North Texas reaches CBI finals, 90-68 over Jacksonville St

Mar 22, 2018, 02:11 am

DENTON, Texas -- Roosevelt Smart scored 20 points, Jorden Duffy added 19 and North Texas used a dominant first half to rout Jacksonville State 90-68 in the CBI semifinals Wednesday night.

The Mean Green (18-17), who play the winner of Thursday's game between Campbell and San Francisco in the best-of-three championship, led 57-29 at the half. They were 10 of 14 on 3-pointers with Duffy going 5 for 5, and shot 70 percent overall (21 of 30).

The lead reached 36 in the second half when North Texas went 4 of 6 from distance and shot 50 percent to finish at 61.5 (32 of 52).

D.J. Draper hit 4 of 5 behind the arc and scored 14 points for North Texas with Zachary Simmons adding 13 on 5 of 6 shooting and Ryan Woolridge 12.

Malcomb Drumwright made 5 of 7 3s and scored 23 points for the Gamecocks (23-13), who shot 23 percent in the first half (9 of 28). Jason Burnell added 17 points and Norbertas Giga 15.

North Texas jumped out to a quick 13-2 lead and a 21-6 run late in the first half broke the game open. Both teams had big runs in the second half but the spread never dipped below 20.

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