University of North Texas
-53,00 CUSA
UMass
6-5,0-0Atlantic 10
Men's Basketball Locks Down UMass
12/11/2021 6:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball
FORT WORTH, Texas – The North Texas men's basketball team defeated UMass 66-57, at the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Dickies Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Mean Green handed the Minutemen their fifth loss on the season, improving to 5-3 on the year.
"Proud of how our team battled today. We did a good job attacking the paint today and playing team defense", McCasland said. "That's a great team who can shoot the lights out so we knew they were always in it. Proud of how we stuck together today."
In the first half, the Mean Green stifled Minutemen on the offensive side of the floor and opened up the game with 12-2 UNT run. UMass struggled to hit anything but deep threes at the end of the shot clock and it was the lowest scoring first half total by the Minutemen this season.
It was a balanced scoring effort by the Mean Green with seven student-athletes scoring in the first half. Rubin Jones was on fire early in the first half with eight of his own going two-for-four from 3-point range. The UMass zone couldn't slow down the UNT offensive attack. Sophomore Abou Ousmane dominated the paint reaching double figures early. Forward Jahmiah Simmons scored six points in the first half which is good for his best since 2019.
In the second half, Ousmane reached a career-high with 13 points. Tylor Perry eclipsed 100-career points at UNT becoming the second-fastest to hit the century mark in a season under Grant McCasland during his tenure in Denton. Perry finished the game with eight points.
JJ Murray started both halves the same making two 3-pointers from the wing, finishing with six points, four rebounds and two assists. UNT won the first half paint battle 22-6, but the Minutemen flipped that in second half going on a few runs keeping the game competitive.
In crunch time, North Texas put the game on ice making a pair of free throws and thunderous back-to-back dunks. UMass still couldn't muster up enough offense or defensive stops to complete the comeback.
Jones was named the MVP of the game scoring 13 points. McCasland picked up his 84th victory at UNT tying Jimmy Gales (1986-93) for fourth-most coaching wins in program history.
The Mean Green will wrap up the non-conference slate with three out of four being played in the Super Pit. UNT will turn their attention when they host Sam Houston State on Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. (CT).
