North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 48, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 16, 2011 Page: 4 of 8
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Page 4
Sports
Wednesday, November 16,2011
Sean Gorman, Sports Editor
seangorman@my.unt.edu
N seeks second straight win against exas ech
Men's Basketball
Austin Schubert
Staff Writer
After posting an 81-52 win
against St. Gregory in its season
opener, the men's basketball
team will try to continue its
success tonight when it takes
on the Texas Tech Red Raiders
of the Big 12 Conference in
Lubbock.
This will be the first big test
for the team as it begins a
stretch of seven straight road
games.
"We're pretty excited for
this game," senior forward
Kedrick Hogans said. "This
will be good competition for
us. It's going to be a great envi-
ronment to play in."
The Red Raiders (1-0) took
down Sun Belt Conference
member Troy 90-85 Friday
night. Led by junior guard Ty
Nurse, Tech shot 61 percent
from the field.
The Mean Green will try to
"This game will be a
great challenge for us and
we ll get to see how
much we improved from
our last outing"
-Johnny Jones
Head men's basketball coach
slow down the Tech offense as
it did with St. Gregory. UNT
held the Cavaliers to 32 percent
shooting.
"Our main goals each
game are to defend our oppo-
nent well in the half court,
hold them to a low shooting
percentage, and limit them to
one shot," head coach Johnny
Jones said. "If we do that, it will
give us a good chance to win
the game."
Several newcomers played
key roles in the team's opening
win.
Freshman guard Jordan
Williams led the team with
16 points, and freshman guard
Chris Jones had 4 points, 12
rebounds, eight assists and four
steals.Though the newcomers
will face much stiffer competi-
tion in the Red Raiders, Jones
said they aren't fazed.
"We take every game the
same," Jones said. "Our atti-
tude is to play every game
hard and don't take plays off.
We need to come out with
energy, ready to play defense
and execute."
Last season, UNT earned
a 92-83 overtime win against
Tech in front of a raucous
crowd at the Super Pit. Despite
the big win last season, Jones
said there is little carry over.
"This team will have to write
its own chapter," Jones said.
"This game will be a great
challenge for us and we'll get
to see how much we improved
from our last outing. Our guys
like to compete and they play
hard, which is half the battle
to winning ballgames."
After competing in their
regular season game as a
group, the players expressed
that the team is coming
together and is prepared for
this test.
"Everybody on the team
picks up stuff quickly" Hogans
said. "We play defense with
energy and don't have quit
in us."
Photo by Kalani Gordon/Contributing Photographer
Freshman guard Chris Jones looks for an open teammate during the Mean
Green's match against St. Gregory on Friday at the Super Pit. UNT will face Texas
Tech tonight in Lubbock.
Mean Green looks to build on weekend sweep
Women's Basketball
Paul Bottoni
Senior Staff Writer
The UNT women's basketball
team will play the second game of
a three-game home stand whenit
faces Oral Roberts at noon today
at the Super Pit.
The Mean Green (2-0) has
started the season with consecu-
tive wins, defeating UT-Arlington
and New Mexico by 19 and 13
points respectively.
With the wins, the team is
almost halfway to match last
year's win total of five.
"I think sometimes [winning]
is completely taken for granted,"
head coach Karen Aston said.
"Looking at [the team] Friday
night [after defeating UTA], I
thought, 'OK, we're supposed to
win,' but I wouldn't have dared
say anything to them about that
because it was a big deal to them
and I need to let it be a big deal
to them."
Like the Mean Green, the
Golden Eagles (2-0) opened their
season with two victories, topping
Drury University and Wisconsin.
Oral Roberts netted 80 points in
each game.
UNT senior guard Brittney
Hudson said the Mean Green's
press defense has helped the team
improve on keeping opponents
in check this season. The Mean
Green held UTA to 47 points in its
season opener, the lowest point
total UNT has allowed an oppo-
nent since 2009.
The defense will be challenged
by Golden Eagles junior guard
Kevi Luper, who has averaged
30.5 points and notched 10 steals
in two games.
