University of North Texas
Rice
UNT Takes Nine-Game Winning Streak To Rice
2/11/2022 8:59:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Mean Green and Owls are scheduled to tip-off at 2 p.m. CT from the Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston. The game will be broadcast on CUSA.tv and the Mean Green Sports Network, which can be found on the Varsity Network App.
"We know how important it is to remain focused at one game at a time," said senior captain Thomas Bell. "Rice has proven they can beat anyone in this league and we know they have the talent to light you up if you're not locked in. It'll be a good battle that we're looking forward to."
North Texas (17-4, 10-1 C-USA) beat Rice 75-43 in Denton on Jan. 1 in the conference opener. The Mean Green grabbed 28 offensive rebounds in the 32-point win. The Mean Green were led by Tylor Perry who scored 18 points off the bench. Not far behind Perry was senior Mardrez McBride who scored 17 points. Bell had nine rebounds in the win and seven of his nine rebounds were offensive rebounds.
But just a week after losing to UNT, the Owls (14-9, 6-5 C-USA) knocked off UAB at home 85-80. UAB is the only team to beat the Mean Green over the last 16 games.
"We know how dangerous Rice's offense can be," Bell said. "We need to be locked in defensively from the jump."
Entering Saturday's contest, North Texas owns the nation's No. 2 scoring defense, holding opponents to just 56.0 points per game. Kansas is the only UNT opponent this season to reach 70 points (71). On average the Mean Green have held league opponents to 16.9 points below their respective scoring averages. Rice heads into Saturday averaging 77.2 points per game.
UNDER 70 POINTS
North Texas has held 17 straight opponents under 70 points. It's the longest such streak in program history. Kansas is the only opponent to score over 70 points this year versus the Mean Green (71).
65 OR UNDER
North Texas has won 21 straight games when holding opponents to 65 points or under dating back to last season.
ROAD WARRIORS
North Texas is 5-0 in road games this year. UNT is just one of two teams in the country who has yet to lose a road game this season. The other is No. 2 Gonzaga (3-0). UNT won five road games all of last year.
GOING FOR 10 IN A ROW
UNT enters Saturday on an nine-game winning streak. The last time they won 10 games in a row was at the end of the 2009-10 season when they won 11 games in a row between Feb. 4, 2010 and March 9, 2010. The current nine-game winning streak is the longest winning streak in the Grant McCasland era.
BEST LEAGUE START EVER
With North Texas' 69-45 win over UTSA last Saturday, the Mean Green improved to 9-1 in league play, marking their best conference start in program history. The Mean Green had four times started 8-2 prior to this season.
WHEN ABOU MAKES 5+
When North Texas' sophomore Abou Ousmane makes five or more field goals in a game the Mean Green are 10-0 all-time and 9-0 this season. During UNT's current nine-game winning streak he's made five or more field goals in six of the nine games.
After Saturday's game, North Texas hits the road again. They'll face Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Florida, on Thursday. FAU is on a 10-game home winning streak. Then they face UAB in Birmingham on Saturday.
