North Texas faces Troy for an afternoon game this Saturday, 3 PM at The Super Pit. The Sun Belt member was picked to finish last in the East Division of the Conference. Last year they ended the season 8-21, 6-10. This year they are 5-7, 0-1 losing their conference opener at Denver 62-79.

Troy is off to a better start this year as compared to last year when the two teams met. Troy entered last year’s game with a 3-13, 1-3 record. The Trojans took an 89-81 win dropping visiting North Texas to 14-4, 3-2 and improving their record to 4-13, 2-3.

They are led by University of Central Florida transfer #01 Will Weathers, G, 6-0, 165, Jr., a candidate for the 2012 Bob Cousy award given annually to the top point guard in college. Returning with Weathers is #03 Steven Cunningham, G, 6-3, 211, Sr.

The top reserve returning is Tim Owens, C, 6-9, 220, Sr. who has nailed down the starting position. Owens never played high school basketball so he has learned his position beginning in the junior college level.

Weathers leads the team in scoring with 13.4 points a game followed by #11 Alan Jones with 10.9, #5 Justin Wright, F, 6-5, 210 10.3 and R.J. Scott, F, 6-4, So., 10.2. Scott is another transfer from Central Florida. Scott recruited Weathers to UCF before he transferred to Troy then Weathers recruited Scott to Troy.

From three point range, Wright has hit .423% of his shots going 22 of 52, Jones, G, 6-3, 185, Jr., is .417 hitting 10 of  24, Weathers is 14 of 36 for .389. They are not afraid to try from downtown. Troy is averaging close to 11 three pointers per game putting them third in the NCAA. However, they are not in the top fifty in percentage of the shots going in.

Jones is their leading scorer from the foul line hitting .909% or 10 of 11.

Troy has two seniors, six juniors, four sophomores and three freshmen. They are an experience club using a lot of upper classmen. Only one freshman has played in three games.

Both teams have faced the same opponents playing at Mississippi State and Texas Tech. North Texas was beaten up 59-82 by MSU while Troy was manhandled 68-106. Both teams lost at Texas Tech. Troy fell 85-90 while North Texas lost 64-69.

If North Texas is to win this game, the first thing they have to do is to keep Tony Mitchell from being a bench warmer. He is fouling and has to sit on the bench. Last game he played for only 13 minutes in front of NBA scouts, not impressive for the scouts and not impressive for North Texas and it helps opponents. They know they can force him to foul out.

Troy doesn’t know a three point attempt they don’t like. North Texas has to bother the shooters from outside the arc. They shoot a lot of shots but do not have a great average of them going in. So, rebounding is going to be important to prevent missed three points from being put back for two points on rebounds.  North Texas has to block out.

The Trojans average 74.8 to opponents scoring 76.9 points a game so this is shaping up to be another close game.

With Troy getting 7.4 steals a game to 6.6 and +3.3 in turnovers, this area could be the deciding factor in a win or a loss.