|
North Texas (5-6, 0-1 SBC) vs. Lehigh (8-2, 0-0 Patriot
League)
Dec. 20, 2012 • 7:00 p.m.
Denton, Texas • The Super Pit (10,500)
Radio: MGRN - 88.1 KNTU-FM, 95.3 KHYI-FM
TV: None • Webcast: MeanGreenSports.com
Series: First Meeting
Last Meeting: First Meeting
GAME NOTES
DENTON, Texas – Nearly 60 NBA scouts will be at the Super
Pit on Thursday night to watch a battle of Preseason All-Americans in North
Texas’ Tony Mitchell and Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum
Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m., and all of the action can be
heard on the Mean Green Radio Network. A Mean Green "Secret Santa" has purchased 3,000 tickets to be given away free to the first takers at the following link.
The nation’s leading scorer at 24.9 points per game,
McCollum is shooting 50.9 percent from the floor this year, and has hit
27-of-52 (51.9 percent) from deep. With 2,323 career points, the senior is on
the cusp of becoming the 64th player in NCAA history to eclipse the 2,500 point
plateau.
McCollum’s legacy was cemented in the second round of the
2012 NCAA Tournament, when he led No. 15 Lehigh to an improbable 75-70 win over
No. 2 Duke with a 30 point outburst. The victory was the program’s first in the
NCAA Tournament.
Lehigh is riding a seven game win streak into Denton. The
Mountain Hawks haven’t lost since a 78-53 decision at Pitt in the NIT Season
Tip-Off back on Nov. 13. This will be Lehigh’s second trip to the Lone Star
State this season after dropping a 99-77 game at No. 19/18 Baylor.
NT played outstanding defense in the win over SELA, holding
the Lions to 40 points and 25.0 percent shooting. The combined 85 points are
the lowest in the Super Pit era (1973) and NT’s 45 points are the fewest in a
victory since it beat Air Force 37-36 in 1963. The last time NT held an
opponent to less than 25 percent shooting was on Feb. 11, 2010 when it held New
Orleans to 23.0 percent.
North Texas tallied just five turnovers against Jackson
State and eight versus SELA. The last time NT had single digit turnovers in
back-to-back games was in Feb. of 1994: 9 vs. UT San Antonio, 5 vs. Texas
State. NT ranks second in the Sun Belt and 60th in the nation in turnovers with
12.4 per game.
|
