Mean Green

Could the worm finally be turning for the Mean Green men?

Jacob Holmen came back last game. That was huge.

Now Kedrick Hogans will be available tomorrow against Arkansas State. He's UNT's best post defender and could take some pressure off of Tony Mitchell in the post, which is where he usually starts down the road to getting into foul trouble.

Holmen could also really help because he has some size, can score and rebound on the wing.

On the recruiting front, highly regarded Louisiana running back Daniel Taylor is visiting Louisiana-Lafayette this weekend.

UNT was in the hunt for the three-star back at one point. From UNT's perspective, there are, oh, about 79 schools that would be better for him to end up at than ULL.

I am also interested to see how the Chase Walling saga plays out over the next couple of days. He is down at SMU this weekend.

Stay tuned.

This could be great news for UNT. Kedrick Hogans is practicing today. So is Jacob Holmen. UNT is going to be a lot better and a lot bigger with those guys on the floor and healthy. Holmen is still working his way back from injury. He played last game and continues to look like he's getting closer to being back to form

The initial list of players who were invited to the NFL Scouting Combine came out a couple of days ago.

I haven't had a chance to comment on it until now.

And yes, I am a little surprised Lance Dunbar didn't get an invitation.

Dunbar isn't the biggest guy out there, but he was tremendously productive when healthy in college. Granted, He averaged about a yard a carry in a loss to Alabama last season, but he came up big in several other spots.

There were some draft projections that had Dunbar going pretty high heading into his senior season. There is still a small chance he will be invited, according to the brass over at UNT.

He will get into camp with someone, but it would certainly help Dunbar's cause if he could find his way into the combine.

Here's a link to the list of players who were invited: Combine list

And in other interesting news, Scout.com came out with its final Texas Top 125 list. UNT does not have anyone committed from the list yet and there are only a few players left.

UNT is doing well overall.

It is interesting to see where some of the top players in the state are headed.

The No. 1 player on the list is Denton Ryan defensive end Mario Edwards, who appears to have finally settled on signing with Florida State.

Here's a link: Texas Top 125

National signing day is closing in, and that means one thing.

There will be a few people who come out of the woodwork and say that UNT should just go ahead and sign every local kid it can get its hands on.

Drives me nuts.

It's just way too simplistic in terms of the thought process:

A. Denton kid was good in high school.

Plus

B. Denton kid is going to play in college.

Does not necessarily mean ...

C. Denton kid and UNT are a good match.

There have been plenty of top-ranked kids from local schools that UNT would have loved to get its hands on over the years. But far too often those kids end up at Texas or Texas Tech or some other school higher up the food chain.

There have been a few mid major prospects who might have been a fit, but kids want to get out of town and away from mom and dad for college.

Mom and dad or local high school fan like to come on the blog and say that their kid or the kids on the team they follow are the exception. They want to stay home.

Don't believe them. They don't.

Ideally, UNT would pull a bunch of kids from the Dallas area who would be far enough away from home for the school to be a good fit. David Busby is a good example. We reported a while back that he committed to UNT.

Scout.com just updated its commit list. Busby is the first player rated as a three-star recruit by Scout that UNT has landed. Adding him to the class helped lift UNT to fourth in their Sun Belt team rakings behind Arkansas State, Florida International and Louisiana-Lafayette.

Those are the kids UNT should be after and is after. The Mean Green just needs a few more of them to commit down the stretch.

I wondered when Clint Bowen left for Kansas a few days ago if we might see some UNT targets suddenly pop up on the Jayhawks' recruiting radar.

Kansas has always recruited DFW and Texas in general.

Sure enough, one has.

Courtney Arnick, an outside linebacker at Dallas Carter who is pretty highly regarded, is visiting Kansas this weekend. He is being recruited by Bowen.

Arnick has more than a half a dozen offers. He has visited Colorado State and Boise State. I don't think he is a top priority for UNT at this point, unless the staff wants to replace Royce LaFrance with another linebacker in this class.

I would think there would be guys higher on the wish list at this point.

I just find it interesting.

Bowen is coaching special teams and will also be a position coach at Kansas. That means he will be heavily involved in recruiting. He might end up with a territory in Texas.

It will be interesting to see how much UNT runs across him on the recruiting trail the next few years.

Here's a link to Arnick's Rivals profile: Link.

UNT was on quite a roll heading into its game against Louisiana-Lafayette at the Cajundome tonight, but lost by two when Tony Mitchell and Roger Franklin missed 3s in the final seconds.

