Thursday, February 27
Miami, FL
6:00 PM CT
University of North Texas
19-10, 13-3CUSA
78
at
59
FIU
17-11, 8-7CUSA
1
2
F
North Texas
46
32
78
FIU
28
31
59
Mean Green Roll To Big Road Win
2/27/2020 7:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MIAMI — The first place North Texas men's basketball rolled to a 78-59 victory at FIU Thursday night.
The Mean Green were led by 23 points from Umoja Gibson and 16 points from James Reese. Point guard Javion Hamlet added 14 points, 10 in the second half. He also had eight assists and six rebounds.
The victory for UNT (19-10, 13-3 C-USA) sets up for a big conference game Sunday afternoon. North Texas will host second place Western Kentucky at 1 p.m. CT. WKU defeated third place Louisiana Tech 95-91 in overtime on Thursday meaning if North Texas defeats the Hilltoppers on Sunday they'll win the Conference USA regular season title.
Sunday will be the final home game of the year for UNT. Tickets can be purchased here. The game will be broadcasted on CBS Sports Network and the Mean Green Sports Network.
"We played real mature," said head coach Grant McCasland. "We had a mature approach to the game and did what we had to do to win the game."
Thursday, North Texas went up 10-0 on the short-handed Panthers (17-11, 8-7) and never looked back. After scoring their first bucket 27 seconds into the game on a Deng Geu layup, the Mean Green led for the entire game. Though Gibson poured in six of his team's nine 3-pointers on Thursday, attacking the paint was the difference for UNT who has now beaten FIU three straight times. Furthermore, they've held the explosive FIU offense that was averaging 77 points per game entering Thursday to under 60 points in the three straight games.
UNT scored 34 points in the paint against FIU who feature Osasumwen Osaghae, the nation's leading shot blocker.
North Texas' guards attacked the paint or found its big-men on nearly every possession as McCasland emphasizes in every practice and game.
"We knew the longer they had to guard the less energy they'd have to get back and play offense," McCasland said. "If you shoot it fast and don't work it around, then they start feeling good. We just had a real mature approach."
North Texas quickly returned home after Thursday's game to prepare for WKU who made a 15-point comeback in the final four minutes at home on Thursday versus LA Tech. The Hilltoppers now sit alone in second place, one game behind North Texas. With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to two games behind North Texas.
LA Tech doesn't play Sunday but a victory by UNT over WKU would eliminate the Bulldogs and Hilltoppers from winning the regular season crown. WKU would be two games back with one game remaining on its schedule and LA Tech would be three games back with two games remaining.
Thursday's victory improved North Texas' conference record to 13-3. The last time they won 13 conference games was the 2009-10 season when North Texas won the Sun Belt West Division title and won the 2010 Sun Belt Tournament. It was the last time North Texas reached the NCAA Tournament.
BUY TICKETS TO SUNDAY'S GAME
The Mean Green were led by 23 points from Umoja Gibson and 16 points from James Reese. Point guard Javion Hamlet added 14 points, 10 in the second half. He also had eight assists and six rebounds.
The victory for UNT (19-10, 13-3 C-USA) sets up for a big conference game Sunday afternoon. North Texas will host second place Western Kentucky at 1 p.m. CT. WKU defeated third place Louisiana Tech 95-91 in overtime on Thursday meaning if North Texas defeats the Hilltoppers on Sunday they'll win the Conference USA regular season title.
Sunday will be the final home game of the year for UNT. Tickets can be purchased here. The game will be broadcasted on CBS Sports Network and the Mean Green Sports Network.
"We played real mature," said head coach Grant McCasland. "We had a mature approach to the game and did what we had to do to win the game."
Thursday, North Texas went up 10-0 on the short-handed Panthers (17-11, 8-7) and never looked back. After scoring their first bucket 27 seconds into the game on a Deng Geu layup, the Mean Green led for the entire game. Though Gibson poured in six of his team's nine 3-pointers on Thursday, attacking the paint was the difference for UNT who has now beaten FIU three straight times. Furthermore, they've held the explosive FIU offense that was averaging 77 points per game entering Thursday to under 60 points in the three straight games.
UNT scored 34 points in the paint against FIU who feature Osasumwen Osaghae, the nation's leading shot blocker.
North Texas' guards attacked the paint or found its big-men on nearly every possession as McCasland emphasizes in every practice and game.
"We knew the longer they had to guard the less energy they'd have to get back and play offense," McCasland said. "If you shoot it fast and don't work it around, then they start feeling good. We just had a real mature approach."
North Texas quickly returned home after Thursday's game to prepare for WKU who made a 15-point comeback in the final four minutes at home on Thursday versus LA Tech. The Hilltoppers now sit alone in second place, one game behind North Texas. With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to two games behind North Texas.
LA Tech doesn't play Sunday but a victory by UNT over WKU would eliminate the Bulldogs and Hilltoppers from winning the regular season crown. WKU would be two games back with one game remaining on its schedule and LA Tech would be three games back with two games remaining.
Thursday's victory improved North Texas' conference record to 13-3. The last time they won 13 conference games was the 2009-10 season when North Texas won the Sun Belt West Division title and won the 2010 Sun Belt Tournament. It was the last time North Texas reached the NCAA Tournament.
BUY TICKETS TO SUNDAY'S GAME
Team Stats
UNT
FIU
FG%
.491
.407
3FG%
.563
.125
FT%
.813
.520
RB
33
33
TO
11
12
STL
8
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
7
3FGM
6
FTM
3
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's Basketball
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