C-USA Season Preview

DENTON — The 2018-19 North Texas men's basketball Conference USA season begins Saturday in Houston when the Mean Green take on Rice at 2:00 p.m. on ESPN+.

North Texas, who was picked by C-USA coaches to finish league play fourth, has established themselves in non-conference as one of the top tier teams in the conference with its 12-1 overall record and depth on the offensive side of the ball as well as defensive.

However, UNT wasn't the only C-USA school to have a successful non-conference slate.

Conference USA has had a very strong first few months of the year as there have been top 25 upsets, big road wins over power five schools and a number of bother impressive wins and performances by individuals who will be household names by the end of league play.

FAVORITES
After a successful 2017-18 season that saw the Hilltoppers win 27 games and reach the semifinals of the NIT and then sign one of the nation's top incoming freshmen in Charles Bassey, Western Kentucky has had a lot of attention on its shoulders of late.

And WKU has backed up the attention with big-name wins in non-conference.

The Hilltoppers (6-6) beat No. 13 West Virginia on Nov. 16 on a neutral site. They went to Arkansas and in front of more than 15,000 fans beat Arkansas by one point on Dec. 8. Then last week they took down Saint Mary's, a constant in the NCAA Tournament, at home.

The Hilltoppers don't begin conference play until Jan. 3, but host No. 15 Wisconsin on Saturday for another opportunity for a huge win.

Through its first 12 games, WKU is led by sophomore Taveion Hollingsworth who last year set the WKU freshman record for points scored. Hollingworth is averaging 15.4 points per game. As for Bassey, he's averaging 14.2 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game and has been named the C-USA Freshman of the Week three times so far, more than any other C-USA freshman

North Texas hosts Western Kentucky on Feb. 9 at 5:00 p.m.

PROVEN
While Marshall hasn't had a name brand win so far this non-conference season — they travel to Virginia on Dec. 31 for a chance to change that — and its overall record of 7-5 doesn't jump off the page, the defending conference tournament champs who reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament are for real. They returned its top two offensive threats in Jon Elmore and C.J. Burks. Both Elmore and Burks through the Thundering Herd's first 12 games are averaging 19.6 and 18.0 points per game, respectively.

The preseason all-conference selections who were the engine to Marshall's run last season don't look to have taken a step back either. It's safe to assume Marshall, who was picked in the preseason poll to finish second, will be in the hunt for another conference championship as two of the top offensive guards in C-USA lead the way.

UNT and Marshall meet in Denton on Feb. 7 at 7:00 p.m.

FOR REAL
Old Dominion has finished in the top five of the conference standings each of the last four years, ending last year in second, which is the highest its finished in the last four years.

However, the Monarchs haven't quite yet gotten over the hump. They reached the conference tournament championship game in 2016 as the fifth-seed but fell to Middle Tennessee in the championship game by two points.

But 2018-19 could be the year for ODU (10-3) as their top offensive players for the past few seasons, B.J. Stith and Ahmed Caver, are seniors and have started the season as two of the best in C-USA.

Caver and Stith combined are averaging 35.5 points per game. They're the only ones on ODU averaging double-digits. But their skills don't just start and stop with scoring. Caver and Stith are also the team's leading rebounders — Stith is averaging 8.8 rebounds per game — and their senior leadership has led them to big wins this year including going to the Carrier Dome and beating then No. 25 Syracuse. They also beat VCU at home this year. VCU shortly after went to Texas and beat the Longhorns.

ODU was picked to finish third in the Preseason C-USA Poll and the Monarchs have certainly backed that up to this point with Caver and Stith leading the way. One of the two has been named the C-USA Player of the Week for four straight weeks headed into the Christmas break.

UNT is not scheduled yet to host Old Dominion before the C-USA Bonus Play portion of its schedule but they do travel to Norfolk, Virginia, on Jan. 31 for a 6:00 p.m. tip-off.

DANGEROUS
Similar to North Texas, Louisiana Tech has number of offensive threats who can go off at any given time. LA Tech has four guys averaging double-digits but has three more who are averaging nine points per game. In fact, in the Bulldogs most recent game, there was a chance for them to leave the game with seven guys averaging double-digits for the season.

Of the four guys who are averaging double-digits, DaQuan Bracey leads the team with 13.3 points per game. After a bit of a slow start, Bracey has found his groove of late, scoring in double figures in six straight games including dropping 24 points, 22 points and 20 points during this stretch of games.

The 2017 C-USA Freshman of the Year, leads the Bulldogs with a 10-3 record and battling for at the top of the conference standings.

Their only scheduled game so far with the Mean Green is on Jan. 3 in Denton at 7:00 p.m.

SHORT BUT REALLY GOOD
A season removed from knocking off the tournament favorite Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in the quarterfinals of the tournament, Southern Miss opened the 2018-19 season with a notable 10-point win at SMU on Nov. 11, which immediately put the conference on notice and exemplified the improved depth of C-USA. Then a week before Christmas, the Golden Eagles went toe-for-toe at Kansas State, before narrowing dropping the road game against the BIG 12 foe.