First off, UNT was trying to get the ball to the basket on the last play. ULL make a good play to trap Alzee WIlliams on the perimeter and Tony Mitchell was left with an open 3. He's shooting 57 percent from out there.

If you are Mitchell, you take that shot. It's not what UNT was looking for, but it was a good shot any way. Franklin's shot was on the scramble. You take what you can get there.

And for the record, ULL is 19-2 in its last 21 games against Sun Belt teams at the dome. Teams just don't win there.

UNT was in it at the end despite a horrible set of circumstances that included Mitchell sitting on the bench most of the night. He was in foul trouble from the get-go.

The Mean Green is going to have to play a perfect game to win on the road with what it has left with Mitchell on the bench. It didn't quite manage.

Still, there were some good signs. Brandan Walton continues to play well and Jacob Holmen returned. UNT needs Holmen back and back in form -- badly. He's a good player who can play on the wing. UNT could use bodies period at this point, but Holmen is a pretty darn good player with experience.

If you are UNT, you just have to hope that Mitchell will be able to avoid nights like this where he gets into foul trouble and the support cast continues to come on.

Final -- UNT had two good looks at a 3 to win it. Tony Mitchell and Roger Franklin missed. Tough loss for UNT.

Update 11.6 -- UNT is going to have a chance to at least send this to overtime. The Mean Green has the ball coming out of a timeout with the shot clock off. Should be interesting to see what UNT does here. I imagine UNT goes to the post.

Update 3:52 -- UNT is down 62-52 at the final media timeout of the second half. The Mean Green is going to need a monster run down the stretch. Not much has gone right for UNT. It never does at the Cajundome. Roger Franklin has 13 points and Alzee Williams 10 for UNT. Tony Mitchell has taken just three shots all night.

Update 4:29 -- Tony Mitchell came back and scored five straight points to get UNT within five, but ULL has come back with five of its own. ULL is up 62-52.

Update 7:51 -- We have reached the third media timeout with UNT down 54-47. UNT was within three and could have gotten to within two, but Alzee Williams missed the second of two free throws and UNT left Byant Mbamalu with two clean looks from 3. He hit them both. Roger Franklin has 13 points and Alzee Williams 10 for UNT.

Second media TO -- UNT is down 43-40 at the 11:59 mark of the second half. ULL is headed to the line. Tony Mitchell is still on the bench with four fouls.

First media TO -- ULL has opened the second half with a run. UNT is down 39-34. Mitchell has four fouls, so does Brandon Walton.

Halftime -- UNT is down 28-27 at halftime, which is probably a win for UNT considering Tony Mitchell didn't play much. UNT had a shot to take the lead on the final possession, but Jacob Holmen had to take a tough jumper with a hand in his face and had it bounce away. Brandan Walton had a good first half and has nine points. I just got the halftime box Mitchell played just six minutes. UNT hit just five of its 10 free throws.

Update 3:54 -- UNT is down 22-21 at the final media timeout of the first half. UNT had a chance to take the lead, but turned it over on its last possession. UNT is on a 5-0. Brandon Walton has scored all five points in the run.

Update 7:57 -- UNT is down 18-13 at the third media timeout of the first half. ULL has scored the last four points. UNT is still struggling offensively. It really hurt UNT to have Tony Mitchell go out of the game early.

Update 10:42 -- UNT is down 12-8 at the second media timeout of the first half. Tony Mitchell is on the bench with two fouls. Jacob Holmen is back in the lineup for the first time since he suffered a concussion. UNT is not getting anything in the way of a good look offensively.

First media timeout men's game -- UNT got off to a slow start and trailed 7-2, but is on a 4-0 run with Tony Mitchell headed to the line with a chance to give UNT the lead. ULL is up 7-6.

Final -- UNT wins 66-45. I will be back with the men's game.

Update 3:41 -- Ok, now we have the laugher everyone expected. UNT is up 58-43 at the final media timeout. Jasmine Godbolt has gotten going late and has 12 points and 10 rebounds. Desiree Nelson has 16 to lead UNT.

Update 7:35 -- UNT is pulling away late in the second half. The Mean Green is up 49-37 and is on a 12-3 run. Desiree Nelson has matched her career high with 16 points. She has hit five of her eight shots.

