Johnson rallies North Texas 80-69 over Louisiana Tech

DENTON, Texas (AP) Deckie Johnson scored 15 of his 21 points in the first five minutes of the second half, rallying North Texas from a 10-point, halftime deficit to beat Louisiana Tech 80-69 on Saturday.

Johnson's run began with a 3-pointer just 43 seconds into the half and ended on a 4-point play to give the Mean Green (9-14, 4-6 Conference USA) a 47-46 lead with 15:05 left. They had trailed 40-30 at the break.

Louisiana Tech (17-6, 6-4) took the lead back briefly at 48-47, and then North Texas followed with a 15-3 run to lead 62-51.

The Bulldogs got as close as 65-61 with 3:25 left. The Mean Green then made 11 of 16 free throws along with Eric Katenda's jumper and Jeremy Combs' dunk to secure the win.

Combs and Katenda added 16 points each for North Texas. Alex Hamilton had 20 points and Derric Jean 10 for Louisiana Tech.