dez Willingham led 5 players in double figures as we shot 51.9% from the field and 55% from behind the 19’9. The Mean Green drained 11 treys in total, one of our higher marks of the season. We improved to 8-0 at the SuperPit, and more importantly got our 1st league win.
North Texas again went on the road for the next game. Arkansas State was seeking payback for losing to us in the SBC Final last year. It was not to be as we led wire to wire, winning 74-63. Collin Dennis lit up the Indians for 30 points – the most by a Mean Green player since the days of Chris Davis. Two others got into double figures and we out rebounded ASU by 12. At one point in the second half we were up 18 and despite surrendering some of the advantage, this game us the tantalizing suggestion that perhaps our road woes were over. This unfortunately turned out to be a mirage.
In our next contest we hosted Division leader ULL. This was a game we desperately needed to get back in the West race, and both sides played like it was a championship type affair. The first half was close throughout, with 6 ties and six more lead changes. The teams walked off the floor square at 35 after Ben Bell hit a remarkable 3 at the buzzer. We controlled the first ten minutes of the second stanza eventually going up 56-46. The Ragin’ Cajuns responded with a 19-8 run, retaking the lead 65-64. The last 8 points of the game would belong to us as we pulled away late 72-65. Quincy led the way with 18 huge points. Despite the lackluster opening, we were now back in the Sunbelt West race. In what would become a common theme this season, every time we thought we knew where we were headed – a change of plans was in the offing.
A flu bug swept thru the Mean Green lineup before UNO came calling. In recent years the Privateers have been a bit of a nemesis for the NT, and this night would be no different. On a night when Sunbelt legend Bo McCalebb would become the conference’s all time leading scorer, we just had nothing left for the second half as UNO dismantled us 83-61. The Mean Green gamely fought the Privateers in the first half, trailing by only 5. But the effects of the flu took their toll near the midway point of the 2nd as McCalebb and company took a 3 point lead and expanded it to 29 with 5:33 to go in the game. This was as crushing a defeat as we’ve suffered in the SuperPit during the Johnny Jones era. Back to the drawing board time.
It was back to the road as we traveled to Boca Raton, Florida to play the Owls of FAU. Josh White was injured late in the first half, but that seemed to fuel Dez and Ben. Bell actually had a career high of 26 in this game as he almost willed us to victory. Likewise, Willingham had 21 in relief of Josh and played arguably his best game of the season. With just over ten minutes remaining Ben hit a 3 to put us up a dozen. However FAU wouldn’t go away. The Owls used a late 18-5 run to erase an 8 point deficit at the 4:23 mark. Final score: FAU 86-81.
We hoped to end the skid when we arrived in Murfreesboro to play MTSU. Things started off well as Josh was back and Dez sparked a 11-0 right out of the gate. At half we were up a bucket and a sense of dread was in the air with our recent meltdowns. The Blue Raiders made a run right after the break, but we quickly retook the advantage. Kevin Kanaskie hit 4 treys – leading a 20-7 late run as MTSU retook the advantage and cruised to 69-60 win. Our 3 game win streak had been supplanted by a 3 game losing streak. With conference leading (and undefeated in SBC play) South Alabama visiting the SuperPit next, the season looked on the brink of unraveling totally.
Despite the familiarity everyone has with the OSU program, the best win of the ’07-08 campaign was January 31st when USA invaded the SuperPit and was turned away 70-68. We showed the kind of play that too rarely came out. There were a handful of times when this team clicked on all cylinders – and when we did we were tough. Dez Willingham got pile drived into the basket early on, and was out for the year - with a torn ligament in his knee. Keith and Quincy both got into early foul trouble.
It didn’t matter.
