It was now time to begin Sunbelt play. On December 18th the Mean Green traveled to Lafayette to meet the Ragin’ Cajuns. The squad jumped on ULL early 8-2, and then near the end of the half exploded to take a 23-10 lead. The Cajuns whittled that advantage down to a bucket early in the second stanza. Another huge run (16-2) effectively put the game away and we coasted to the 78-64 victory. Tristan Thompson put up 27 huge points leading the way, but Josh White and Eric Tramiel also got into double figures. After this game, spirits were truly buoyed. Near disaster was just around the corner.

NT continued the road swing down into New Orleans to take on the Privateers. Once more UNO gave us fits as Kyndall Dykes notched 25 points in the 71-66 defeat. Josh had 19 and Dominique Johnson put up a bakers dozen, but shooting woes did us in. The first half especially was brutal as NT barely made 30% of its field goal attempts. Meanwhile the Privateers shot over 50% for the game. The contest broke our four game win streak and took some of the luster off the ULL game for many.

The Mean Green returned back to the friendly confines of the SuperPit where our metroplex nemesis UT-Arlington was awaiting us. They have owned us in recent years and this time was no different. Despite shooting poorly once again, we had a four point lead at intermission. UTA shot a sizzling 56% from the field for the game and eventually widened out a close contest to 11 with four minutes remaining. We made a final push coming to within 78-75 with seven seconds left, but Dom missed a 3 and UTA hit free throws to put the game out of reach for the 80-75 final score. Josh White spearheaded our free throw shooting which was a sparkling 12 of 13 for the game. Collin Dennis led the Mean Green with 21 as he carried us in the 2nd half, but it was not enough.

NT ended 2008 on New Years Eve with a tilt against Middle Tennessee. MTSU was the preseason favorite to win the league, and despite a rocky non conference performance, was starting to round into form. Once again we had trouble from the floor in the first half, but held a tenuous one point lead at intermission. Tristan Thompson and Collin Mangrum each had 19 points – most of which was in the second stanza. Late in the game MTSU held a two point advantage, but a key lay up by Tramiel sent the game into overtime. In the extra session MTSU converted two 3 point plays and we never recovered, eventually losing 89-80.

Another road trip commenced – this time to the state of Arkansas. First up were the Razorbacks who we played in Little Rock. An Alltel Arena crowd of 15,687 came out for the game and saw the Mean Green grab an early 16-13 advantage. Arkansas took the lead soon after; before NT exploded with 15-0 run, which gave us a lead going into the half. The Razorbacks were led by Michael Washington’s 34 big ones, as he led a 2nd half effort that put us away 86-75. It was a good effort by the Mean Green as we dropped in 9 treys, but it wasn’t enough.

Our following game was also in Little Rock – this time against UALR. As is typical with recent battles with Little Rock – it was a nail biter. The 78-77 overtime loss was devastating in many ways. For the 5th game in a row we lost a contest we felt was winnable. This time NT jumped out to an early lead & led at halftime. UALR grabbed the advantage in the 2nd, but Eric Tramiel's 21 led NT - as we never let the Trojans get away. Josh White hit a big three, plus the harm, to draw us within a point late in regulation. After Tramiel gave us the lead shortly thereafter, UALR tied the game sending to OT. In the extra session, we jumped out to a six point lead but frittered it away. Then with the game tied at 78 and 1.9 seconds to go UALR’s Steven Moore drew a foul and hit one of two for the winning margin. This marked our 5th straight defeat and exasperation was setting in.