Update 11:12 -- UNT looks like it has things under control now. The Mean Green has gone on a 6-0 run and is up 43-34. The press has helped UNT quite a bit. Desiree Nelson has tied her season-high with 13 points. No other UNT player has more than seven points.

Update 13:41 -- UNT was forced to call a timeout when it couldn't get the ball in. UNT is still up 37-34, but this one is tight. No doubt about it. UNT hasn't been able to take advantage of its advantage inside with Jasmine Godbolt. Desiree Nelson has played well, which is saving UNT's bacon.

Update 15:44 -- ULL closed to within two twice ealry in the second half. UNT is up 34-30. UNT already has four fouls in the second half. Kasondra Foreman came up with a big bucket on the break for UNT.

Halftime -- UNT is up 30-24 at halftime after looking like it would blow ULL out in the early going. The Mean Green was up 19-7 at one point, but led by just four late in the first half. Desiree Nelson has 11 points at halftime, just two off her season high. ULL has kept the ball away from Jasmine Godbolt, who has just two points.

Update :36 -- ULL cut its deficit to four before Desiree Nelson hit a 3. UNT has the ball and a five-point lead. ULL just called a timeout.

Update 3:53 -- I never saw this coming. UNT has not exactly blown ULL away like I thought it would. UNT is up 23-17, but is shooting just 33 percent from the field. Tamara Torru has seven points for UNT. I would imagine Karen Aston is going to come unglued at halftime.

Update 7:53 -- UNT looked like it would blow ULL out, but has given up a 5-0 run. The Cajuns have closed the gap to 19-12. UNT has six turnovers so far.

Update 11:26 -- UNT has pushed its lead to 16-5 at the second media timeout of the first half. UNT has hit two 3s already. That as many shots from the field as ULL has hit, period. UNT is 6-for-14 from the field.

Update 14:53 -- Welp, ULL is as bad as advertised. UNT is up 9-3. ULL just hit its first shot from the field before we hit the media timeout. Tamara Torru has five points for UNT.

Update tip -- There are 52 people in the stands. I counted.

I am here courtside in the Cajundome for UNT's douleheader against ULL.

This is another big game for the UNT men, who have put themselves in position to make a run at the Sun Belt Conference West Division title over the last few weeks of the season. UNT, Denver and Arkansas-Little Rock are all 5-2 in league play.

UNT has won six of its last seven. Tony Mitchell has been terrific over that span and has won player of the week honors in the Sun Belt in each of the last three weeks. His performance has pushed his already impressive draft stock even higher.

The question is if UNT can continue to win while playing shorthanded. UNT is starting walk-on Tyler Hall and playing backup point guard Trey Norris a lot.

ULL does not have that one standout player, but is pretty balanced all the way around. A win tonight would give Johnny Jones 200 career wins, including those he picked up at Memphis.

Before we get to the men's game, the UNT and ULL women will face off. UNT lost its last game at home against Denver to fall out of first place in the Sun Belt West Division.

ULL is horrible in women's basketball. The Ragin' Cajuns have lost all seven of their Sun Belt games. UNT has to win this game. I will about drop dead of shock if UNT does not win this one.

Check back, I will update the blog all night long.

I am going to head over to the Cajundome here in a few minutes for UNT's doubleheader against Louisiana-Lafayette, but before I do there has been a little movement on the football recruiting front as we head toward signing day.

I swapped text messages with Chase Walling, who said his in-home visit with UNT's coaching staff went well the other night. I don't know how it couldn't go well with Dan McCarney and his assistants -- offensive coordinator Mike Canales and offensive line coach Mike Simmonds. All three have dynamic personalities and are good coaches as well.

Walling will take his visit to SMU this weekend.

SMU has put an offer on the table.

We will just have to see how things go from there.

Sam Rice, the offensive lineman out of Coppell, finally popped up on SMU's commit list the other day. We can close the book on him now.

Rice is a good player and it's never good for a team to lose anyone it has committed, but I don't think it's a back-breaker for UNT. I certainly don't think it hurts as badly as losing Royce LaFrance to Tulane.

What I think it does is make holding on to Walling all the more important.

UNT has a very good, young offensive line, but the program is going to need some players to develop behind the current crop over the next couple of years.

Walling seems like he would be a good fit and he would give UNT a head-to-head win over their rivals to the south.

UNT just hasn't had many wins over SMU in recruiting since the Ponies started their run of bowl games under June Jones a few years ago.

