 |
| 69 81 |
UALR drops to 8-7 on the season and 0-1 in Sun Belt Conference play. North Texas, the preseason pick to win the conference championship, is now 12-2 and 1-0.
UALR rallied from an early 11-point deficit to get to within 23-20 after consecutive three-pointers by senior Solomon Bozeman. But North Texas went on a big run from there, extending the lead to 35-20 before a dunk by senior Montrell Thornton. The Mean Green led 43-26 at halftime.
UALR made an adjustment at the half, using a smaller lineup and zone defense. It worked for a while as the Trojans went on a 13-3 run. But North Texas made shots to get UALR out of the zone and rolled to what turned out to be an easy victory.
"I thought our guys showed some resiliency in the second half. Unfortunately, that's not when the game was lost," UALR Coach Steve Shields said.
Bozeman led UALR with 23 points, making 6 of 11 field goals, 3 of 4 three-pointers and 8 of 9 free throws. Junior Courtney Jackson added 16 points. Both tied their career highs.
D’Andre Williams had 10 points and Alex Garcia-Mendoza had 8.
Josh White led North Texas with 19 points.
UALR shot 44 percent, but allowed the Mean Green to shoot 60 percent. It marks the fifth consecutive game North Texas has shot at least 50 percent. The Mean Green also held a 34-29 advantage in rebounds and made 21 of 31 free throws to UALR’s 13 of 19.
"We couldn't get beat on the glass tonight. And every loss we've had this year we've given up 50 percent from the floor. There's no big secrets to us," Shields said.
UALR plays at Denver on Sunday afternoon.
