For Texas fans looking for a bounce-back performance after the team’s tough road trip to New Jersey, Saturday night’s ugly win over Sam Houston State provided little reassurance. The Longhorns struggled from the floor all night long, looking as if the tryptophan from their Thanksgiving turkeys still had them in a haze. While Texas earned the all-important W, the unimpressive manner in which they earned it was slightly worrisome.

Fortunately, Texas will get a second chance to log a convincing win tonight, as they host the North Texas Mean Green for the first time since 2007. Coach Johnny Jones is testing his team early, as they are in the midst of a seven-game road trip and have a disappointing 1-3 mark so far. The Mean Green has yet to notch a victory against a D-I opponent, with their only win coming against St. Gregory of the NAIA.

By the numbers

For a Texas team that shot less than 32% from the field against Sam Houston State, the North Texas defense is a welcome sight. The Mean Green has an adjusted defensive efficiency of 1.091 points per possession, the 21st-worst in D-I hoops according to Ken Pomeroy. In a loss to Mississippi State on Sunday, North Texas allowed the Bulldogs to shoot nearly 52% from the field, including a 47.4% mark from three-point range.

The one thing that North Texas does do well on the defensive end is steal the basketball. They force opponents into miscues on 25.6% of their possessions, and have a steal rate that is in the Top 25 nationally. The team is averaging more than 10 steals and 22 points off of turnovers per game.

Offensively, the Mean Green isn’t much more successful. Their adjusted offensive efficiency is a scant 0.965 points per possession, and their effective field goal percentage is among the 20 worst teams in D-I hoops. Against Mississippi State, North Texas made just 32.3% of their shots and struggled to a 25% mark behind the arc.

The most important stats for Texas fans, however, are the rebounding numbers. North Texas has managed to do a fair job on the offensive glass, but is downright abysmal on the defensive end, where the Mean Green has allowed its three D-I opponents to reclaim more than 42% of their missed shots. With the Longhorns having mixed results on the glass so far this season, it’s a refreshing change to expect quite a few second-chance points for the home team tonight.

Meet the Mean Green

While there are a lot of troubling statistics for Coach Jones and his young team, they are actually far more talented than their results have shown so far. The problem could lie in the fact that all of that talent is fairly young and that the team lacks experienced senior leaders. The Mean Green lost four starters from last year, most notably their own Tristan Thompson, who starts his professional career with the D-League’s Austin Toros on Friday night.

Even without Thompson, North Texas has the pieces in place to make some noise in the Sun Belt Conference this year. In December, superstar Tony Mitchell will finally become eligible after a long, difficult journey to college hoops. Ranked as the No. 12 overall recruit in the 2010 class, Mitchell committed to Missouri but failed to qualify academically. The Tigers’ loss was Coach Jones’ gain, as the Dallas native decided to bring his talents to Denton.

Although the Longhorns won’t have to deal with the versatile Mitchell tonight, they will have to handle freshman phenom Chris Jones. The 6’2″ guard from Garland took his high school team to back-to-back 5A state finals, and it’s clear that leadership has carried to the college ranks. In his first road game, Jones scored nearly half of his team’s points, dropping 31 on Texas Tech in a narrow 69-64 loss.

Jones can score in a variety of ways, as his team-leading 16.8-point scoring average attests. He can get to the rack in a hurry, and he’s able to finish inside thanks to excellent body control and an impressive ability to put the right english on his shot. The Longhorns have had issues containing aggressive players so far this season, so Jones could be primed for another big game.

Although Jones has been the alpha so far this season, 6’6″ swingman Jordan Williams was the top recruit of 2011 for North Texas. He was ranked No. 71 nationally by Rivals, making him a huge score for a school that typically never garners interest from such highly-ranked players. Williams is currently second on the team in scoring with 12.3 points per game and has made 35% of his threes so far.

