THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University men's basketball team returns to action on Thursday night in Denton, Texas, taking on the North Texas Mean Green at The Super Pit at 7 p.m. in the Lone Star State.
 
The Colonels and North Texas are meeting on the hardwood for the 17^th time on Thursday night, renewing a rivalry that began in the early 1970's, but had not been played since the 2006 season. Nicholls enters the contest 0-1 after dropping a 76-54 decision on the road to Auburn to open the year, while the Mean Green are 1-1.
 
Nicholls' loss to the Tigers last Friday was the 15^th time in 16 years that the squad has opened the year on the wrong end of the scoreboard, as fouls and free throws came back to bite the team in the 21-point defeat to the SEC member institution. The Colonels committed 31 of 50 total fouls called in the contest, sending Auburn to the line 44 times which nearly doubled the 22 that Nicholls took on the evening.
 
For the first time in two years, Nicholls' leading scorer did not produce double-digit points, as Jeremy Smith and T.J. Carpenter each finished with nine points. The last time the team did not have a double-digit leading scorer was on Dec. 13, 2011 against the University of Texas in Austin. Smith has achieved this feat before, leading the team in scoring with just nine points against the Tulane Green Wave earlier that season.
 
JaMarkus Horace led the team with seven rebounds on the night, as he was the only starter to finish with over five boards as the Colonel bench grabbed more than the starting five, 17-14. Nicholls used its complete allotment of players on the night, with 12 Colonels seeing the court and 11 earning at least 10 or more minutes of playing time.
 
Led by second-year coach Tony Benford, the Mean Green opened the season with a 72-67 win over Northwood, before falling to the Oklahoma Sooners 72-67 on Nov. 8 in the opening round of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. Benford has an overall record of 13-21 since being hired at UNT after spending four years as an assistant at Marquette.
 
After spending 13 seasons as members of the Sun Belt Conference, North Texas made the move to Conference USA this season and will compete as a full member as the league will begin a transition of adding and losing teams over the course of the next year.
 
The Mean Green return three starters and six letterwinners from last year's group that went 12-20, including leading scorer Alizee Williams who is averaging 23 points per game and shooting 63 percent from the field. North Texas is shooting 40 percent from the field and 31 percent from behind the 3-point line. From the free throw line, UNT is averaging 16.5 makes per game with a 65 percent average while grabbing 40 rebounds and blocking three shots per contest.
 
UNT earned a 74-71 win over Nicholls in the last meeing on Dec. 9, 2006, its third consecutive win over the Colonels although Nicholls holds a 9-7 advantage in all-time meetings. Before that, Nicholls had won six of seven contests against the Mean Green, and on three separate occasions has earned three-game winning streaks over North Texas.
 
The radio broadcast will begin 15 minutes prior to the start of the contest with The Colonel Countdown pregame show.
 
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
TV: None
Radio: KLRZ 100.3 FM, KLEB 1600 AM
Broadcast Team: Mike Wagenheim (play-by-play)
Live Stats: www.MeanGreenSports.com