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University of North Texas
Arkansas (Exhibition)
Exhibition Comeback Falls Short At Arkansas
10/30/2021 6:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The reigning Conference USA Tournament champ Mean Green outscored the Razorbacks in the second half, 32-26. But foul trouble, turnovers and lower than normal 3-point shooting dug UNT into a 17-point hole late in the first half.
Despite that, UNT battled back in the second half and was within three points with four minutes to go after Rubin Jones sunk a pair of free throws.
"We got out of sorts there in the first half," said head coach Grant McCasland. "That's a great team in Arkansas, and there's a lot of working pieces that we're trying to bring together. But proud of our team's fight. We just need to take care of the ball better and play without fouling."
After pulling within three points to UA who reached the Elite Eight last season, UNT turned the ball over three times. They finished Saturday with 19 turnovers and 25 fouls committed. UNT's starting front court of Abou Ousmane and Thomas Bell each had three fouls in the first half that limited their respective minutes.
This season, North Texas features eight newcomers and just two returning starters. On Saturday, five of those eight newcomers played.
On the stat sheet they were led by returning starting guard Mardrez McBride, who started all 28 of UNT's games last season. McBride scored 16 points Saturday at the Bud Walton Arena. He also chipped in five rebounds. Last season McBride scored 16 or more points just two times. However, one of those two times came in the Mean Green's 78-69 first round upset win over Purdue in the 2021 NCAA Tournament — he scored 16 points against the Boilermakers. Though he averaged just 6.7 points per game during the regular season last year, McBride averaged 13 points per game in the 2021 postseason.
UNT played the Razorbacks last season in Fayetteville on Nov. 28, 2020. McBride finished that game with eight points.
Not far behind McBride was newcomer junior college transfer Tylor Perry. The Fort Coffee, Oklahoma, native who grew up going to games at Arkansas finished Saturday with 15 points. Perry was the 2021 NJCAA Tournament MVP after he led Coffeyville to the 2021 national championship.
"Tylor missed some practice earlier this summer so he's still getting caught up to speed and I think it took him a second to get settled in but once he did he was huge for us," McCasland said. "He's a winner and we love that he's here."
UNT cleaned up the glass well against Arkansas. The Mean Green outrebounded the Razorbacks 42-28 — 16 of which were offensive rebounds. Though he got into foul trouble, sophomore returner Ousmane grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds in just 15 minutes and had four offensive boards. Also cleaning up the glass well on Saturday was newcomer Hameir Wright. The Washington transfer had seven boards — also more than anyone on Arkansas — in 16 minutes and three times used his 6-foot-8 frame and 7-foot wingspan to volleyball tap missed shots back to a UNT guard for a second chance.
North Texas' next game is its season opener, which is on Nov. 9 at 7:30 p.m. CT at the Super Pit versus Oklahoma Christian.