I have not mentioned all of the movement with players UNT has had an interest in over the last few days. There is a lot going on, but this merits some attention.

Leo Thomas has decided to sign with Arizona after all. The safety from San Antonio committed to Arizona, backed out when the coaching staff changed over, decided to take an official visit any way and then recommitted today.

He visited UNT the weekend of the football banquet.

Seeing Thomas go to Arizona makes it even more important for UNT to hang on to Devante Davis, another safety prospect out of Louisiana.

He visited last the weekend and is supposed to go to Louisiana Tech this weekend.

Good news for UNT, Davis' mom stopped by the blog today and indicated that her son will end up in Denton. I tend to believe mom on this one (if it really is mom, and I think it is).

I also swapped e-mail with Gerald Jones, the head coach at Pinkston. As of this morning, lineman Peytron Hightower had not decided where to go to school yet. The last I heard, he was leaning toward signing with Louisiana Tech.

I don't know this for sure, but it sounds like UNT's coaches are having an in-home visit with Chase Walling tonight. UNT is trying to hold on to Walling, who is supposed to visit SMU this weekend.

Like I said, I don't know that for sure, but I would guess UNT is going to put on the old do-or-die, game-of-chicken proposal.

Walling can take his UNT offer or leave it and visit SMU this weekend.

If that is the case -- and that's pure speculation on my part -- it will be interesting to see if Walling will roll the dice and bet on the fact that he will get an offer from SMU this weekend.

Who knows, he could know that offer is coming, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

One aspect of the conversation I had with Ryan Rentfro the other day that I thought was interesting that I have yet to mention on the blog is how he pulled back the curtain a little bit in terms of what has gone on behind the scenes in recruiting this year.

This was just his personal experience, but it does shed some light on where UNT has been -- not to mention where it is headed.

Rentro was ready to commit after taking an unofficial visit to UNT late last year, but was told by the staff a short time later that it didn't have a scholarship for him.

Sam Rice had just committed and he took the spot UNT had open for Rentfro, but UNT's coaches said they would look at where things stood and would get back to him.

Rentfro didn't hear a word for weeks and then out of the blue, Mike Canales called again and said that Rice had backed out to go to SMU. Somewhere along the line -- I forget when -- Chase Walling committed to taking an official visit to SMU.

By that time, Rentfro had committed to Louisiana-Monroe.

Here's where it gets interesting. UNT's coaches told Rentfo that they no longer considered Walling committed to them because he was going to take an official visit to SMU. Then ULM's coaches said they no longer considered Rentfro committed to them because he was taking an official visit to UNT.

In the end it all worked out for Rentfro.

I am starting to wonder if it will work out for Walling as well. He seems to like SMU a lot. SMU lost a DB it had committed out of Florida to Florida Atlantic this week, opening up another spot in its class. There is also a chance one of their top lineman prospects will end up at Texas A&M. There are a lot of spots open down there this late in the process.

The more there are, the more likely it is Walling ends up at SMU. I still have him on my list of UNT commits.

Here's the story I wrote on Rentfro for today's paper: Rentfro to UNT

And from the way back file, where have you heard this before:

"I have a great plan to build a program"

It's official now: link

The worst coach in the history of UNT athletics (statistically speaking) has landed at Marble Falls.

I heard through the grapevine that UNT might have had a running back from Fort Bend in this weekend.

I think this might have been the guy.

He would be a great get if UNT can pull him in late.

He is committed to San Jose State at this point.

Here's a link: Jalynn McCain

This is not exactly breaking news here, but Tony Mitchell is a beast.

The freshman forward picked up his third straight Sun Belt player of the week award today.

There were a few NBA scouts at a UNT game a while back our photographer heard yucking it up that Mitchell wasn't named to the first-team of the Preseason All-Sun Belt team.

Yeah, putting him on the second team doesn't look like a good call right now.

The question is -- Can Mitchell carry UNT to a title? Sun Belt West Division? The Sun Belt tournament title?

I wouldn't put it past him. And now with Chris Jones and Jordan Williams out for the year, it's up to Mitchell. Maybe not to carry the team (Roger Franklin, Brandan Walton and Alzee Williams are good players). But there is little doubt Mitchell has the potential to do just that.

UNT has won five of its last six.

You never know. Teams sometimes pull together in the face of adversity behind a star player.

Mitchell may be that guy.

I have made a few calls and done some chasing. Here is what we know as of this afternoon on the recruiting front.

