University of North Texas Athletics
Thursday, March 12
Birmingham, AL
8 PM CT
University of North Texas
vs
No. 7 Florida Atlantic / No. 10 Temple
Men's Basketball Begins Conference Championship Thursday Night
3/10/2026 9:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – The UNT men's basketball team begins its run at a 2026 American
Men's Basketball Championship Thursday night from the Legacy Arena at the BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Mean Green (18-13, 9-9), who earned a first-round bye and will start the 10-team league tournament in the second round, will face the winner of No. 7 Florida Atlantic (17-14, 9-9) and No. 10 Temple (16-15, 8-10) at 8 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on the Mean Green Sports Network, presented by Learfield on KHYI 95.3 FM and on ESPNU.
UNT beat FAU and Temple during the regular season. They beat both teams within the last calendar month.
North Texas enters the conference tournament having won two in a row and six of its last eight games. They are aiming to win its first conference tournament championship and earn an automatic bid into the Big Dance for the first time since 2021.
ALL-CONFERENCE GUARD
UNT sophomore guard Je'Shawn Stevenson was voted by the American Conference's head coaches Second Team All-Conference. Stevenson was the league's fifth-highest scorer (527 total points/ 17.0 ppg) and led the league in steals with 62 (2.0 spg). Last year at Cleveland State as a freshman, Stevenson was voted to the league's all-freshman team and named its overall Freshman of the Year. Of the overall 15 players voted to an all-conference teams (First, Second or Third), Stevenson and UAB's Chance Westry (Second Team) were the only sophomores to be voted all-conference. No freshmen were voted to an all-conference team. Stevenson is just the eighth different UNT player to be voted to an all-conference team as a sophomore or freshman.
NINTH STRAIGHT WINNING SEASON
UNT this year secured its ninth straight winning season. It is its longest such streak in program history. Since 1982, UNT has had just 19 total winning seasons. Nine have come since 2018.
CLOSE GAMES
UNT has played in 10 games this year decided by 3 points or less. No team in the American has played in more one possession games than UNT and the only teams in the country who has played in more one possession games than UNT is UMass (11) and Wagner (11). UNT is 6-4 in games this year decided by one possession. The UNT program record for most one possession games in a single UNT season is 11 set by both the 2006-07 and 2017-18 UNT teams. UNT has played in 15 games this season decided by 4 points or less. That's a program record and American Conference record for most games in a single season decided by 4 points or less. No team in the country this year has played in more games decided by 4 points or less. UNT is 8-7 in games decided by 4 or less. UNT has played in 16 games this year decided by 5 or less, more than half of its total games played (16/31). It is the most in the American and only Coastal Carolina (18) has played in more games decided by 5 or less in the country. UNT is 9-7 in games decided by 5 points or less.
COACH ROBINSON
New UNT head coach Daniyal Robinson led North Texas to 18 regular season wins this year. It is the most regular season wins by a first-year UNT head coach 1976 (50 years ago) when then new UNT head coach Bill Blakley led North Texas to 22 regular season wins. Robinson is the 10th different UNT head coach in the last 50 years. North Texas finished in a three-way tie for fifth place in the 2026 American Conference standings with Charlotte and FAU. The fifth-place finish is the highest a first-year UNT head coach has finished since 1994 when then new head coach Tim Jankovich led the Mean Green to a fourth-place finish in the Southland Conference standings. Jankovich, like Robinson, led UNT to a 9-9 conference record in his first respective season. North Texas reached the title game of the 1994 Southland Conference Tournament but fell to Texas State, 69-60. UNT finished with a 9-9 conference record. It is the second-most conference wins by a first-year UNT head coach and only one shy of tying the record. On Jan. 4 UNT defeated Tulsa at home 72-67. The Golden Hurricane at the time ranked No. 38 in the NCAA NET. It is UNT's highest ranked NET victory since upsetting Purdue in the 2021 NCAA Tournament first round.
RECENT TRENDS
» Over its last five games, UNT shot 34.1% from deep (30-88). In conference play the Mean Green shot just 27.8% from 3-point range. Je'Shawn Stevenson is 12-34 (35.3%) from deep over the last five games. Cahmai Crosby has made four of his last 10 from 3.
» Sophomore Reece Robinson enters the conference tournament having made seven of his last nine 3-pointers.
» Je'Shawn Stevenson has made 24 of his last 26 free throw attempts (92.3%) entering the conference tournament.
» UNT has trailed at the half in each of its last four games. UNT went 3-1 over those four games.
» Over its last four games UNT is averaging just eight turnovers per game.
» David Terrell Jr. has scored 15+ points in five straight games.
» Reece Robinson has made 15 of his last 24 shots (62.5%) from the floor entering the conference tournament.
» UNT ended the regular season making just 24 of its final 42 free throw attempts (57.1%)
» North Texas has won three of its last four away from home. The one defeat was a one-point loss at Charlotte (80-79).
