University of North Texas Athletics
UNT Earns Six All-Conference Honors
3/7/2022 1:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
DALLAS — The 2022 Conference USA West Division champion North Texas men's basketball team earned six C-USA All-Conference honors announced by the league Monday. The six honors were tied for the most in the league.
Guard Tylor Perry was voted First Team All-Conference as well the league's Sixth Player of the Year. Senior Thomas Bell, who was a 2021 Preseason All-Conference selectee, earned Second Team All-Conference and All-Defensive Team Honors.
Joining Bell on the five-man C-USA All-Defensive Team was UNT senior JJ Murray. UNT was the only team with multiple players selected to the five-man all-defensive team.
Lastly, Mean Green freshman Aaron Scott who three times was named the league's Freshman of the Week was voted to the five-man C-USA All-Freshman Team.
Perry is the first UNT men's basketball student-athlete to earn the Conference USA Six-Man of the Year honor. The newcomer led his team in scoring averaging 13.7 points per game. He scored over 20 points five times this season and twice scored a season-high 25 points, both against league opponents.
Perry scored late-game winners at LA Tech (Jan. 29), at UAB (Feb. 19) and at home versus the Bulldogs on Feb. 26 to seal the 2022 C-USA West Division Title.
Perry, who was the first sub off the bench for UNT in every game he played this season, ranked in the top five in the nation among reserves in minutes (1st), points scored (2nd), made free throws (3rd) and 3-pointers (5th). He led all C-USA reserves in minutes, points scored, 3-pointers, field goals and free throws made. He ranked third in the league in assists and steals among reserves.
This is third-year UNT forward Thomas Bell's first postseason all-conference honor. Bell led UNT in rebounding with 193. He had five double-doubles this season and scored over 20 points three times. He scored a career-high 21 points twice against league opponents.
Bell had five or more offensive rebounds in three games season. He grabbed the key offensive rebound on Jan. 29 at LA Tech, which led to Perry's game-winning 3-pointer.
Bell is North Texas' active career leader in points scored, rebounds and assists.
North Texas ended this season as the nation's top scoring defense. They held opponents to an average of just 55.6 points per game — nearly three points lower than the second best scoring defense in the country.
The head of the Mean Green defensive snake was Bell and Murray.
Throughout the season the duo constantly put the clamps down on opposing teams both in the paint and from beyond the arc. North Texas opponents only averaged 4.0 3-pointers made per game. The defensive pressure Murray and Bell applied fueled a number of Mean Green runs that included a double-digit comeback win at Wichita State (Dec. 18) and another one at LA Tech (Jan. 29).
Bell and Murray are the first UNT men's basketball student-athletes to earn C-USA All-Defensive Team honors.
Scott, who dominated the C-USA Freshman of the Week honor in January, averaged 4.5 points and 4.1 rebound per game for the season. He scored a season-high 13 points at Southern Miss on Jan. 27. He had seven or more rebounds in five games this season including a season-high 13 against Charlotte on Jan. 20. Despite not starting a game and averaging 16 minutes per game, Scott was third on the team in total rebounds (114) and offensive rebounds (49).
This is the third year in a row North Texas has had a player named to the C-USA All-Freshman Team.