Ryan Rentfro called me back this afternoon. I was very impressed.

It's an interesting story, how he ended up at UNT. I will go through it in tomorrow's paper.

Rrentfro also had offers from Louisiana-Monroe, Central Missouri State, Evangel, Southern Arkansas and Northwestern State.

It came down to UNT and ULM. The Mean Green pulled him in -- and pulled him away from a Sun Belt rival -- late in the process.

I also spoke with North Forney coach James Brown late this afternoon. There was a wild rumor going around that Stephen Buckley has committed to UNT.

Brown says that is not true. UNT pulled his offer weeks ago.

Buckley visited Washington State last weekend and will go to Northwestern up in Chicago this weekend. Brown expects Buckley to end up at one of those two schools. I forgot to ask, but there is always a chance former UNT assistant coach Eric Russell, who is now the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator at Washington State, is recruiting Buckley. Russell has a lot of Texas ties.

There is a chance that there is another player who committed and we case of mistaken identity here.

I will see what I can find out.

I talked to Je'rod Evans' coach Jeff Hulme this morning to see how the Mansfield quarterback's visit to UNT over the weekend went.

Hulme said Evans liked UNT and is trying to make a decision between the final two teams in the running -- UNT and Air Force.

"He had a great visit," Hulme said. "He's undecided right now. He is thinking about it. Hopefully he will make a decision soon."

Evans is deciding on more than just where to play football for four or five years, which complicates matters. Going to Air Force involves a military commitment after graduation, not to mention a tough lifestyle during four years of school. Of course there are some positives that go along with graduating from a military academy in terms of prestige and a guaranteed career.

"It's a lifelong decision he's making," Hulme said. "He's not choosing McDonald's or Burger King."

One fact that could help UNT is that Mike Canales is recruiting Evans.

"He has a good relationship with [Canales]," Hulme said. "Who knows what is going to happen. It's one of those deals that will go down to the last minute."

UNT has pursued a couple of quarterbacks in this class, but Evans looks like the last possibility out there.

Ryan Rentfro, the offensive lineman who backed out of a commitment to Louisiana-Monore, committed to UNT late tonight.

Scout.com just updated his listing.

I don't have a way to get a hold of him until tomorrow.

He looks like a good get for UNT in the wake of losing Sam Rice to SMU.

There was some good news and some bad news on the recruiting front today.

It looks like UNT will hang on to Devante Davis, a safety who could start right away next year. The Baton Rouge Woodlawn product said he loved UNT after taking his visit this weekend and might not even take his visit to Louisiana Tech next weekend.

The bad news was UNT lost two good prospects off its board.

One could make an argument that Royce LaFrance was the second-best player on UNT's board at this point behind offensive lineman Boone Feldt, but he backed out to sign on with Tulane, his hometown team.

I don't have it from a solid source, but it looks like offensive lineman Sam Rice out of Coppell backed out to go to SMU. It's hard to blame him due to his connections to the school. His dad played there.

Rice could have been a real steal for UNT. He had offers from more than a half a dozen schools.

There were several other players in this weekend. Mansfield quarterback Je'rod Evans was supposed to be in on an official visit. Offensive lineman Ryan Rentfro was also supposed to be in. A few players who had already committed were also on campus, including Sir Calvin Wallace.

I tried to check in with Evans and Rentfro, but came up empty.

I should be able to find out more tomorrow when I can give their coaches a ring.

The Chase Walling dilemma is still out there as well. Will be stick with UNT or won't he? Walling is supposed to visit SMU this coming weekend. We should find out pretty quickly after that what he will do.

This is just the way recruiting goes these days. I was pretty surprised when a few UNT fans said that they thought UNT would hang on to all of its commits and ripped apart any player who would think about backing out of a commitment to UNT.

UNT has already picked off former Akron commit DQ Johnson. My guess is Ryan Rentfro ends up at UNT after backing out of a commitment to Louisiana-Monroe.

It works both ways.

You win some. You lose some.

UNT has plucked a player from a school one could argue is a little farther down on the food chain in Akron and could do the same with a player who was headed to ULM.

UNT was on the other end of the equation with Tulane and -- as hard as it is for UNT fans to swallow - SMU, a couple of schools in Conference USA. The Ponies have been to three straight bowl games. Yeah, SMU had the debacle with June Jones and Arizona State, but is still a step up the ladder from UNT at this point.