We returned home to Denton knowing that the season was on the brink of unraveling completely. The Arkansas State Red Wolves came calling, in what was arguably the most exciting game of our season. After a relatively standard first half, ASU led at 29-26 at intermission. ASU put a run on us early in the 2nd and suddenly we were down 11 with just under thirteen minutes remaining. NT responded with a 9-1 run capped by a Johnson trey. From there we eventually managed to grab the lead, and in a loose ball scrum Tristan Thompson hit a huge shot to give us a 58-55 lead with 1:22 to go. However the game was far from over, as ASU tied the game at 59 with fewer than 20 seconds to go (after Josh only went 1 of 2 at the stripe in a opportunity to try and ice the game). In overtime both teams tried to knock each other out, but a late lay up by Josh moved the game into a 2nd OT. In Double overtime, Dominique drilled a couple of gigantic treys and seemed to give us an insurmountable lead – however free throw shooting (which was a problem for us all game as we barely hit over 50%) came back to bite us and the game moved into a 3rd overtime. Finally in the 3rd extra session, Josh White put the game away for us at the stripe - as we survived 86-83 in a game for the ages. It tied a 1984 contest with SW Louisiana as the longest game in SuperPit history.

Our next game in Denton might have been even more remarkable. Denver dominated the first half in every conceivable way, building a 21 point lead at one point. Down 17 at halftime, to a school that hadn’t won a true road game in years, was a stunner. In the second half an early 21-7 run by the Mean Green vaulted us back into the contest (and brought the SuperPit crowd to its feet), but Denver wouldn’t back down. They kept us at bay until just under 5 minutes when we took our first lead. Collin Dennis led the way with 14, but Dom’s 8 point burst in just over a minute late in the game put us over the top. Once we grabbed the lead we didn’t relinquish it, and held on for a 69-62 win.

After the last two dramatic games, the following game against FAU proved to be remarkably “normal.” After feeling each out in the opening minutes, NT got a nine point margin led by Eric Tramiel’s 14 first half points (on his way to 19). FAU used a big run to tie the game at 47 with about ten minutes remaining, but NT then had a 10-0 run of its own that effectively put the game away. NT won comfortably 69-60. In addition to Tramiel; Dennis and Johnson also ended up in double figures on the night. Additonally, Tramiel pulled down 13 boards – in what would be the first of many double doubles in the weeks to come.

Up next was a trip to Miami to challenge to the FIU Panthers. Our guards didn’t seem to make the trip at times, as we struggled from the perimeter. However Odufuwa, Kedrick Hogans, and Tramiel heeded the call as they each had big games. Eric especially came up with huge with 22 points, 15 boards, and one authoritative dunk that changed the momentum of the game with about 12 minutes remaining. Before that, FIU had gotten the better of it, afterwards we controlled the game, eventually holding on for an 80-75 victory. It was a huge road victory and our 4th straight overall. The five game losing streak seemed behind us.

NT returned to Denton to take on Troy. Troy and NT had been the two hottest schools in the conference in recent weeks; so many teams watched our game with interest. The first half was a nip and tuck affair, which the Trojans led by 1 after twenty minutes. Once again we had trouble shooting from the perimeter and our guys on the inside had to do a lot of work. Odufuwa pulled down 18 boards and Eric Tramiel led the scoring with 19. We had a 67-63 lead after an Adam McCoy led run (he went 5-10 from the behind the arc the rest of the team 2-16), but Troy wasn’t done and ended the game 14-2 charge. The final was 77-69 and hurt our momentum as the first half of league play ended.

Midway thru the Sunbelt slate we stood at 5-4(12-8 overall) and behind UALR. We still had designs on winning the West, but those were becoming dimmer by the day as UALR refused to lose. Our early strength had been our backcourt, but now the interior was carrying us. We sensed if both worked simultaneously we’d be tough to beat. The remainder of the season would bare that out.

We entered the 2008-2009 campaign with high expectations. Despite losing some major cogs, NT was picked alongside UALR to win the Sunbelt Western Division. The season had major ups and downs, but by the end we solidified into a formidable opponent and won the most regular season league games since joining the Belt. North Texas also zoomed past 1000 victories in program history.

The season began November 14th, 2008 as we hosted the Cameron Aggies in the Old Snake Pit. The facility was famous back in the 60’s as one of the most hostile arenas in the nation, and Coach Jones wanted to see what it was like(not to mention the SuperPit was hosting a Robotics convention). The crowd was boisterous, but it didn’t matter for awhile. The team got off to a sluggish start, with many of our newcomers out of sync, and only led by 5 at the break. Early in the second stanza Justin Howerton provided a spark and the Mean Green put on an authoritative run and finally put away Cameron 87-66. Tristan Thompson led four players in double figures. Despite the victory the fan base was very nervous, since for much of the game Cameron proved remarkably feisty.