With Jones and Jordan Williams combining for more than 29 points per game, the rest of the offense is truly a team effort. North Texas has a roster full of guys ranging from 6’6″ to 6’9″, and they have ten players averaging at least 15 minutes per game, with eight of them averaging between 2.5 and 6.5 points. That interchangeability is reminiscent of the Missouri Tigers under Mike Anderson, although the Mean Green isn’t quite giving opponents “the fastest 40 minutes in basketball.”

One of those interchangeable parts is 6’7″ senior Kedrick Hogans, who was already the 4th-best shot blocker in school history before the season had even begun. This year, he’s logged five in his four games as he continues his attack on the school record books. While the Longhorns are in the top third of D-I hoops at avoiding blocked shots, they’ll still have to be careful when Hogans is in the area.

The Mean Green also gets some upperclassman leadership from Jacob Holmen, who had started all three games before missing Sunday’s contest against Mississippi State. The 6’8″ junior forward averaged nearly 25 minutes in his three games and scored 17 total points.

In Holmen’s absence, Niko Stojiljkovic joined the starting five and led the team with eight rebounds against the Bulldogs. The 6’9″ junior has a varied background, with international experience for his native country of France and minutes at the college level with both San Francisco and Lon Morris College. He’s averaging five points and four boards at North Texas this season, but will certainly see those numbers increase if Holmen’s injury is a long-term issue.

Sophomore Alzee Williams knows what it’s like to have a long-term injury, as he missed all of last year thanks to knee problems. Known as a defensive specialist, he’s actually surprised folks by leading the team in field-goal percentage this year. Although he hasn’t taken many shots, Alzee’s 56.3% mark has helped him log the team’s third-highest scoring average with 6.5 per game.

North Texas also has a pair of players coming off the bench who have experience against the Longhorns. Junior Roger Franklin played at Oklahoma State his first two seasons, but transferred to UNT to be closer to an ill family member. In two games against the Longhorns last year, Franklin grabbed 10 rebounds and scored two points.

Unlike Franklin, Alonzo Edwards‘ time against Texas is essentially just a historical footnote. The 6’8″ senior spent his first two years at Nebraska, and he logged less than a minute in the Cornhuskers’ upset victory against Texas back in 2009. This year, he’s started three times for North Texas and has done solid work on the glass, but is only averaging about 15 minutes per game.

Another transfer on the North Texas bench is Brandan Walton, a product of Compton, California who made his way to Denton via Casper College in Wyoming. The 6’2″ guard is speedy, but played a little out of control against Texas Tech and seemed to be pressing at times. With another chance to play against Big 12 competition tonight, Walton will have to settle down if he wants to make an impact.

Freshman guard Trey Norris rounds out the ten-man rotation. He is another quick guard for Coach Jones, and like Walton, he needs to settle down. Norris has turned it over 10 times despite playing just 64 minutes this season. With Chris Jones already locking down the starting role, Norris will have to improve his ballhandling if he wants to see many minutes off the bench.

Keys to the game

1) Hang on to the ball – The North Texas defense is porous, but the one way they manage to stop opponents is by forcing turnovers. If the Longhorns can avoid the frustrating mistakes they had early against Sam Houston State, they should find it very easy to score against the Mean Green.

2) Limit second-chance scoring – We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again — rebounding is going to be the constant storyline for this Longhorn team. Fortunately, North Texas struggles on the defensive glass, so it looks like Texas’ main concern will be keeping the Mean Green from getting offensive boards. If the Longhorns can cut down on second-chance points, North Texas should have a hard time keeping up tonight.

3) Get the guards going – It’s been a rough couple of games for Myck Kabongo, and even J’Covan Brown found tough sledding against Sam Houston State on Saturday night. With a tough UCLA squad next on the docket after North Texas, it would be nice to see the Longhorn guards regain some confidence tonight. Texas ball screens and dribble penetration resulted in fewer open looks during the last two games, so we’ll be watching to see what the Longhorn guards can create tonight.