Out bench outscored USA’s by 20 – led once again by Collin Dennis. USA led by 10 early in the first half but we were within six at intermission. In the 2nd NT shot 50% from the floor and quickly took the lead at 42-41. After briefly going up 47-41 a few minutes later, the game ratcheted up in intensity. Neither squad led by more than 5 till the buzzer. After tying the game for the 8th time at 63, NT got a slight advantage. Then Collin Dennis hit a 3 pointer with 1:37 to go to put us up 5 and it looked like we might escape. USA quickly responded and with seconds remaining Demetric Bennett had a shot to win, but it was off the iron. North Texas had just defeated the Jaguars and given hope for saving the season.
At the midway point in league play we stood at 4-5(13-7 overall). But with the attrition in the West we were still very much in the division race, and with a favorable draw come tournament time anything was possible. We had just shown we could beat anyone by knocking off the Jaguars. The season was still very much for the taking.
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2007-2008 Season Recap Part 1 |
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Written by Courtland
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Wednesday, 09 April 2008 |
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The North Texas 2007-2008 season was largely a continuation of the success of the historic 2006-2007 campaign. The Mean Green again won 20 games, only the 5th time in school history we reached that plateau. Newcomers blossomed and veterans continued quality careers. It was an up and down year for NT as numerous winning streaks & losing streaks were the norm. In the end a return trip to postseason was not in the offing – but we have a lot to be proud of nonetheless.
The Conference Championship from the previous year got the fanbase excited from the get go. Normally the season opener against a school like Cameron wouldn’t draw well, but the crowd for the lid lifter on November 10th 2007, was over 3 thousand. The banners celebrating the NCAA big and conference title were raised to the rafters. Then the Mean Green annihilated an overmatched Cameron squad 106-53. Foreshadowing later successes Collin Dennis, Tristan Thompson, and Josh White all had great games. In fact the entire roster scored. It was a nice warm up for the next game which would highlight our non conference home slate.
The Oklahoma State Cowboys are one of the more storied programs in college basketball history. Their rich lore dates back to the 1930’s when Coach Iba strolled the sidelines. They boast 2 NCAA titles from the 1940’s as well as two Final Four appearances in recent years. The Mean Green faithful turned out in force as more than 6700 fans filled the SuperPit for the clash. OSU brought a big crowd, but Eagles in the stands definitely provided a great home court advantage. The Pit Crew had the old barn rocking throughout the night.
The game started like a heavyweight bout with each team feeling the other out. We had a hard time getting the ball into the paint in the opening minutes and Keith Wooden seemed a bit frustrated. With Oklahoma State up 16-15, White and Harold Stewart spearheaded a 17-0 run that put the SuperPit into a near frenzy. Oklahoma State managed to whittle the 16 point margin to 9 by halftime. The 2nd stanza opened up with the teams trading baskets until a 9-0 run by the Cowboys cut the lead to one. Wooden scored the next 6 by himself and we were off and running. OSU never came closer than four after that and despite tense moments throughout – we controlled the second half. Keith down low and Josh (who chipped a couple of teeth) played magnificently, carrying the squad. Each contributed 25 in the 82-73 final. The signature moment was reserved for Harold, whose windmill dunk in the closing seconds put the cherry on top. The students rushed the court after the buzzer and Josh was hoisted up on shoulders as the celebration continued for some time after the game. Johnny Jones had his signature non conference win.
Following the emotional victory, our next just days later seemed an obvious let down game. Fortunately for us the squad seemed ready and defeated the Indiana State Sycamores 78-69. Collin Dennis spearheaded the charge with 22 points and Quincy Williams dominated the boards with 19 rebounds. North Texas at one time held a 18 point lead in the second half but ISU fought back to make a game of it in the last few minutes. Senior transfer Dez Willingham iced the game at the line and we improved to 3-0 for the first time in over a decade. Confidence was growing by leaps and bounds in the Mean Green Nation.
NT went on the road for the first time right before Thanksgiving and ran into an old nemesis. The Texas-Arlington Moving Mavs once again frustrated us by winning 82-74. Their zone crippled our 3 point shooting and our guards could never seem to penetrate the defense. Only shooting 9 free throws also hurt our cause as our overall field goal percentage was less than desired. This loss stung, as they’ve owned us in recent years. However, by season’s end UTA showed they were a solid squad by winning the Southland conference tourney and qualifying for the NCAA’s.