A few days later NT traveled up to Oklahoma State to fulfill the first part of our 2 for 1 agreement with the Cowboys. Gallagher-Iba arena is one of the more historic gyms in the country, but we came out of the gate well – leading after the first few minutes. Keiton Page for OSU then went on a barrage from the land of 3, and OSU made a major 15-3 push to go up 36-25. We cut the lead to 7 at halftime and then tried to regroup. Josh White was a scoring machine in the 2nd half – eventually totaling 23 for the game. NT also dominated the glass against the Cowboys (with George Odufuwa getting the first of what would be many games with double digit rebounds). However, we could not stop the Cowboys on the defensive end, and they prevailed 100-88.

Next up was Sam Houston State in Huntsville. In a way SHSU was like a conference opponent this season because we had a home and home scheduled with them. Winning in Huntsville is not an easy task as the Bearkats had a 45 game home court winning streak against non conference opponents going in. The game was a true battle throughout. Dominique Johnson got us off to a fast start with 10 early points and we led by a bucket at intermission. SHSU went on a 7-0 run out of the break and from there the game went back and forth. Josh sprained his thumb – which would bother him for nearly the entire season – but still led the team with 19. He also hit huge free throws down the stretch to seal the 76-71 win.

The road trip concluded as NT traveled to Indiana to play the Sycamores of ISU. The Mean Green filled it up from behind the arc hitting 11 treys for the game. NT pushed a 2 point lead at halftime into an 11 point win on the back of a late run. Of note was our free throw shooting (over 80% in the game) – foreshadowing what would be a true strength this season. Johnson, White, and Eric Tramiel all scored in double figures, while Odufuwa once again dominated the boards.

We finally returned home for our first game at the SuperPit as we hosted Jackson State. The Mean Green got out to a quick start building an early 12 point advantage. The Tigers clawed back into it before halftime and the second half was close throughout. Johnson led the Mean Green with 17, but Collin Dennis had the big plays down the stretch including four big free throws to ice the game and a big defensive stop in the last minute. Also worth noting was Josh White’s career high 7 assists. The final was 84-82 and pushed us to 4-1 for the third straight season.

Our next contest was arguably our worst effort of the season. We traveled down to Houston with high hopes and despite playing a close first half (led by Dennis’s 12), were absolutely crushed 84-54. Perhaps this game was used as motivation in practice, and helped us down the line – but it was a very disheartening contest.

SHSU made their return trip in our next game. The Bearkats seemed eager to avenge the earlier meeting a few weeks earlier as they fought back from an early Mean Green lead to have a 6 point advantage at the break. Tristan Thompson’s team high 20 points, led the NT charge in the second stanza as we regrouped. Josh White hit a big 3 down the stretch and we rode our shooting from the stripe to a 68-66 win. This was not without tension in the final seconds as the Bearcats missed a shot to tie with fewer than four ticks left.

We continued our home stand….and our heart stopping down to the wire victories against our old rival NMSU. Tristan Thompson and Collin Dennis both put up 20+ points. After jumping on top early, the game was close throughout most of the way. However NT never relinquished its lead and used a fantastic defensive stop in the closing seconds to hold on for 85-83 win. This was the beginning of Eric Tramiel starting to take over from George Odufuwa as our go to guy in the paint as not only did he put up 16, he led the team in boards. Soon he would prove to be our most consistent performer.

Our last game before starting the Sunbelt season was Houston Baptist. North Texas seized control early, eventually pushing the lead to fifteen - midway thru the 2nd half. The Huskies fought back, eventually pulling to within 5, but we prevailed 88-76. Johnson led the squad with 20, and Collin Mangrum saw his first action since our conference tournament champion team.

Our record now stood at 7-2 as we were about to jump feet first into Sunbelt play. Some of our new players were really coming into their own, but we still seemed to be figuring things out. A wakeup call about how good we were was quickly approaching.