N. Texas, UAB meet in conference play
North Texas (15-9, 9-2) vs. UAB (14-10, 5-6)
Bartow Arena, Birmingham, Alabama; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: CUSA foes meet as North Texas battles UAB. Both teams last saw action this past Thursday. North Texas won 75-70 at Middle Tennessee, while UAB fell to Rice at home, 86-72.
SUPER SENIORS: North Texas has relied heavily on its seniors. Javion Hamlet, Umoja Gibson, Zachary Simmons and Deng Geu have collectively accounted for 62 percent of the team’s scoring this year and 76 percent of all Mean Green points over the team’s last five games.
CUSA IMPROVEMENT: The Mean Green have scored 67.6 points per game against CUSA opponents so far, an improvement from the 64.8 per game they put up over 11 non-conference games.
SPARKING THE OFFENSE: Hamlet has had his hand in 44 percent of all North Texas field goals over the last three games. The senior guard has 17 field goals and 16 assists in those games.
STREAK STATS: UAB has lost its last three home games, scoring an average of 69 points while giving up 80.7.
ACCOUNTING FOR ASSISTS: The Mean Green have recently converted buckets via assists more often than the Blazers. UAB has 35 assists on 83 field goals (42.2 percent) over its past three outings while North Texas has assists on 35 of 75 field goals (46.7 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: UAB is ranked first among CUSA teams with an offensive rebound percentage of 33 percent. The Blazers have averaged 10.8 offensive boards per game.
