FAU vs NT Game Preview
By: Rick Henderson
from: http://www.FAUowlsnest.com




What: Florida Atlantic (16-7, 8-1) vs North Texas (16-6, 5-4)

When: Thursday, Feb. 3rd @ 8:00 PM EST

Where: Super Pit

TV: None

Live Video: UNT Pay Per View

Internet Broadcast: Here

Live Stats: Here

UNT Team Site: Here


Probable Starters:

FAU

G Ray Taylor 12.1 ppg
G Greg Gantt 14.5 ppg
G Pablo Bertone 3.0 ppg
F Kore White 9.3 ppg
F Brett Royster 8.0 ppg

UNT

G Josh White 14.4 ppg
G Tristan Thompson 17.8 ppg
G Shannon Shorter 6.2 ppg
F Kedrick Hogans 8.7 ppg
F George Odufuwa 11.4 ppg


The series

North Texas owns a 4-1 advantage over FAU in the all-time series which began during the 2006-07 season. Last time out, the Mean Green racked up 45 first half points en route to an 86-69 win in Denton. Florida Atlantic shot just 15.4% (2-of-13) from three point land for the contest, and was led by Greg Gantt's 18 points.


FAU at a Glance

The Owls saw their eight game win streak come to an end last Saturday, falling to Western Kentucky 57-53 before a season high crowd at FAU Arena. Florida Atlantic tossed up only eight free throws for the night, while connecting on just three of them. This was a season low and likely a key difference in the game in hindsight. Brett Royster posted his third straight double digit performance with 14 points.

However, Royster's front court counterpart Kore White has seen his productivity slip to just six points total in the last two games since posting a career high 22 against UALR back on January 22nd. White has begun to face some double teams with defenses keying in on him, but Coach Mike Jarvis is still confident in his sophomore's ability.

"He is here so he can grow into his potential. It is a process. He is capable of double-double every night. There might be a time when we say he had an off night when he as 12 points and 10 rebounds", said Jarvis.

Now in the final stretch of conference play, FAU will have back to back weeks with Thursday games being on the road, and Saturday games at home. That obviously makes for some inconsistency, but Jarvis feels the team is up for the challenge.

"We have no choice, that is the medicine that has been prescribed for us", Jarvis said. "As tough as that might appear it is not as tough as the December schedule we had, when we were gone for 13 days and played five games."

The Owls have never won at the Super Pit, in a series that heavily favors UNT as the home squad. The Owls lone win was at home.

"Denton's a very difficult place to go and play. I don't think it's so much that we we don't play well there, they just play better than most teams there." "We're pretty good on the road...so I think it's going to make for a great game", said Jarvis of Thursday's tilt.

Florida Atlantic's 65.4 points allowed per game is second to only Denver amongst league teams.


UNT at a Glance

After winning the Sun Belt and making an NCAA tournament last season, the Mean Green were selected as western division favorite in the Sun Belt pre-season coaches poll. So far, they haven't quite lived up to expectations to that at 5-4 in league play.

However they do have two quality non-conference wins in LSU and Texas Tech.

Most recently, UNT dropped their second straight game in a road match-up against Denver, snapping a five game win streak over the Pioneers. The Mean Green had no answer for DU's 12 three pointers.

"I think that Denver did a great job of shooting the basketball. We didn't do a great job of containing them, and credit them, they fed off of it," said head coach Johnny Jones.

George Odufuwa's 14 points and 11 rebounds led UNT, while marking his 27th all time double-double.

The Mean Green are first in the Sun Belt in points per contest (79.3), scoring margin (+6.1 ppg), and free throw percentage (74.6), and field goal percentage (49.1). Josh White (85.0) leads five NT players that shoot over 80 percent from the stripe.

The average margin of defeat in NT’s four wins over Florida Atlantic at the Super Pit is 12.3 points per game.


Latest Line:

UNT -4


Owl's Nest Prediction

North Texas will undoubtedly challenge the Owls defense on Thursday with advantages in FG%, 3PT%, FT%, and RPG.

The Owls can minimize a portion if the Mean Green's high octane offense by limiting fouls. Jarvis says they have plans to try and do just that - especially with Royster, who will be needed for the entire contest and not just a portion of it.

Secondly, FAU has not shot the ball well from long range lately, and could benefit strongly with a well timed showing at the Super Pit.

Regardless, have to be objective in this one. On paper it is very hard to argue the road trend in Denton changing.

UNT -4

and some love from ESPN, just not enough love to put the game on the deuce!

Thursday: Florida Atlantic at North Texas -- The Owls are legit and can really prove it with a victory at North Texas. The Mean Green have the dynamic Tristan Thompson to lean on. The Owls are led by Greg Gantt , who can score (14.5 ppg). I love the assist tandem of Alex Tucker and Raymond Taylor, who both average more than four assists per game. Let's give coach Mike Jarvis some credit: He has put FAU on the college basketball map.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=6076265

(02-03-2011 08:51 AM)NCowl Wrote:  and some love from ESPN, just not enough love to put the game on the deuce!

