Hmmmm. UNT gettin' some respect
North Texas Team Report
Yahoo! Sports
GETTING INSIDE
North Texas, despite its status as a No. 15 seed in just its third-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, might actually have two things in its favor in postseason play.
Few teams, including the No. 2 seed in the West Region, Kansas State, can match UNT’s combination of size, strength and experience inside, and the Mean Green’s across-the-board balance on offense could present a challenge to opponents defending them for the first time.
North Texas (24-8) faces ninth-ranked Kansas State (26-7) in first-round action in Oklahoma City on Thursday. The winner will play either BYU or Florida in a second-round contest on Saturday.
UNT must contend with the backcourt tandem of Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente, whom Kansas coach Bill Self says are as good as any guards in the Big 12. The Wildcats face a North Texas team with four starters, guard Josh White, forwards Tristan Thompson and Eric Tramiel and center George Odufuwa, who score between 11.5 and 14.9 points per night.
The lone UNT starter who does not average double figures in scoring, junior Shannon Shorter, is backed up by the Mean Green’s best shooter off the bench, junior Collin Mangrum. Shorter is considered UNT’s best man defender.
Any of its top four can, and have, led North Texas in scoring on a given night. White and Tramiel have led the team in scoring nine times this season, while Thompson has been the top scorer in eight games.
White (14.9 points per game) and Thompson (14.1) are the club’s top perimeter threats with exactly 57 3-pointers apiece. Odufuwa (11.5 ppg), meanwhile, is a double-double machine, with 14 so far this season. He ranks first in the Sun Belt Conference, and 14th in the country, with 10.4 rebounds per game.
Tramiel (14.1 ppg) has to hope his fine play in three Sun Belt Conference tournament games carries over into the NCAA Tournament. The only senior in the North Texas starting lineup, Tramiel has averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds in his last three games.
One of the hottest teams in the country, North Texas has to hope its momentum from an 11-game winning streak can carry over into the NCAA Tournament. It will need it against a Kansas State team rated sixth in the latest RPI rankings.
A No. 15 seed has only defeated a No. 2 seed in the first round four times out of 100 meetings since the tournament’s current format was adopted in 1985.
NOTES, QUOTES
• This is the third NCAA Tournament berth and the second in four years for North Texas. The Mean Green also won the Sun Belt Conference tournament in 2007.
• North Texas, which won its first Sun Belt Division title this season, has won 20 or more games four years in a row, the longest such stretch in the history of the program.
• Junior reserve Collin Mangrum is the only holdover from the 2007 club that lost in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
COACH: Johnny Jones, ninth season, two NCAA appearances.
How They Got Here: North Texas has a school-record 24 wins and enters NCAA Tournament play as one of the hottest teams in the country. The Mean Green will carry an 11-game winning streak into its meeting with ninth-ranked Kansas State, a streak that includes the last eight games of the regular season and three Sun Belt Conference tournament games. North Texas is playing its best defense of the season, allowing just 62.6 points in its last five contests. UNT often has a physical edge on opponents inside, with the Sun Belt’s top rebounder, 6-foot-9, 240-pound junior George Odufuwa, and 6-8, 230-pound senior Eric Tramiel manning the post.
Keys To Victory: North Texas plays a physical brand of man defense, but it proved it could be effective playing zone in the Sun Belt Conference finals against Troy. Troy failed to adjust quickly enough against the Mean Green’s 2-3 zone defense and missed 11 of its first 12 shots in falling behind in the second half. North Texas may need a more complex defensive mix to deal with Kansas State stars Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente, who combine for over five 3-pointers and 35 points per game and present a major challenge for any team defensively. North Texas guards Josh White and Shannon Shorter will need help defensively, including strong backing inside from George Odufuwa, the 14th-best rebounder in the country, and Eric Tramiel.
Quote To Note: “It feels like it’s been a long time. I remember it vividly now, though. It’s all coming back to me with this celebration, and all the memories are flooding back now. It’s good to be back, and this time we’re looking to make some noise in the tournament.”—Junior Collin Mangrum, a seldom-used reserve in 2007, and the only holdover from the last North Texas team to reach the NCAA Tournament.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Scouting Report: North Texas is respected for its half-court defense, but teams with good guard play have had some success with dribble penetration against the Mean Green, and ninth-ranked Kansas State has two outstanding guards in Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente. The Mean Green counter with a smart, tough lead guard in 5-foot-8 junior Josh White and its best defender in two-guard Shannon Shorter. North Texas may have a slight edge in terms of experience and bulk inside, but the battle between Kansas State’s top rebounder, 6-foot-8, 239-pound UConn transfer Curtis Kelly, and the Mean Green’s George Odufuwa, a 6-9, 240-pound junior who averages a double-double for the season, could be a good one. The Wildcats seem to have a slightly deeper bench.
Roster Report
• Eric Tramiel has averaged 17.4 points, some five points per contest over his career average, and 7.3 rebounds, one better than his career mark, in 14 games as a starter, since returning from a midseason wrist injury.
• The early-season loss of PG Dominique Johnson to a season-ending knee injury and the late-season loss of Richard Thomas, who left the team in February and has now elected to transfer at the end of the current semester, leaves North Texas with little depth in the backcourt.
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