Thursday, November 25
Kissimmee, FL
1:30 PM CT
University of North Texas
-22,00 CUSA
59
vs
71
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
Kansas
4-0,0-0Big 12
1
2
F
North Texas
27
32
59
Kansas
35
36
71
Photo by: Luke Della
Mean Green Fall To No. 4 KU, 71-59
11/25/2021 4:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
KISSIMMEE, Florida — The North Texas men's basketball team lost 71-59 to No. 4 Kansas Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the ESPN Events Invitational at HP Field House on the campus of Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex.
UNT (2-2) was led by newcomer Tylor Perry who scored a game-high 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting.
"Give credit to Kansas," said North Texas head coach Grant McCasland. "They made it hard on us to shoot threes and it's hard to beat a team like that if you're not hitting threes. I'm proud of our team's fight to claw back into it with deflections and forcing 15 turnovers and give ourselves a chance but they made it very difficult on us."
After a slow start that saw the Mean Green trail the nationally ranked Jawhawks (4-0) by 13 early, UNT fought back with the strong defensive effort McCasland referenced. UNT pulled within six points (33-27) right before the half after forcing three Kansas turnovers in the final three minutes of the first half.
The six-point deficit was as close as the Mean Green would get from there on out though as the low 3-point shooting percentage (4-27) and fouls troubled them in the second half and McCasland's bench got slim. Senior Thomas Bell played just 20 minutes and fouled out with 11:46 left in the game. He finished with nine points. Sophomore big Abou Ousmane finished with just three fouls but had all three in the first half. Fifth-year senior big-man Hameir Wright picked up his third foul early in the second half.
"We'll have games where we don't shoot the ball well and we've got to continue to rely on our defense to keep us in the game," Perry said. "We've got to be better tomorrow. We know that."
Perry, who was the only player Thursday afternoon in to reach the 20-point total added two steals to his stat line, which was tied for the game-high.
In the first half, Perry made a number of acrobatic shot clock buzzer beating baskets that got him in the flow of the game. Midway through the first half, he sank a 30-plus-foot 3-pointer that barely even touched the net as the shot clock went off. A few possessions later, Perry made a tough physical layup at the buzzer again. His 23 points Thursday is a season-high for Perry who is just four games into his UNT career.
With the loss, UNT will face Miami (3-2) Friday at 10:00 a.m. CT from the same HP Field House. The Hurricane fell 76-60 Thursday to Dayton. This will be the first all-time meeting between the two schools. It will be broadcast on either ESPN2 or ESPNU and on the Mean Green Sports Network.
UNT (2-2) was led by newcomer Tylor Perry who scored a game-high 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting.
"Give credit to Kansas," said North Texas head coach Grant McCasland. "They made it hard on us to shoot threes and it's hard to beat a team like that if you're not hitting threes. I'm proud of our team's fight to claw back into it with deflections and forcing 15 turnovers and give ourselves a chance but they made it very difficult on us."
After a slow start that saw the Mean Green trail the nationally ranked Jawhawks (4-0) by 13 early, UNT fought back with the strong defensive effort McCasland referenced. UNT pulled within six points (33-27) right before the half after forcing three Kansas turnovers in the final three minutes of the first half.
The six-point deficit was as close as the Mean Green would get from there on out though as the low 3-point shooting percentage (4-27) and fouls troubled them in the second half and McCasland's bench got slim. Senior Thomas Bell played just 20 minutes and fouled out with 11:46 left in the game. He finished with nine points. Sophomore big Abou Ousmane finished with just three fouls but had all three in the first half. Fifth-year senior big-man Hameir Wright picked up his third foul early in the second half.
"We'll have games where we don't shoot the ball well and we've got to continue to rely on our defense to keep us in the game," Perry said. "We've got to be better tomorrow. We know that."
Perry, who was the only player Thursday afternoon in to reach the 20-point total added two steals to his stat line, which was tied for the game-high.
In the first half, Perry made a number of acrobatic shot clock buzzer beating baskets that got him in the flow of the game. Midway through the first half, he sank a 30-plus-foot 3-pointer that barely even touched the net as the shot clock went off. A few possessions later, Perry made a tough physical layup at the buzzer again. His 23 points Thursday is a season-high for Perry who is just four games into his UNT career.
With the loss, UNT will face Miami (3-2) Friday at 10:00 a.m. CT from the same HP Field House. The Hurricane fell 76-60 Thursday to Dayton. This will be the first all-time meeting between the two schools. It will be broadcast on either ESPN2 or ESPNU and on the Mean Green Sports Network.
Team Stats
UNT
KU
FG%
.397
.510
3FG%
.148
.429
FT%
.818
.684
RB
29
33
TO
11
15
STL
9
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's BasketballDaniyal Robinson Introductory Press Conference | Mean Green MBB
Monday, April 07
DANIYAL ROBINSON INTRODUCTORY PRESS CONFERENCE
Wednesday, April 02
Recap vs Oklahoma State | NIT 2025 | Mean Green MBB
Thursday, March 27
Broadcast Highlights vs Charlotte| Mean Green MBB
Friday, March 07