INDIANAPOLIS – To be or not to be? For an underdog named Javion Hamlet and his group of dropping teammates from North Texas, that was an easy question.
Hamlet scored 24 points and Thomas Bell had 16, along with some revolutionary defense in overtime, to lift the 13th ranked Mean Green to a 78-69 victory over No. 4 Purdue on Friday in the NCAA tournament.
This marked the Big Teen’s second teenage turnaround on the opening day of the NCAA Tournament – this coming hours after No. 15 Oral Roberts knocked out the state of Ohio.
What a grand prize for Hamlet and Bell, a veteran duo who led Mean Green (18-9) to the Conference USA regular season title last year, but missed a shot at the tournament when the season was canceled by COVID-19.
They made sure that things went on this time.
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Bell opened overtime with a 3, then altered two shots of Purdue from below to help Middle Green turn the extra session into laughter. North Texas scored the first 11 points.
Hamlet did most of his damage during a pair of sublime 8-0 personal runs in the second half, each of which interrupted Purdue’s (17-10) momentum. The second was a demonstration of mastery in painting, which spun, spun and dripped. This gave North Texas a nine point lead with 7:45 left.
Javion Hamlet of North Texas reacts to fans during the first half of a first round game against Purdue at the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium, Friday, March 19, 2021, in Indianapolis. (Associated Press)
The Boilermakers recovered and drew 61 in the Trevion Williams hit 21 seconds from the end.
But overtime was not a dispute, and when it was over, Hamlet threw the ball into the sparsely crowded bleachers at Lucas Oil Stadium, raised his hands above his head and left, to the right of the stage, into the locker room.
This marked the first tournament win in the history of North Texas, the team formerly known as the Eagles, which officially adopted “Mean Green” as their nickname in 2000. The nickname became a thing when an excited cheerleader started to be creative at a football game in the late 1960s; it was then brought more into the fold when Hayden Fry, the folkloric ballcoach that achieved greater fame in Iowa, came to the campus in Denton a few years later.
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But there was no bigger name tonight than Hamlet.
He hit all eight free throws and also had 11 rebounds and five assists. His 8-foot shot with 2:24 remaining in the OT made the game seven points and turned the end into a free-throw shootout.
That North Texas won too.