Thursday: Florida Atlantic at North Texas -- The Owls are legit and can really prove it with a victory at North Texas. The Mean Green have the dynamic Tristan Thompson to lean on. The Owls are led by Greg Gantt , who can score (14.5 ppg). I love the assist tandem of Alex Tucker and Raymond Taylor, who both average more than four assists per game. Let's give coach Mike Jarvis some credit: He has put FAU on the college basketball map.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=6076265

Two thoughts:
- UNTs defense ranges from terrible to fair. From here, FAUs D appears to be more consistent. Which UNT defense shows up tonight could be the difference.
- Those season ticket holders who do not live in Denton may not be able to get there due to icy roads. I live in Dallas and can't even get out of my neighborhood. The walkup crowd could well be nil. Unless the students show in sub-20 degree weather the home court advantage will be diluted.

i'm pulling for the mean green.....in spite of the fact that i still don't have the 'green hoodie' i was promised by a unt fan.

sorry fau fans....ya'll need a few more losses. honestly not hatin'.

Well, I'd rather take a couple losses now than in the tournament, nothing hurts worse than going undefeated in regular season then lose that 1 tournament game so quickly it is over.

Should be a good game... but GO OWLS!!!

(02-03-2011 01:07 PM)NCowl Wrote:  Well, I'd rather take a couple losses now than in the tournament, nothing hurts worse than going undefeated in regular season then lose that 1 tournament game so quickly it is over.
Should be a good game... but GO OWLS!!!

you know this how???

I really want to go to this game, but the roads are iced over in my neighborhood. I haven't left this house since Monday. The weather isn't bad, but it is very cold and iced over here in Denton. I hope the roads get better by tonight or I'll be listening to this one on the radio.

Go Mean Green!

(02-03-2011 01:55 PM)dahbeed Wrote:  

(02-03-2011 01:07 PM)NCowl Wrote:  Well, I'd rather take a couple losses now than in the tournament, nothing hurts worse than going undefeated in regular season then lose that 1 tournament game so quickly it is over.
Should be a good game... but GO OWLS!!!

you know this how???

Ouch!

NT sucked tonight and FAU pulled off a 14-0 run to end the game and win by 17....were not nearly as good as we were last season and will be lucky to be a top 4 seed in the SBC Tourny....depressing night to say the least....

We have a week to regroup before we play a very salty UALR team (one we've always struggled to beat on the road). We're gonna need to get it turned around, or we're gonna limp to the finish.

Great game by FAU. The class of the league right now, no question.

Attendance was 4352 even though the road conditions to get to the game were terrible...that is nearly twice as many as FAU's arena seats at capacity. That makes me feel a little better. I really hope we play FAU in the SBC tourney though. I want another crack at them.

(02-03-2011 11:34 PM)Mean Green Matt Wrote:  Attendance was 4352 even though the road conditions to get to the game were terrible...that is nearly twice as many as FAU's arena seats at capacity. That makes me feel a little better. I really hope we play FAU in the SBC tourney though. I want another crack at them.

I do too, only because it means we will have won a game. We're 4th in the West right now. :muttering:

How does the fact that FAU's arena is small make you feel better about a 17 point loss?? I watched the game online (thanks UNT, the free broadcast was awesome) and there was no way there was over 4000 people in that building, but I know conditions in the area were awful.

(02-04-2011 05:20 AM)fauowls561 Wrote:  How does the fact that FAU's arena is small make you feel better about a 17 point loss?? I watched the game online (thanks UNT, the free broadcast was awesome) and there was no way there was over 4000 people in that building, but I know conditions in the area were awful.

Well, first off the game was much closer than the final score indicates. FAU ended on a 14-0 run after our team just quit. I'm sure you know that. And yes, it makes me feel better that at the end of the day we don't play in one of the smallest (nice word) basketball facilities in the country. That is just me being honest and has nothing to do with what happens in the court. That does not mean I'm not upset about the loss. We made you guys look like all-stars tonight, but congrats on the win, FAU made our mistakes cost us, and we couldn't do the same. The little guy (I think Taylor?) is also a great player.

Ray Ray is great. He's so small but the kid has talent and a knack for the ball in all its forms.

Hoping for a sellout on Saturday. The WKU game had 2743 (Pretty close to capacity) and this is FIU which is built up as our rivalry game so I would expect to see it.

FAU is a proven winner now and were finally seeing the casual fan jumping on the bandwagon.

