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SECOND HALF

3:41 p.m.: Arkansas re-took the lead with 14:41 remaining as part of a 12-0 Razorbacks run. Michael Washington has got 29 points right now. Marcus Monk hit two free throws on a 1-and-1 opportunity  with 11:20 remaining, the Hogs came up with turnover on the other end and Stefan Welsh hit a 3-pointer at the 10:55 mark to extend the lead to 71-55.

The Mean Green just hit two free throws to cut the advantage to 71-57. There’s 10 minutes remaining.

HALFTIME

3:03 p.m.: North Texas doesn’t turn the ball over much and to consider that it committed 13 turnovers in the first half and yet the Hogs are down 42-40 at halftime is pretty amazing.

North Texas averages 13.7 turnovers a game.

And, how about this: Michael Washington has hit 7-of-8 shots and has 21 points at halftime. Arkansas showed some fire in the final 3 minutes after falling behind by as much as eight late in the first half. Still, the Razorbacks are down at halftime.

You figure either the 3-point shots will start to fall for the Hogs or John Pelphrey may just decide to give the ball to Michael Washington every trip down the floor. North Texas has hit 7-of-12 three-pointers. Arkansas has hit just 2-of-7.

Not to say this looks like a repeat of last year’s debacle in Alltel Arena against Appalachian State, but it is shaping up as such at halftime. App State hit 67 percent of its shots in a 74-67 win over Arkansas on Dec. 22 in Alltel Arena. North Texas, right now, has hit 56 percent of its shots.

FIRST HALF

2:35 p.m.: The Hogs are on a 10-2 run and it could have been bigger but Rotnei Clarke was just called for a charge as he went up on an attempt to extend the Hogs’ 27-20 lead.

It’s North Texas ball. The crowd here is pretty revved up, but you can tell they’re waiting for something huge to cheer about — like a 3-pointer or massive transition dunk.

By the way, coach John Pelphrey, as most of us know, is pretty fiery. But he’s got a little extra something in him today. He’s been stomping and going after the refs several times today.

Well, just as I was typing that, Pelphrey was charged with a technical foul after a Mean Green field goal. Josh White hit 1-of-2 of the technical shots.  Eric Tramiel, who hit the field goal and was fouled previously, hit the free throw.

It’s 27-24 Hogs now with 6:44 remaining.

2:23 p.m.: North Texas is hot beyond the arc and has the lead, 18-17, with 11:52 remaining over Arkansas.

The Hogs opened up hot and took a 9-3 lead early, but a former UA-Fort Smith star has got North Texas in this one. Dominque Johnson has hit his first two 3-pointers in this one.

Michael Washington has a defensive and offensive goaltend in this one already, believe it or not. The offensive call came on a Fortson putback attempt at the 12:42 mark

PRE-GAME

1:42 p.m.: Made it to the arena floor here at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock. Arkansas and North Texas are warming up on the floor with about 25 minutes before tip-off. The arena is filling up pretty good I would say. It will be close to a sell out. I know people were still buying tickets at the box office when I arrived here about an hour ago.

Just an FYI, North Texas senior guard Collin Dennis, the team’s fourth-leading scorer, did not make the trip to North Little Rock. The preseason second-team All-Sun Belt Conference selection missed practice Thursday, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle.

Dennis was averaging 10.1 points a game. Head coach Johnny Jones said the reason for the punishment stems from an event on New Year’s Eve.

See you when we get closer to tip-off.