Sunday, March 1
The Super Pit
1:00 PM CT
University of North Texas
vs
Western Kentucky
Photo by: Ben Stewart
UNT Hosts WKU Sunday With A Title At Stake
2/29/2020 3:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
DENTON — Since moving to the NCAA ranks in 1957, North Texas has won just two men's basketball regular season conference championships.
Sunday, the league leading Mean Green (19-10, 13-3 C-USA) host second place Western Kentucky (19-9, 12-4 C-USA) at 1 p.m. with an opportunity to win its first regular season conference title since its 1989 Southland Conference crown.
Sunday's game will be broadcasted on CBS Sports Network and on the Mean Green Sports Network (95.3 KHYI, 88.1 KNTU) or on the tuneIN app by searching KNTU.
Tickets to Sunday's contest can be found here.
Entering Sunday, North Texas holds a one game lead over WKU. After Sunday, both the Mean Green and Hilltoppers will have just one game left on each of its schedules. North Texas travels to fourth place Charlotte on Wednesday and WKU plays at FIU on March 7.
Sunday won't be easy for UNT who is coming off of a 78-59 victory at FIU on Thursday. WKU beat the Mean Green in Bowling Green, Kentucky, 93-84 on Jan. 2 in the conference opener.It was WKU's 11th straight victory over UNT. North Texas led by as much as 15 points early in the second half on Jan. 2 but after losing its defensive anchor Zachary Simmons to an injury, everything fell off the rails. WKU scored a whopping 61 points in the second half and came back to win.
In the Jan. 2 contest, the Mean Green had four players score in double figures. Javion Hamlet led all scorers with 19 points. He chipped in eight assists. Forward Deng Geu added 18 points, most in the first half and James Reese and Thomas Bell combined for 23 points. UNT forced 21 Western Kentucky turnovers but the Hilltoppers shot nearly 70 percent from the field and from 3-point range in the second half.
Western Kentucky is the only Conference USA team third-year head coach Grant McCasland hasn't beaten.
MOST CONFERENCE WINS
Along with winning a conference title, North Texas can set a program record on Sunday for most conference wins in a single season. North Texas' 13 conference wins this year are tied for the most in program history. Its 13 conference wins in the 2009-10 season in the Sun Belt Conference is the only other time they won 13. UNT went 13-5 that season.
OTHER REGULAR SEASON TITLES
1988
North Texas won its first NCAA Division I conference title in 1988 when they won the Southland Conference with a 12-2 conference record and 17-13 overall record. They'd win the league two games ahead of Louisiana Monroe. North Texas' Tony Worrell was named the league's Player of the Year. Worrell, a senior, started every game for North Texas and averaged 20.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game that year. Furthermore, the Jimmy Gales led Mean Green went on to win the 1988 Southland Conference Tournament with a 87-70 victory over ULM. UNT earned its first ever invite to the NCAA Tournament where they'd play Rick Fox and North Carolina in the first round. They lost 83-65. Worrell and teammate Deon Hunter scored 15 points each. Ronnie Morgan grabbed 19 rebounds.
1989
A year removed from its 1988 Southland regular season and tournament title, North Texas repeated as regular season champs with a 10-4 record, edging out ULM by one game. Hunter was the SLC Player of the Year after averaging 17.9 points per game for the year. UNT's hopes to get back to the NCAA Tournament were erased as they were upset by third-seed McNeese State in the Southland Tournament championship game, 85-68.
Player of the Year
In league play, redshirt junior Javion Hamlet leads C-USA in assists (85), assists per game (5.3), assist/turnover ratio (2.8) and second in free throw percentage (87.6). He's also fifth in the league scoring (17.6 points per game).
Win Share
Javion Hamlet has the league's highest win share (3.4) in league play. Win share is a stat that estimates how many wins you are responsible for.
Sunday, the league leading Mean Green (19-10, 13-3 C-USA) host second place Western Kentucky (19-9, 12-4 C-USA) at 1 p.m. with an opportunity to win its first regular season conference title since its 1989 Southland Conference crown.
Sunday's game will be broadcasted on CBS Sports Network and on the Mean Green Sports Network (95.3 KHYI, 88.1 KNTU) or on the tuneIN app by searching KNTU.
Tickets to Sunday's contest can be found here.
Entering Sunday, North Texas holds a one game lead over WKU. After Sunday, both the Mean Green and Hilltoppers will have just one game left on each of its schedules. North Texas travels to fourth place Charlotte on Wednesday and WKU plays at FIU on March 7.
Sunday won't be easy for UNT who is coming off of a 78-59 victory at FIU on Thursday. WKU beat the Mean Green in Bowling Green, Kentucky, 93-84 on Jan. 2 in the conference opener.It was WKU's 11th straight victory over UNT. North Texas led by as much as 15 points early in the second half on Jan. 2 but after losing its defensive anchor Zachary Simmons to an injury, everything fell off the rails. WKU scored a whopping 61 points in the second half and came back to win.
In the Jan. 2 contest, the Mean Green had four players score in double figures. Javion Hamlet led all scorers with 19 points. He chipped in eight assists. Forward Deng Geu added 18 points, most in the first half and James Reese and Thomas Bell combined for 23 points. UNT forced 21 Western Kentucky turnovers but the Hilltoppers shot nearly 70 percent from the field and from 3-point range in the second half.
Western Kentucky is the only Conference USA team third-year head coach Grant McCasland hasn't beaten.
MOST CONFERENCE WINS
Along with winning a conference title, North Texas can set a program record on Sunday for most conference wins in a single season. North Texas' 13 conference wins this year are tied for the most in program history. Its 13 conference wins in the 2009-10 season in the Sun Belt Conference is the only other time they won 13. UNT went 13-5 that season.
OTHER REGULAR SEASON TITLES
1988
North Texas won its first NCAA Division I conference title in 1988 when they won the Southland Conference with a 12-2 conference record and 17-13 overall record. They'd win the league two games ahead of Louisiana Monroe. North Texas' Tony Worrell was named the league's Player of the Year. Worrell, a senior, started every game for North Texas and averaged 20.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game that year. Furthermore, the Jimmy Gales led Mean Green went on to win the 1988 Southland Conference Tournament with a 87-70 victory over ULM. UNT earned its first ever invite to the NCAA Tournament where they'd play Rick Fox and North Carolina in the first round. They lost 83-65. Worrell and teammate Deon Hunter scored 15 points each. Ronnie Morgan grabbed 19 rebounds.
1989
A year removed from its 1988 Southland regular season and tournament title, North Texas repeated as regular season champs with a 10-4 record, edging out ULM by one game. Hunter was the SLC Player of the Year after averaging 17.9 points per game for the year. UNT's hopes to get back to the NCAA Tournament were erased as they were upset by third-seed McNeese State in the Southland Tournament championship game, 85-68.
Player of the Year
In league play, redshirt junior Javion Hamlet leads C-USA in assists (85), assists per game (5.3), assist/turnover ratio (2.8) and second in free throw percentage (87.6). He's also fifth in the league scoring (17.6 points per game).
Win Share
Javion Hamlet has the league's highest win share (3.4) in league play. Win share is a stat that estimates how many wins you are responsible for.
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
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