(02-03-2011 01:55 PM)dahbeed Wrote:  

(02-03-2011 01:07 PM)NCowl Wrote:  Well, I'd rather take a couple losses now than in the tournament, nothing hurts worse than going undefeated in regular season then lose that 1 tournament game so quickly it is over.
Should be a good game... but GO OWLS!!!

you know this how???

+1 because I was not drinking as I read this!

(02-04-2011 06:20 AM)Mean Green Matt Wrote:  

(02-04-2011 05:20 AM)fauowls561 Wrote:  How does the fact that FAU's arena is small make you feel better about a 17 point loss?? I watched the game online (thanks UNT, the free broadcast was awesome) and there was no way there was over 4000 people in that building, but I know conditions in the area were awful.

Well, first off the game was much closer than the final score indicates. FAU ended on a 14-0 run after our team just quit. I'm sure you know that. And yes, it makes me feel better that at the end of the day we don't play in one of the smallest (nice word) basketball facilities in the country. That is just me being honest and has nothing to do with what happens in the court. That does not mean I'm not upset about the loss. We made you guys look like all-stars tonight, but congrats on the win, FAU made our mistakes cost us, and we couldn't do the same. The little guy (I think Taylor?) is also a great player.

I still don't understand your point. FAU's building is small, but was recently renovated and is actually pretty nice despite the small capacity. I'll be the first to admit it was embarrassing prior to the renovations and was a sad place to watch a game, but now (especially because people are starting to show up) is a cool place to watch a game.

The game was much closer than the final score indicates, although the Owls led pretty much the entire way.

(02-04-2011 10:30 AM)fauowls561 Wrote:  I still don't understand your point. FAU's building is small, but was recently renovated and is actually pretty nice despite the small capacity. I'll be the first to admit it was embarrassing prior to the renovations and was a sad place to watch a game, but now (especially because people are starting to show up) is a cool place to watch a game.

The game was much closer than the final score indicates, although the Owls led pretty much the entire way.

I clearly stated that my point about the arena/attendance had nothing to do with what happened on the court. It was just a point about the program of UNT and FAU as a whole, that makes me personally feel a little better about the loss. I'll admit that my point about the arena was part bitter, and part realistic, and it was more about the attendance than the arena itself. I certainly did not mean to start a facilities debate. Heck, maybe FAU got pumped up playing in front of so many people...Either way, they won the game. You guys have a good basketball team. I would LOVE to meet again in the SBC tournament though.

(02-04-2011 11:05 AM)Mean Green Matt Wrote:  

(02-04-2011 10:30 AM)fauowls561 Wrote:  I still don't understand your point. FAU's building is small, but was recently renovated and is actually pretty nice despite the small capacity. I'll be the first to admit it was embarrassing prior to the renovations and was a sad place to watch a game, but now (especially because people are starting to show up) is a cool place to watch a game.

The game was much closer than the final score indicates, although the Owls led pretty much the entire way.

I clearly stated that my point about the arena/attendance had nothing to do with what happened on the court. It was just a point about the program of UNT and FAU as a whole, that makes me personally feel a little better about the loss. I'll admit that my point about the arena was part bitter, and part realistic, and it was more about the attendance than the arena itself. I certainly did not mean to start a facilities debate. Heck, maybe FAU got pumped up playing in front of so many people...Either way, they won the game. You guys have a good basketball team. I would LOVE to meet again in the SBC tournament though.

don't feel bad matt.....just thank heyzeus you didn't call it a 'scrub' arena in the midst of your bitterness and realisticness.

(02-04-2011 11:43 AM)dahbeed Wrote:  

(02-04-2011 11:05 AM)Mean Green Matt Wrote:  

(02-04-2011 10:30 AM)fauowls561 Wrote:  I still don't understand your point. FAU's building is small, but was recently renovated and is actually pretty nice despite the small capacity. I'll be the first to admit it was embarrassing prior to the renovations and was a sad place to watch a game, but now (especially because people are starting to show up) is a cool place to watch a game.

The game was much closer than the final score indicates, although the Owls led pretty much the entire way.

I clearly stated that my point about the arena/attendance had nothing to do with what happened on the court. It was just a point about the program of UNT and FAU as a whole, that makes me personally feel a little better about the loss. I'll admit that my point about the arena was part bitter, and part realistic, and it was more about the attendance than the arena itself. I certainly did not mean to start a facilities debate. Heck, maybe FAU got pumped up playing in front of so many people...Either way, they won the game. You guys have a good basketball team. I would LOVE to meet again in the SBC tournament though.

don't feel bad matt.....just thank heyzeus you didn't call it a 'scrub' arena in the midst of your bitterness and realisticness.

I don't want a facilities debate either, FAU clearly needs better facilities....aside from the new football stadium. But if we lose to ULM or whoever next season in football, it won't make me feel any better because we have a cool new football stadium. Whatever, last night was a good game for the most part...good luck the rest of the way.