North Texas had chance after chance to hit a shot in the closing moments that might have changed the outcome of its showdown with Middle Tennessee on Thursday at the Super Pit.
None of them would fall.
Not a Tony Mitchell 3-pointer. Not a short jumper from Alzee Williams. Not a tip by Niko Stojiljkovic.
Those misses came back to haunt UNT, which had every opportunity to complete a comeback from 15 points down in the second half, only to see the Blue Raiders eke out a 68-66 win and remain unbeaten in Sun Belt Conference play.
"We had a couple of tip opportunities and a couple of looks that didn't go down," UNT head coach Johnny Jones said. "Those are high-percentage shots and high-percentage guys taking them. That is what you look for. We were not able to close the way we needed to."
UNT (13-10, 6-4) came into the night having won seven of its last nine and could have significantly helped its chances of winning the Sun Belt West Division title by knocking off MTSU.
The Blue Raiders (21-3) came in at 10-0 in Sun Belt play and were looking to bounce back from a loss to Vanderbilt.
"It was real tough," Williams said. "We fought back and were right there at the end."
UNT just needed to hit a few more shots.
Mitchell had a look at a 3-pointer with just under two minutes to go that would have given UNT the lead, but saw it bounce away.
The Mean Green's best chance to take the lead came after Jones called a timeout with 48.4 seconds left.
Williams' short jumper didn't fall and neither did two tip chances.
All of those opportunities came after UNT fell behind 51-36 early in the second half. The Mean Green rallied behind Williams and Mitchell, who played just 11 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble.
Williams finished with a career-high 29 points while Mitchell added 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots.
"Al was the reason we were still in the game," Jones said. "There was a stretch there where he was giving us the offensive push and power that we needed."
Marcos Knight led MTSU with 19 points.
Mitchell credited UNT's comeback largely to its performance on the defensive end. The fact that he scored 12 points and had seven rebounds in the second half didn't hurt either.
"I tried to get myself going," Mitchell said.
Early on it appeared as if UNT would run away from MTSU. The Mean Green led 20-11 after Williams converted a three-point play.
MTSU answered with a 14-0 run that turned the first half so that it didn't end well for UNT. Mitchell picked up two quick fouls and only played 11 minutes in the half, which ended up with MTSU leading 36-26.
"We didn't execute for a while in the first half and had a dry spell," Jones said.
Williams helped fill the void offensively with Mitchell on the bench and kept UNT in the game by scoring 12 points before the break.
Mitchell came back after halftime and gave the Mean Green the spark it needed to rally.
"Tony was well-rested in the second half and gave us a great effort," Jones said. "We played much better in the second half and gave a complete 20 minutes."
For a while it appeared as if that would be enough. UNT just couldn't get the shots it needed to fall in the closing seconds.
"We had some good looks," Williams said. "They just didn't go in."
BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com .
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 68, NORTH TEXAS 66
MIDDLE TENNESSEE (21-3, 10-0) - Dendy 5-10 2-4 12, Sulton 3-5 0-0 6, Massey 0-4 0-0 0, Knight 8-15 3-4 19, Cintron 4-7 0-0 10, Gallman 0-2 0-0 0, Jones 4-5 1-3 9, Oden 1-2 0-0 3, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Hammonds 3-6 2-3 9. Totals 28-56 8-14 68.
NORTH TEXAS (13-10, 6-4) - Mitchell 4-11 7-8 16, Franklin 1-7 0-0 2, Walton 3-9 1-3 9, Williams 10-19 9-11 29, Hall 1-3 0-0 3, Holmen 0-2 0-0 0, Norris 1-2 0-0 2, Hogans 0-0 0-0 0, Stojiljkovic 2-2 1-2 5, Edwards 0-0 0-0 0. Totasl 22-55 18-24 66.
Halftime - MTSU 36-26. 3-point goals - MTSU 4-12 (Knight 0-1, Cintron 2-5, Gallman 0-2, Oden 1-1, Hammonds 1-3), UNT 4-12 (Mitchell 1-4, Walton 2-4, Hall 1-3, Holmen 0-1). Fouled out - none. Rebounds - MTSU 35 (Knight 7), UNT 32 (Mitchell 11). Assists - MTSU 11 (Massey, Hammonds 3). UNT 8 (Norris 3). Total fouls - MTSU 22, UNT 17. A - 5510.
