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          Bracey gives Louisiana Tech 73-71 win over North Texas

          Feb 22, 2020
          • Associated Press

          DENTON, Texas -- DaQuan Bracey scored 26 points, including a short jumper with a second to play, to give Louisiana Tech a 73-71 win over Conference USA leader North Texas on Saturday.

          Bracey also added a late free throw after the Mean Green, who won 12 of their last 13 and were 10-0 at home, threw the ball away on the ensuing inbounds pass.

          Bracey scored all 11 Bulldogs points in the last 2:02.

          Although James Reese had a 3-pointer that pulled North Texas into a tie at 68 with 1:04 to play, the stretch became a showdown between Bracey and Javion Hamlet, who also had 25 points, including 12 of the last 16 for the Mean Green. Hamlet's three-point play put North Texas up 71-70 with 24 seconds to go.

          There were 11 ties and 11 lead changes. North Texas had the biggest lead at 36-25 late in the first half before La Tech scored the last seven points.

          Mubarak Muhammed scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Louisiana Tech (20-7, 11-4 Conference USA). Derric Jean added 11 points.

          Hamlet had 25 points for the Mean Green (18-10, 12-3), who started the day one game ahead of Western Kentucky. Reese added 16 points and Umoja Gibson had 13.

          North Texas defeated Louisiana Tech 51-50 on Jan. 18. Louisiana Tech plays Western Kentucky on the road on Thursday. North Texas matches up against Florida International on the road on Thursday.

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          Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com