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Friday, March 10
Frisco, TX
2 PM CT
University of North Texas
-267,164 CUSA
69
vs
76
No. 3 UAB
-258,146 CUSA
1
2
F
UAB
35
41
76
North Texas
28
41
69
UNT Falls to UAB In C-USA Semifinal
3/10/2023 4:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
FRISCO, Texas – The UNT men's basketball team nearly overcame an early 20-point deficit and closed the game to two points with 42 seconds remaining before falling 76-69 to UAB in the Conference USA Championships semifinals on Friday afternoon at the Ford Center at the Star.
"We were fully expecting to win today," said senior guard Tylor Perry. "It was a battle between heavy weights. They hit us hard in the beginning and it was just a little too much to overcome. We had some great fight, though. I thought that's one of the things that make this team great is its fight."
"We've had an amazing year — most wins in the school's history — and because of it thankfully the season isn't over yet and we've earned to play more games," he added.
UNT (26-7), the tournament's No. 2 seed, started the game 1-for-18 from the field, while third-seed UAB (25-8) shot 50% over that same stretch to build a 22-2 lead before the Mean Green notched their second basket nearly 12 minutes into the game.
UNT closed the UAB lead to seven points at half but the Blazers were able to extend their lead to double-digits for much of the second half before a final run from UNT culminated with a Rubin Jones layup off a Kai Huntsberry steal and assist to cut UAB's lead to 71-69 with 42 seconds to play.
Senior guard Tylor Perry, the C-USA Player of the Year, led the Mean Green with 17 points before fouling out in the final minute, while Huntsberry followed with 14 points and a team-high four assists. Sophomore Aaron Scott followed up his career game in Thursday's quarterfinal win over LA Tech with 13 points and a career-high tying 13 rebounds, which also was a new season high, to become the first UNT player to record a double-double in a conference tournament game since Javion Hamlet's 21-point, 11-assist effort in a 2021 victory over Middle Tennessee. Jones rounded out the double-digit scorers for UNT with 11.
UNT will find out Sunday what its postseason selection will be. They hosted the first two rounds of the NIT a season ago.
"We were fully expecting to win today," said senior guard Tylor Perry. "It was a battle between heavy weights. They hit us hard in the beginning and it was just a little too much to overcome. We had some great fight, though. I thought that's one of the things that make this team great is its fight."
"We've had an amazing year — most wins in the school's history — and because of it thankfully the season isn't over yet and we've earned to play more games," he added.
UNT (26-7), the tournament's No. 2 seed, started the game 1-for-18 from the field, while third-seed UAB (25-8) shot 50% over that same stretch to build a 22-2 lead before the Mean Green notched their second basket nearly 12 minutes into the game.
UNT closed the UAB lead to seven points at half but the Blazers were able to extend their lead to double-digits for much of the second half before a final run from UNT culminated with a Rubin Jones layup off a Kai Huntsberry steal and assist to cut UAB's lead to 71-69 with 42 seconds to play.
Senior guard Tylor Perry, the C-USA Player of the Year, led the Mean Green with 17 points before fouling out in the final minute, while Huntsberry followed with 14 points and a team-high four assists. Sophomore Aaron Scott followed up his career game in Thursday's quarterfinal win over LA Tech with 13 points and a career-high tying 13 rebounds, which also was a new season high, to become the first UNT player to record a double-double in a conference tournament game since Javion Hamlet's 21-point, 11-assist effort in a 2021 victory over Middle Tennessee. Jones rounded out the double-digit scorers for UNT with 11.
UNT will find out Sunday what its postseason selection will be. They hosted the first two rounds of the NIT a season ago.
Team Stats
UAB
UNT
FG%
.415
.400
3FG%
.333
.300
FT%
.781
.789
RB
38
35
TO
10
10
STL
6
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
Guard
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