North Texas Clinches NCAA Bid
By admin at 10 March, 2010, 5:10 am
It took a see-saw battle to determine the Sun Belt’s NCAA bid.
Troy and North Texas after an almost cautious start threw caution to the wind in the first half and pushed a pace that led to a few sloppy plays and quite a bit of fast paced scoring. At the break Troy led 40-38.
The pace slowed in the second half . North Texas managed an eight point lead but Troy battled back to tie. Josh White broke the Troy zone with a drive and pull-up jumper from free throw distance that gave the Mean Green a two point lead with 22 seconds remaining.
Troy’s Brandon Hazzard threatened to tie the game but his shot was blocked by George Odufuwa. Troy was forced to foul with 2.9 remaining. Josh White hit the front end of the one and one but missed the second leaving the door open for desperation mid-court shot to tie but the effort wasn’t close.
UNT will await its placement in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday while Troy as the #1 seed has clinched an NIT berth. Depending on other automatic qualifiers Troy will likely be either a 7 or 8 seed and should be on the road depending on venue availability for their opponent.
