Troy University Athletics
North Texas Has Just Enough Against Troy, 84-77
1/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Basketball (M)
Official Game Statistics
Troy vs. North Texas Game Notes
DENTON, Texas - North Texas shot 46.8 percent from the field and dominated the boards with a 50-33 advantage to post an 84-77 Sun Belt Conference victory over Troy Thursday night at the Super Pit. Bobby Dixon scored 28 points to lead the Trojans, who had a three-game winning streak snapped in falling to 10-8 overall and 3-3 in league play.
Todd Martin topped double figures for the first time with 12 points on four three-pointers, while Cedric Jackson added 10 points. Kendrick Davis led three Mean Green players in double figures with a career-high 27 points.
Troy fell behind by as many as 21 points early in the second half after North Texas (12-6, 5-2) turned a 46-33 lead at intermission into 51-33 and 55-34 with a 5-0 that extended to 9-1 by the 16:27 mark. The lead stayed in the upper-teens until back-to-back threes by Dixon and Martin cut the lead to 12, 68-56, with 7:28 remaining. The Trojans had a chance to close to within single-digits after a missed three, but Martin missed one of his own.
The next three times Troy trailed by 10, the Mean Green was able to answer with a basket or free throws on the next possession until Martin again struck from behind the arc. His three with 2:49 to play made the score 77-68, but five straight points including a banked three-pointer by Davis as the shot clock sounded, pushed the lead back to 14.
A Dixon layup and a steal and dunk by Sharp in a six-second span in the final minute put some spark in the Trojans, but they could never get closer than the final margin of seven points.
We played a good basketball team in North Texas,” said head coach Don Maestri. It was just one of those nights when we missed wide open jump shots and they hit a lot of threes. I expected a tough game on the boards because they can jump and they have good size.”
The first half was a case of hot shooting by the Mean Green. They hit nine of 18 three-pointers and 48.6 percent overall. With the score tied at 22 near the nine-minute mark, Calvin Watson hit one of his three first-half three-pointers to start a 5-0 run. After a jumper by Jarvis Acker, Watson hit another trey to start an 11-1 run that built the lead to 13, 38-25, with 3:45 remaining.
Acker and Martin hit three-pointers in the next minute to trim the margin to seven with 2:24 remaining, but North Texas outscored the Trojans 6-0 over the remaining time to rebuild a 13-point lead at the break. The halftime deficit was the first in five Sun Belt Conference games this season, while the 46 points allowed were the second-highest all year.
I thought Daryl (Davis), Todd and Jarvis played well off the bench,” Maestri added. We have to keep battling and keep fighting, not just in games, but all season. I was proud of the way we kept after them after falling behind more than 20 in the second half.”
Troy's three-game road trip continues Saturday night at Denver. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. (CST).