Junior forward Jasmine
Godbolt - who was named to the
Sun Belt Conference Preseason
Second Team - has led the Mean
Green on offense, averaging 14.5
points and 8.5 rebounds through
two games.
UNT's early success has under-
scored new head coach Aston's
emphasis of defense and tran-
sition offense, and the team
realizes the hard work ahead
of them.
"We respect her a lot as a
coach," Godbolt said. "So what-
ever she tells us to do, we're going
to listen because we knowit's her
helping us to get better and better
every day."
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Photo by Melissa S. Mayer/Staff Photographer
Senior guard Brittney Hudson jumps to shoot at Monday's game against the New Mexico Lobos. The Mean Green plays Oral Roberts at noon today.
Murray brings versatility to Cowboys
DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas
Cowboys have pulled off quite a
midseason transformation.
No longer are they a team
that will only go as far as Tony
Romo throws. No longer are
they trying to pull out victories
late in the fourth quarter.
Dallas has turned into a
balanced club that can break
games open early, then stay
in control, all because of the
emergence of a single player:
rookie running back DeMarco
Murray.
Since an injury to starter
Felix Jones forced Murray to
take on a bigger role, the third-
round pick from Oklahoma has
averaged 150 yards per game
and the mere threat of him
getting the ball has defenses
jumping. Dallas has gone 3-1
in that span, moving within a
game of first place in the NFC
East.
"I definitely think I get too
much credit," said Murray,
who's been as humble as he's
been effective.
Murray's breakout began
with a franchise-record 253
yards against St. Louis. He's
proven that he was no fluke by
gaining 74 yards on just eight
carries against Philadelphia,
then racking up 139 yards
against Seattle and 135 yards
this past Sunday against
Buffalo.
Consider this: he has three
100-yard games in the past
month, while predecessor
Jones has two in his 41-game
career.
NFL rushing king Emmitt
Smith also had three 100-yard
games as a rookie, but that was
over 16 games; he never had
two in a row.
And this: Murray's 601 yards
rushing over a four-game span
is 51 yards better than Smith
ever had over a similar stretch.
His outburst has lifted Dallas
from near the bottom of the
NFL in rushing to ninth-best.
He's up to No. 11 in the league
despite having had only 14
carries the first four games.
"Lie is and should be inspi-
rational," Cowboys owner
Jerry Jones said. "I haven't
seen enough of DeMarco. I'd
like to see five more years —
at least."
The Cowboys are 5-4 and
play teams with losing records
in each of their next three
games, giving them a chance
to keep this roll going.
Each of their three Murray-
infused victories has gotten
more impressive. The topper
came Sunday with a 44-7 rout
of the Buffalo Bills, a team that
came in 5 -3 and tied for the lead
in the AFC East.
Romo is no longer facing a
secondary stacked to stop him.
Now teams are committing the
usual front seven to stopping
the run and often adding an
eighth man close to the line of
scrimmage.
For a quarterback, it's like
the difference between driving
on an empty country road and
a downtown highway during
rush hour. Receivers benefit,
too, because there's more room
for them to roam.
"When (Murray) is bringing
the safety down in the box
because he is running the ball
so well, it opens it up for us
on the outside," said receiver
Laurent Robinson, who found
enough space to catch two
touchdown passes Sunday.
Offensive linemen love run-
blocking, and having success
at it sends their confidence
soaring. It's no coincidence that
this unit, considered a liability
early, has just gone back-to-
back games without allowing
a single sack.
"You see him every week:
powerful runner, his vision is
outstanding, he can stop on
a dime," left guard Montrae
Holland said. "You saw it at
the end of the first half when
he reversed field. They had
overplayed it. He turned back,
reversed it and picked up (25)
yards. That's a great back. I
don't think we did anything
there to help him out."
North Texas Daily
Phone 940-565-2851 • Fax 940-565-4659 • Email dailyads@unt.edu • www.ntdaily.com
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Pherigo, Josh. North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 48, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 16, 2011, newspaper, November 16, 2011; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth209202/m1/4/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.