North Texas wins 86-74 on Roosevelt's career night (Nov 22, 2017)

By AP
Published

DENTON, Texas (AP) Roosevelt Smart scored a career-high 26 points with six 3-pointers and North Texas never trailed in defeating Division II Rogers State 86-74 on Wednesday night.

A.J. Lawson scored 17 points with eight rebounds and four assists, Ryan Woolridge added 11 points and eight assists and Shane Temara had 10 points for the Mean Green (3-2).

The Hillcats battled back from a 10-point halftime deficit to cut the lead to 62-59 on a layup by Brian Harness, but Lawson hit four straight free throws, Smart added three more, and North Texas led by double digits the rest of the way.

Lawson opened with back-to-back layups to put the Mean Green up for good, sparking an 11-4 run, and North Texas led 28-10 after a 15-1 run over 4:04. Smart made 5 of 8 3-pointers and scored 17 points in the half and North Texas led 41-31 at halftime.

North Texas made 10 of 24 3s, outscored the Hillcats 36-26 in the paint and scored 17 points off 11 turnovers.

Chase Littlejohn scored 12 points for Rogers State (4-2), which competes in the Heartland Conference.