BURN THE HORSE
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| North Texas at UALR 7 p.m. Thursday Jack Stephens Center |
With good reason, North Texas’ Tony Mitchell has drawn a lot
of attention this season. And the NBA prospect has pretty much lived up to the
hype.
In Sun Belt play, he leads the league in scoring (16.6
points), rebounding (11.4 rebounds), blocked shots (3.3 blocks) and even
three-point field goal percentage (50 percent).
He could be the Sun Belt’s player of the year with only
Middle Tennessee’s LaRon Dendy appearing to have a shot to steal the award. The
votes will be cast after Sunday's North Texas-Denver game.
A gaggle of NBA scouts will be on hand on Thursday night as
Mitchell and North Texas take on UALR at 7 p.m. at the Jack Stephens Center.
UALR’s goal, just like every Sun Belt team, has to be to limit the minutes
Mitchell plays. Typically, when Mitchell’s minutes go down, North Texas isn’t
as successful.
Obviously, anything can happen. Mitchell did manage to play
46 minutes in a double overtime game at Florida Atlantic that the Mean Green
lost. But, for the most part, getting Mitchell out of the game is a path to
success for opponents.
In North Texas’ eight Sun Belt victories, Mitchell has had
an average of 2.38 fouls and has played an average of 33.1 minutes.
In North Texas’ six Sun Belt losses, Mitchell has had an
average of 3.83 fouls and played an average of 26.3 minutes. And if you take
away the 46 minute, three-foul performance at FAU, Mitchell averages 4.0 fouls
and 22.4 minutes in North Texas victories.
Two prime examples were UALR’s victory early in the season
and Louisiana-Lafayette’s victory last Saturday. Against UALR, Mitchell fouled
out and played only 13 minutes. Against ULL, Mitchell had 4 fouls and played
only 26 minutes.