I look back at it now and wonder if SMU losing Adrian Klemm, its super recruiter, to UCLA might have been a bad turn of events for UNT. SMU suddenly had a bunch of open spots after its Cali recruits bolted. Now at least one of those spots has been filled by a guy UNT had on its board for at some time in Rice. There is another one out there UNT could lose to SMU in Walling.

I still think UNT will end up with a pretty good class -- middle of the pack in the Sun Belt. Considering the circumstances, that would be a pretty good way for UNT to end up.

There is always a chance UNT could pull a few good players late.

Davis told me there was a player in from Florida, but didn't remember his name.

You just have to hope UNT finishes with a flourish.

I checked back in with Louisiana defensive back Devante Davis after his visit to UNT this afternoon. (This is the good news). He loved UNT and seems pretty solid on his commitment to the program.

Davis said he still might visit La. Tech next weekend, but it seems like UNT will be able to hang on to him. UNT will likely play Davis at safety, where he could compete for a starting spot next year.

The bad news is it looks like UNT has lost Sam Rice, the offensive lineman out of Coppell. Over the last couple of days it sounded like he would switch his commitment from UNT to SMU. I checked in with David Busby, the cornerback from Coppell who committed to UNT a while back. Busby said that Rice has decided to go to SMU.

I gave Rice a call. He didn't answer and has not called me back.

I have not talked to Rice, so I don't know for sure, but it sounds like he is going to SMU.

I kind of had a feeling this was coming, especially since the kid's coach who I could always get before never called me back this week, but UNT has lost Royce LaFrance to Tulane.

Mike Coppage, who covers Louisiana for Scout has a story, if anyone subscribes.

Here's a link: LaFrance to Tulane

It's a tough break for UNT. The outside linebacker was one of the top players on UNT's board.

Horace stopped by this morning to question what UNT was doing in its final possession of regulation of its win over Denver last night.

UNT had a chance to win it right there, but Tony Mitchell missed a long 3. We asked about it after the game and that was not the plan.

UNT didn't end up getting the shot it wanted at the end of overtime either, but the Mean Green got the win.

I think we are missing the forest looking at the trees here. Yeah, UNT could have come up with a better shot a couple of times in key spots and threw a horrible cross court pass against the press when it could have called a timeout at the end of regulation.

Bottom line -- UNT beat a red hot Denver team that is off to the best start in school history without two of its top three scorers in its first real game since they became ineligible. UNT was also without its only returning starter from last year in Kedrick Hogans and another key reserve in Jacob Holmen. UNT started Tyler Hall -- a walk-on -- and had four guys who played 42 minutes and still won.

People need to realize that Johnny Jones and his staff are doing a heck of a job coaching this season considering the circumstances.

I don't think there would be many teams in the Sun Belt -- or anywhere else for that matter -- would be doing as well as UNT with so many key guys down.

There is a long way to go, but it's time to give Jones (Remember, trust in the Johns -- Jones and Hedlund) some credit.

And by the way, UNT had a guard in on a visit last night. That worked out well.

On the football front, we should know a little more about how UNT did in during its recruiting weekend later today, but remember how I told people to watch out for Gus Malzan at Arkansas State?

Half of UNT's fans might not know who he is (still blows me away), but players do.

ASU picked up three players who are rated as three-star prospects by Scout.com today and has shot to the top of the site's Sun Belt recruiting rankings. UNT is still doing well and sitting in fourth place, and that raking does not take into account David Busby, who Scout has ranked as a three-star cornerback.

UNT appeared to have every reason to fold tonight.

Chris Jones and Jordan Williams were gone due to grades.

Kedrick Hogans and Jacob Holmen still can't play due to injury.

The Mean Green blew a seven-point lead with less than a minute to go in regulation.

UNT still found a way when Alzee Williams followed up a Roger Franklin miss at the buzzer to give the Mean Green a 75-74 overtime win.

Tony Mitchell had 30 points and 17 rebounds. Franklin had a double-double as well with 18 points and 10 boards.

UNT has no bench left. Only six guys played more than five minutes and four played 42.

UNT made the adjustment at halftime and limited Denver's 3-point attempts.

And now the Mean Green is tied for first in the Sun Belt West Division. UNT, Denver and Arkansas-Little Rock are all 5-2.

UNT still has a chance to make a run at the division title, even with all it has been through this year.

It hasn't been easy at times. You have to hand it to UNT. Just when you think the Mean Green might be in trouble, it finds a way to pull together.