» Each of UNT's last two games finished with the exact same score (62-58). UNT won both of them.
Men's Basketball Championship Thursday night from the Legacy Arena at the BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Mean Green (18-13, 9-9), who earned a first-round bye and will start the 10-team league tournament in the second round, will face the winner of No. 7 Florida Atlantic (17-14, 9-9) and No. 10 Temple (16-15, 8-10) at 8 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on the Mean Green Sports Network, presented by Learfield on KHYI 95.3 FM and on ESPNU.
UNT beat FAU and Temple during the regular season. They beat both teams within the last calendar month.
North Texas enters the conference tournament having won two in a row and six of its last eight games. They are aiming to win its first conference tournament championship and earn an automatic bid into the Big Dance for the first time since 2021.
ALL-CONFERENCE GUARD
UNT sophomore guard Je'Shawn Stevenson was voted by the American Conference's head coaches Second Team All-Conference. Stevenson was the league's fifth-highest scorer (527 total points/ 17.0 ppg) and led the league in steals with 62 (2.0 spg). Last year at Cleveland State as a freshman, Stevenson was voted to the league's all-freshman team and named its overall Freshman of the Year. Of the overall 15 players voted to an all-conference teams (First, Second or Third), Stevenson and UAB's Chance Westry (Second Team) were the only sophomores to be voted all-conference. No freshmen were voted to an all-conference team. Stevenson is just the eighth different UNT player to be voted to an all-conference team as a sophomore or freshman.
NINTH STRAIGHT WINNING SEASON
UNT this year secured its ninth straight winning season. It is its longest such streak in program history. Since 1982, UNT has had just 19 total winning seasons. Nine have come since 2018.
CLOSE GAMES
UNT has played in 10 games this year decided by 3 points or less. No team in the American has played in more one possession games than UNT and the only teams in the country who has played in more one possession games than UNT is UMass (11) and Wagner (11). UNT is 6-4 in games this year decided by one possession. The UNT program record for most one possession games in a single UNT season is 11 set by both the 2006-07 and 2017-18 UNT teams. UNT has played in 15 games this season decided by 4 points or less. That's a program record and American Conference record for most games in a single season decided by 4 points or less. No team in the country this year has played in more games decided by 4 points or less. UNT is 8-7 in games decided by 4 or less. UNT has played in 16 games this year decided by 5 or less, more than half of its total games played (16/31). It is the most in the American and only Coastal Carolina (18) has played in more games decided by 5 or less in the country. UNT is 9-7 in games decided by 5 points or less.
COACH ROBINSON
New UNT head coach Daniyal Robinson led North Texas to 18 regular season wins this year. It is the most regular season wins by a first-year UNT head coach 1976 (50 years ago) when then new UNT head coach Bill Blakley led North Texas to 22 regular season wins. Robinson is the 10th different UNT head coach in the last 50 years. North Texas finished in a three-way tie for fifth place in the 2026 American Conference standings with Charlotte and FAU. The fifth-place finish is the highest a first-year UNT head coach has finished since 1994 when then new head coach Tim Jankovich led the Mean Green to a fourth-place finish in the Southland Conference standings. Jankovich, like Robinson, led UNT to a 9-9 conference record in his first respective season. North Texas reached the title game of the 1994 Southland Conference Tournament but fell to Texas State, 69-60. UNT finished with a 9-9 conference record. It is the second-most conference wins by a first-year UNT head coach and only one shy of tying the record. On Jan. 4 UNT defeated Tulsa at home 72-67. The Golden Hurricane at the time ranked No. 38 in the NCAA NET. It is UNT's highest ranked NET victory since upsetting Purdue in the 2021 NCAA Tournament first round.
RECENT TRENDS
» Over its last five games, UNT shot 34.1% from deep (30-88). In conference play the Mean Green shot just 27.8% from 3-point range. Je'Shawn Stevenson is 12-34 (35.3%) from deep over the last five games. Cahmai Crosby has made four of his last 10 from 3.
» Sophomore Reece Robinson enters the conference tournament having made seven of his last nine 3-pointers.
» Je'Shawn Stevenson has made 24 of his last 26 free throw attempts (92.3%) entering the conference tournament.
» UNT has trailed at the half in each of its last four games. UNT went 3-1 over those four games.
» Over its last four games UNT is averaging just eight turnovers per game.
» David Terrell Jr. has scored 15+ points in five straight games.
» Reece Robinson has made 15 of his last 24 shots (62.5%) from the floor entering the conference tournament.
» UNT ended the regular season making just 24 of its final 42 free throw attempts (57.1%)
» North Texas has won three of its last four away from home. The one defeat was a one-point loss at Charlotte (80-79).
» Each of UNT's last two games finished with the exact same score (62-58). UNT won both of them.
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
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