North Texas and Sam Houston State have quietly been building two of the top college basketball programs in Texas just hours apart from each other the last few years.

Johnny Jones

Johnny Jones and the Mean Green have won 20 games in back-to-back seasons, while Bob Marlin has led the Bearkats to the 20-win mark in three straight years.

They will meet for the first time since 1996 tonight in the first game of a home-and-home series in Huntsville that Jones hopes will develop into a rivalry.

“They are a very solid team and program that has been able to protect its home floor over the years and finish at the top of their conference,” Jones said. “It’s good for us. We enjoy creating and playing rivals. It’s good for our fan base and good for our players.”

UNT (1-1) and Sam Houston (1-1) played on a regular basis while they were members of the Southland Confer-ence from 1987-96. The Mean Green leads the series 12-6 and could rekindle the rivalry by mounting a challenge to break one of the more impressive winning streaks in college basketball.

The Bearkats have won 45 straight nonconference home games at Johnson Coliseum, a run that dates back to a loss to Texas A&M in the 1998-99 season. Only Duke, which has won 58 straight nonconference games at Cameron Indoor Stadium, has a longer streak.

“We are looking forward to the challenge of facing them,” UNT sophomore forward George Odufuwa said. “We look forward to the challenges we face every night.”

UNT might face that challenge without its leading scorer, sophomore guard Josh White, at full strength. White was knocked to the floor late in the Mean Green’s loss to Oklahoma State on Monday and had his hand heavily taped after going through part of the Mean Green’s Wednesday practice.

Jones said he will know more about White’s status today but expects him to play. White is averaging 17.5 points a game to lead the Mean Green.

While White’s status will go a long way toward determining if UNT can break Sam Houston’s home court winning streak, it will be the Mean Green’s defense that could be the deciding factor.

OSU raced past UNT 100-88, marking the first time the Mean Green has given up 100 points since falling to Western Kentucky 100-76 on Feb. 16, 2002, in the first season on the Jones era.

“We did some really good things at times and played well in stretches,” Jones said. “At the same time, we looked like it was the early part of the season and we had a new group of guys. We were not in synch at times. That is something that is going to have to come. The only way we are going to get it is through practices and games.”

UNT will play one of those games tonight in what could be one of the toughest places to play in Texas.

UNT lands Whitehouse forward

UNT added a little size to its frontcourt of the future on Wednesday.

Jacob Holmen, a 6-8 power forward from Whitehouse, signed a national letter of intent to play for the Mean Green during the early signing period. Holeman will be a part of the Mean Green’s 2009 recruiting class.

Holmen was the District 11-4A Defensive Player of the Year last season when he averaged 17 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots a game.

“Jacob has tremendous upside and comes from a tremendous program,” UNT head coach Johnny Jones said. “He has the ability to play inside and out and at 6-8 is still growing.”

Texashoops.com ranks Holmen No. 48 in its list of the top 100 prospects in the state in the Class of 2009.

Holmen is the second player to sign with UNT during early period. The Mean Green picked up Paris Junior College shooting guard Shannon Shorter earlier this week.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com .