Men’s basketball beats UTSA, records best conference start in program history
After a 69-45 win over the University of Texas-San Antonio Saturday night, men’s basketball is off to their best start in school history.
The win moved the Mean Green to their first 9-1 conference start in program history.
“Our team understands that you have to be ready to go every night,” head coach Grant McCasland said. “There just has to be an urgency to the way you play every possession and it just means we have been able to do it up to this point.”
North Texas had the task of containing the Roadrunner’s top three scorers and succeeded in doing so. Sophomore guard Jordan Ivy-Curry went 5-17 from the field, hit two 3-pointers on nine attempts and finished the contest with six turnovers. Junior guard Dhieu Deing and junior center Jacob Germany were both held to under 10 points, with both shooting 20 percent from the field.
“You need to keep the ball out of the best players’ hands as much as you can,” McCasland said. “It takes a team.”
Junior guard Tylor Perry and sophomore forward Abou Ousmane led the charge in the win, with Perry knocking down five shots for 16 points and leading the team with six rebounds and four assists. Ousmane was the top scorer, finishing with 17 points on 11 shots, surpassing double-digit scoring in six of his last seven games.
“We had to execute the game plan and that is exactly what we did,” Ousmane said. “We had to stay solid on them just to have a chance to win the game.”
North Texas finished the contest with 10 steals and four blocks while holding the Roadrunners to 29 percent from the field and 24 percent from deep.
Holding the Roadrunners under 50 points, the Mean Green continued a run of defensive form in 2022, which has the team ranked third in the country for scoring defense.
“UTSA is a really good offensive team,” Perry said. “We had a game plan and did what we were supposed to do.”
The Mean Green will take on the University of Texas-El Paso on Monday night, hoping to extend their win streak to nine games in a row. UTEP comes into the contest on the heels of a five-game win streak.
“It is a huge game, they are the hottest team in our league,” McCasland said. “They have been finding ways to win games and it is because of their toughness.”
Featured Image: Freshman Aaron Scott shoots the ball while a Charlotte defender attempts to block on Jan. 20, 2022. Photo by Maria Crane
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