Up next was the Lou Henson Classic. Our first opponent in the round robin tournament was Western New Mexico. WNMSU made 12 from behind the arc and pushed us to the limit. Wooden, Bell, and White all posted double figures as we held on for a 2 point win, when their last second shot sailed wide.
The host school NMSU was the following opponent. This was one of the more remarkable games of the season. The Aggies blitzed us in the first half and took an 18 point advantage to the break. Things became even grimmer as NMSU increased the margin to 21 early in the second half. Collin Dennis exploded for 19 in just a few minutes as we roared back, finally taking the lead with about five minutes to go. We held on for a 75-72 win. In retrospect, this was really a great win as the Aggies were regular season co-champions of the WAC.
Texas had just knocked off UCLA when we went into Austin to face the top 5 Longhorns. UT got off to a fast 17-3 start and we seemed lost. Slowly but surely we worked our way into the game and would not let the Horns run away with it. White had 28 as he almost single handedly brought us back in the 2nd half. A late run by the Longhorns made the final 88-72, but one had to like our effort after they nearly buried us early.
Collin Dennis and Keith Wooden would sit out our next contest. The game against Hartford was reminiscent of the old Loyola Marymount or UNLV teams. Both teams scored early and often as we had 5 players in double figures. Josh led the way with 24, but Ben Bell had a career high 23. Ben also played a key role late in the game to retake the lead twice after Hartford had pushed ahead. It was really a classic back and forth affair with 16 lead changes and 9 ties. The 105-97 win showed the offensive firepower we were capable of.
Southern visited Denton and blew out of the gate to a 12-2 lead. We picked ourselves up and slowly worked our way back into the game eventually taking the lead at 25-24. From that point on North Texas had little trouble as we breezed to a 79-58 win. Four players were in double figures led by Collin’s 16.
Our last game before conference began was against the Gentlemen of Centenary. Dez led the team with 14 as we won easily 76-54. Tristan Thompson continued his terrific under the radar play going over double figures for the fourth time of the season. Josh White sat this game out and Bell seemed to relish being the true point guard again. Upon Josh's return in following contests - he would move back to the shooting guard and Ben stayed at the 1 spot.
We were 8-2 at this point and looked to be playing very well. Little did we know the valleys and peaks ahead.
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Mean Green Season Recap Part FOUR |
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Written by Courtland
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Wednesday, 02 May 2007 |
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The Sun Belt Tournament got underway on February 28th. Games were to take place on the higher seed’s home floor for the first round(not counting the three byes for division champs and next best conference mark) with the eight remaining teams moving onto Lafayette.
North Texas, as the 5th seed hosted Louisiana Lafayette the 12 seed in this initial round contest. Kendrick Davis jumped out of the box with a huge effort, putting up 21 points in the opening stanza(on his way to 24 for the evening). The Mean Green got up by 19 points midway thru the first half, but the Ragin’ Cajuns cut it to 9 before the break. Lafayette continued their charge after intermission, pulling to within 4, but from there Harold Stewart spearheaded a run to put the game away. When the buzzer sounded we had reached the 20 win plateau for the first time in nearly 30 years.
Between the Wednesday game, and the trip to Lafayette for the remainder of the tourney Coach Jones had his team practice cutting down the nets. This was just one of the many buttons JJ was able to push along the way.
Next up was the 4 seed - the War Hawks of Monroe. ULM had led the Western Division through most of the season, but a late tailspin forced them out of one of the byes. Still, they figured to be a formidable opponent. We looked bad out of the gate as ULM jumped on us. Kendrick Davis was ill, and we seemed lost without him. The War Hawks took a 12 point lead into the break. Harold Stewart once again led a 2nd half run, this time getting us back in the game, before finally taking over the lead with 8 minutes remaining. The teams traded baskets, and dreams, in a dramatic stretch run as clutch shot after clutch shot was drained on both sides. Ben Bell(in a huge game for our Point Guard) stole the ball at the end of regulation thwarting a ULM attempt at the win. Free basketball yet again! In the extra session, we dug down deep and pulled away, hitting our free throws at the end. In Davis’s near absence Calvin Watson led the team with 19, but once again Stewart off the bench was the true story as his double double proved critical to the cause.
