– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
DENTON, TEXAS — The shots kept falling for Moulaye Sissoko, which ensured the wins kept coming at home for North Texas as it continues to find its form going into March.
Sissoko scored a career-high 27 points while also grabbing 11 rebounds as the Mean Green made easy work of Tulsa 63-44 inside the Super Pit on Wednesday evening. The victory by North Texas (19-6, 10-3 American) was its third consecutive win overall, and it matches its overall and conference win total from last season. The Mean Green stayed one game in back of Memphis for first place in the American, though the Tigers defeated North Texas in its only meeting back on January 5.
Sissoko recorded his fourth double-double of his career and the third this season.
“Tulsa had our full attention and respect going into tonight but I’m really proud of the defensive effort from start to finish,” head coach Ross Hodge said. “I’m extremely proud of Moulaye and how far he’s come and run his own race. He was incredible.”
Sissoko made all six of his field-goal attempts in the first half, the only person on either team who was in range as both squads struggled from the field. The Mean Green, however, held a 30-19 advantage at intermission as it held the Golden Hurricane to just 6-of-20 (30 percent) from the field while outrebounding Tulsa 20-12.
Tulsa scored the first six points of the second half to cut their deficit to 30-25, but two free throws and a jumper from Sissoko on back-to-back possessions extended the lead to nine, and the margin never fell below eight for the rest of the contest.
Reserve Jared Garcia was the only Tulsa player to score in double figures with 14 points. The Golden Hurricane (11-16, 5-9) had their two-game winning streak snapped.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Wednesday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Ross James. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 25 pictures in total.
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