Similar to ODU, USM (8-4) is led by its senior guard, Cortez Edwards, who has scored in double figures in 10 games this season and is averaging 14.5 per game.

The shortest team in the league, just ahead of North Texas by a few centimeters, the Golden Eagles lack of size hasn't limited them in rebounding as they're still averaging nearly 40 rebounds a game, which puts them in the top half of the league.

Southern Miss and North Texas meet early in the year on Jan. 5 in Denton at 5:00 p.m.

BIG NUMBERS
Like a lot of the teams in the conference, the FIU Panthers (9-3) are led by its senior guards.

There's no hiding it, Brian Beard Jr. is coming for the C-USA Player of the Year title, as he concludes non-conference play as the league's top scorer at 20.6 points per game.

In addition to being a top-flight scorer, Beard Jr. is a savvy experienced and knowledgable senior who can put his Panthers team on his back as a veteran.

FIU is nearly averaging 100 points per game (95.6), which easily gives them the most explosive offensive in the league. They're averaging 13.6 more points per game than Marshall who is averaging the second-most in C-USA. However, the Panthers also rank dead last in C-USA on the defensive end, giving up 83.3 points per game.

FIU isn't scheduled to make a trip to the Super Pit yet but the Mean Green do play their final league game before the C-USA Bonus Play portion of their schedule at FIU on Feb. 16 and 1:00 p.m. CT.

HE'S BACK
After then freshman Jihvvan Jackson tore his knee towards the end of last year, UT San Antonio was noticeably different.

The conference freshman of the year who set the UTSA single-season scoring record, was the engine for the Roadrunners who eventually compiled a 20-15 record and reached the second round of the C-USA Tournament and the second round of the CollegeiInsider.com Postseason Tournament despite not having Jackson.

One of the guys who stepped up in Jackson's absence was fellow freshman Keaton Wallace.

Now the sophomore duo is one of the best back courts in C-USA as Jackson is averaging 19.7 points per game — tied for the second-best in C-USA — and Wallace is averaging 18.8 points per game, which ranks him sixth in C-USA.

Jackson missed the first three games as he nursed his recovery from knee surgery but the duo of Jackson and Wallace will have UTSA (5-7) in the hunt for a league championship in 2018-19 as well as many more for the near future.

North Texas' only schedule game against UTSA so far is on Jan. 12 in San Antonio at 3:00 p.m.

FIRST BIG UPSET
Probably the first big win for a C-USA team this year came on Nov. 10 when Charlotte knocked off Oklahoma State at home.

Like ODU, FIU and Marshall, the 49ers (3-8) are led by their senior guard Jon Davis.

The senior scored 27 points against the Cowboys and made the game-winning shot as Charlotte and first-year head coach Ron Sanchez put the league on the map in the first week of the season.

UNT's only scheduled game against Charlotte so far is on Feb. 2 at Halton Arena at 3:00 p.m.

POSTMAN
Florida Atlantic is another C-USA team on the upswing.

The Owls (8-4) are just four wins shy of matching last season's total of 12 and have noticeable wins at UCF and against Florida Gulf Coast.

FAU can add another big win on Saturday when they travel to Illinois and close out non-conference. On offensive, the team is led by junior forward Jailyn Ingram who is one of the top big-men in the league if not the best. Ingram's 18.9-point-per-game average is the best for a C-USA player listed other than guard and he's notched already five double-doubles. He's yet to have been held under 11 points and he's scored over 20 points six times.

UNT travels to FAU on Feb. 14 for a 6:00 p.m. CT tip-off.

UTEP, UAB, Middle Tennessee and Rice all too appear to be players for the league championship.
The Miners (5-6) feature some of the best freshmen in Conference USA in Jordan Lathon and Efe Odigie. UTEP enters conference play after a big 11-point home win over Wyoming.

North Texas travels to UTEP on Jan. 10 for a 8:00 p.m. CT. tip.

UAB (7-5), has played two games this month that were decided by fewer than five points, including taking No. 8 Auburn to overtime on the road before finally dropping the game 75-71. Sophomore Zack Bryant and third-year head coach Robert Ehsan has the Blazers trending up.

The Mean Green host UAB on Jan. 24 at 7:00 p.m.

Middle Tennessee (3-9) is in a transition from the program's all-time winningest coach Kerrit Davis to new head coach Nick McDevitt. The Blue Raiders lost their top six scorers from a season ago and are at Rhode Island on Sunday to close out their non-conference schedule and hopefully end an eight-game slide.

Seven newcomers make up a large portion of this year's MT team and one of them, Antonio Green, appears to be one of the best in C-USA. The UT Rio Grande Valley transfer is averaging 18.3 points per game and is his team's top three-point shooter.

North Texas hosts Middle Tennessee Jan. 26 at 5:00 p.m.

Rice is UNT's first conference opponent. The two schools meet Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in Houston where last season Roosevelt Smart dropped 42 points and made a Mean Green program-record 10 three-pointers.

The Owls (5-8) are well on their way to winning more games this season than last year. Rice finished 2017-18 with a 7-24 record.

After Saturday's game, North Texas will play Rice again on Jan. 19 when they host the Owls for a 5:00 p.m. scheduled tip-off.

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