When Roger Franklin looks back on North Texas? season thus far, it?s the missed opportunities that bother him the most.
The half-court heave that fell at the buzzer for Arkansas State, two-point losses to Louisiana-Lafayette and Middle Tennessee, a three-point loss to Arkansas-Little Rock, and especially last week?s double-overtime loss to Florida Atlantic made him come to a conclusion.
?We know that we are a great team, but we have to close games,? Franklin said. ?We didn?t do that against Florida Atlantic, Middle Tennessee, Arkansas-Little Rock and especially against Arkansas State. We are losing by two to five points in games that are coming down to the last shot.?
Those losses have overshadowed a few games that UNT has closed out down the stretch, including overtime wins over South Alabama and Denver. Alzee Williams tipped in a missed shot at the buzzer to give UNT the win over the Pioneers.
UNT (14-11, 7-5 Sun Belt) would like to be a little more consistent as it heads into the final weeks of the season and the conference tournament.
UNT?s next opportunity to fine-tune its late-game form will come tonight when it hosts Louisiana-Monroe.
ULM (2-23, 1-13) doesn?t appear as though it will pose much of a threat. The Mean Green beat the Warhawks handily in Monroe earlier this year, 68-55.
ULM has lost eight straight games, although the Warhawks nearly knocked off South Alabama before falling 88-86 on Saturday.
?They are a dangerous team and are going to play extremely hard,? UNT head coach Johnny Jones said. ?They are very tough and have played in a lot of close games this year. Teams always have something to play for.?
UNT is playing for a chance to get back on track after letting its game against FAU slip away. The Mean Green led by 19 in the second half before the Owls rallied.
UNT had a chance to close out FAU but gave up two offensive rebounds on the Owls? final possession of regulation.
Those rebounds allowed FAU to get three looks at a game-tying 3-pointer. Alex Tucker hit the third of those attempts.
UNT had chances to win the game at the end of regulation and the first overtime but failed to convert.
FAU capitalized in the second overtime by hitting a pair of key 3-pointers and pulled away for the 86-81 win.
?We have to bounce back,? Jones said. ?We don?t have a choice. That?s basketball. You are going to have some setbacks. The type of team that you are is determined by how you bounce back. That?s what we will do. We will be ready.?
Tony Mitchell posted just the eighth 20-20 game in Division I this year with 22 points and 21 rebounds against FAU and heads into today?s game averaging 16.1 points and 10.4 rebounds a game.
Senior guard Fred Brown leads ULM with an average of 12.3 points a game.
UNT?s game against ULM will be the first in a two-game stretch to close out the Mean Green?s home schedule. UNT will host Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday before hitting the road for games against UALR and Denver to close out the regular season.
?We made a lot of little mistakes against FAU that hurt us,? Franklin said. ?But like coach Jones said, we have to learn from every experience. We have two home games coming up. This will give us confidence going to Arkansas-Little Rock and to Denver. We have to prepare and get ready.?
The half-court heave that fell at the buzzer for Arkansas State, two-point losses to Louisiana-Lafayette and Middle Tennessee, a three-point loss to Arkansas-Little Rock, and especially last week?s double-overtime loss to Florida Atlantic made him come to a conclusion.
?We know that we are a great team, but we have to close games,? Franklin said. ?We didn?t do that against Florida Atlantic, Middle Tennessee, Arkansas-Little Rock and especially against Arkansas State. We are losing by two to five points in games that are coming down to the last shot.?
Those losses have overshadowed a few games that UNT has closed out down the stretch, including overtime wins over South Alabama and Denver. Alzee Williams tipped in a missed shot at the buzzer to give UNT the win over the Pioneers.
UNT (14-11, 7-5 Sun Belt) would like to be a little more consistent as it heads into the final weeks of the season and the conference tournament.
UNT?s next opportunity to fine-tune its late-game form will come tonight when it hosts Louisiana-Monroe.
ULM (2-23, 1-13) doesn?t appear as though it will pose much of a threat. The Mean Green beat the Warhawks handily in Monroe earlier this year, 68-55.
ULM has lost eight straight games, although the Warhawks nearly knocked off South Alabama before falling 88-86 on Saturday.
?They are a dangerous team and are going to play extremely hard,? UNT head coach Johnny Jones said. ?They are very tough and have played in a lot of close games this year. Teams always have something to play for.?
UNT is playing for a chance to get back on track after letting its game against FAU slip away. The Mean Green led by 19 in the second half before the Owls rallied.
UNT had a chance to close out FAU but gave up two offensive rebounds on the Owls? final possession of regulation.
Those rebounds allowed FAU to get three looks at a game-tying 3-pointer. Alex Tucker hit the third of those attempts.
UNT had chances to win the game at the end of regulation and the first overtime but failed to convert.
FAU capitalized in the second overtime by hitting a pair of key 3-pointers and pulled away for the 86-81 win.
?We have to bounce back,? Jones said. ?We don?t have a choice. That?s basketball. You are going to have some setbacks. The type of team that you are is determined by how you bounce back. That?s what we will do. We will be ready.?
Tony Mitchell posted just the eighth 20-20 game in Division I this year with 22 points and 21 rebounds against FAU and heads into today?s game averaging 16.1 points and 10.4 rebounds a game.
Senior guard Fred Brown leads ULM with an average of 12.3 points a game.
UNT?s game against ULM will be the first in a two-game stretch to close out the Mean Green?s home schedule. UNT will host Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday before hitting the road for games against UALR and Denver to close out the regular season.
?We made a lot of little mistakes against FAU that hurt us,? Franklin said. ?But like coach Jones said, we have to learn from every experience. We have two home games coming up. This will give us confidence going to Arkansas-Little Rock and to Denver. We have to prepare and get ready.?
