Indianapolis – to be or not to be? For an underdog named Javian Hamlet and his North Texas team-breaking team, that was an easy question.
Hamel scored 24 points and Thomas Bell, with some game-changing defenses in overtime, gave 13th-ranked Min Green a 4 78-6969 victory in the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
It marks Big Ten’s second teen-powered discomfort on the opening day of the NCAA Tournament – just hours after No. 15 Oral Roberts knocked out Ohio State.
What a great reward for a pair of seniors who won the regular season Conference USA title last year, but lost the chance at the tournament, Hamlet and Bell, when the season was canceled by COVID-19.
They made sure things continued at this point.
Click here for more March Gap coverage
Belle opened overtime with, then changed two paradox shots below to help Mean Green laugh for an extra session. North Texas scored the first 11 points.
Hamlet did most of his damage in the second half during a pair of 8-0 individual runs, each of which stopped Purdue (17-10) in his tracks. The second was a twisting, spinning, dribbling demonstration of mastery in paint. It gave North Texas a nine-point lead with 7-45 remaining.
Javian Hamlet of North Texas reacts to fans in the first part of the first round game against Purdue at the NCAA Men’s College College Basketball Tournament on Friday, March 19, 2021 at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. (Associated Press)
Boilermakers moved backwards with 21 seconds left to tie it at 61 on Travian Williams’ putback.
But overtime was no contest, and when it was over, Hamel threw the ball into a crowded stand at Lucas Oil Stadium, raised his hands above his head, and exited, to the right of the stage, in the locker room.
This marks the first tournament victory in the history of North Texas, a team once known as the Eagles, which officially adopted “Mean Green” as its nickname in 2000. The first thing Moniker did when the fired cheerleader became creative was the game of football in the late ’60s; It was then brought into more fold when Hayden Fry, the folksy ballcoach, who went to Iowa for more publicity, arrived on Denton’s campus a few years later.
Click here to get the Fox News app
But there was no bigger name than Hamlet tonight.
He made eight free throws and also had 11 rebounds and five assists. With 2:24 left in OT, it became a seven-point game with its 8-footer and turned the end into a free-throw-shooting contest.
Which also won North Texas.