MTSU upset South Alabama, so we got a break drawing the 9 seed in the conference semi-final. Much like the game in Denton earlier in the season, North Texas led through most of the contest. KD sat out the game but Bell once again came up huge, with 15 points pacing the squad. Sturns and Watson both chipped in with 11, as North Texas weathered several Blue Raider rallies. In the end though, MTSU only led in the opening moments, and we knocked off MTSU 59-52. This tied the most wins in school history, dating back in the glory years of Coach Bill Blakely. We were now just one win from the Big Dance. But to do so we’d have to knock off the ASU Indians, who we were 0-2 against on the year.
The Tuesday clash would have a national audience on ESPN2. Calvin Watson seemed to know the spotlight was on as he came out shooting lights out. He would have 24 by game’s end leading the Mean Green. We led through most of the 1st half but the Indians closed to within 1 at halftime. Early in the second half NT pushed the advantage to 6, but ASU responded, eventually taking a short lived one point lead. Ben Bell took over from there as a junior point guard scored 7 of our next 13 and threw a stunning alley-oop pass too Rich Young, to seal the victory. Final Score NT 83-75. The Mean Green were going to the NCAA Tournament!
Over the next week we were the toast of the DFW market. The NCAA selection announcement drew a huge crowd as our team and fans went nuts when we drew the Memphis Tigers in New Orleans. All the local news agencies ran stories on the Mean Green, whether they be newspaper, television, or radio. The National media did features on Rich Young’s military service and the Dallas Morning News had daily video diaries, that gave excellent insight into the team. It was a wonderful time to be part of the Mean Green nation.
Game day finally arrived. Most experts gave us little chance, and honestly this was deserved. Only four times had a 15 seed defeated a 2 seed in the Tournament. We’d have to play a perfect game to get it done. For awhile we did just that. The Mean Green jumped on Memphis at the start as we were hitting everything we threw up. We kept a tenuous hold on the lead through over half the opening 20 minutes. We were the “Look in” game at several points in the coverage as CBS would break away from other regionally significant games to show footage of a David going toe to toe with Goliath. Memphis used a late 14-2 run to take a 9 point lead into the break. We refused to wilt after the break staying within striking distance. The turning point occurred about 7 minutes into the stanza when Calvin Watson missed a dunk and Memphis responded with a run to push the lead to 17. Despite closing the gap under 10 on acouple of occasions, but we could not get over the hump. The final score was Memphis 73-58, in a game that was probably closer than the margin showed.
North Texas finished the season at 23-11, marking a program high water mark for wins. Obviously the great squads we had in the 60’s and 70’s didn’t play as many games, but this was still a historic season by the Mean Green. It was only the 2nd time in school history we reached the “Dance” and only the 5th time we had reached 20 victories. In my 20 years of following NT basketball, I truly believe this was the best team(and most talented) we’ve seen. Kendrick Davis, Rich Young, and Calvin Watson each put their stamp on the North Texas basketball program that will be remembered for some time to come.
However, we still have much of the nucleus returning for next year. JJ has seemingly gotten some great additions for our ’07-08 campaign, so the future appears brighter than ever. Will our W’s down low continue to develop? Will Harold Stewart live up the the promise he teased us with at the SBC tournament? Will the “Thrill McCoy’s” play integral roles? Is Collin Dennis’s jumper as good as advertised? Can Mangrum return from his shoulder surgery and dent the regular rotation? Will Tristan Thompson live up to his billing? If even half of these questions are answered in the affirmative we are gonna be in for a helluva ride. I can’t wait for next season. Go Mean Green! |
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