North Texas Daily

Coming off a double-overtime win on Thursday, men’s basketball recorded a dominant 67-43 win over the University of North Carolina-Charlotte on Saturday at home.

Four players scored in double digits as North Texas (21-5, 12-3 Conference USA) took home its sixth straight conference win. The Mean Green shot a season-high 59.5 percent from the field. 

“Considering we had such a tough contest on Thursday and a short turnaround with a difficult prep and a team that runs this type of offense — I thought it showed a lot of maturity from our group,” McCasland said. “To execute as well as we did, it really was probably our most complete game we’ve played this year.” 

The Mean Green started 11-0 as graduate guard Tyree Eady and senior guards Tylor Perry and Kai Huntsberry each hit 3-pointers. 

“We’re just locked in knowing that every game counts now this late in the season,” Eady said. We trust each other, we play hard together and we need to do that to win. We all want to win and that’s the most important thing, so we’ll do whatever it takes.” 

North Texas held the lead for the entirety of the contest as Charlotte (14-11, 5-9) never came within less than eight points. Back-to-back threes from Perry, who shot 4-5 from deep, started a 7-0 run for the Mean Green late in the first half as North Texas took a 40-25 lead at the half.

Junior Abou Ousmane dunks the ball against the University of North Carolina at Charlotte on Feb. 11, 2023. Photo by Matt Iaia

Shortly into the second half, the Mean Green went on an 11-0 run led by junior guard Rubin Jones, who put up 13 points on the night. Jones said team chemistry was a factor in their win. 

“I felt like we were locked in from the jump,” Jones said. “Early in the season with my injury and [Perry] out early in the season, that kind of just threw our chemistry off a lot. We just finally know each other’s tendencies and know where people are going to be. This team’s togetherness is on a whole other level right now.”

North Texas was able to cruise to a victory as the defense held the 49ers to zero field goals for the final eight minutes of the game. The Mean Green are currently ranked third in scoring defense in NCAA, holding their opponents to an average of 56.1 points. 

After a double overtime game on Thursday, McCasland said fatigue was not a major factor in tonight’s matchup as the team came ready to work in practice Friday. 

“What we’ve seen our team do is really take all the things they are doing off the court really serious, and that’s what great players and great teams do – they prepare for these games weeks in advance,” McCasland said. “We walked in after that great win [Thursday], and walked right to a film session and everybody was in there ready to go on the edge of their seat.” 

McCasland said at this time of year, teams can “nosedive.” He attributed the teams continued success to confidence and consistent practice. 

“These guys really do love playing together,” McCasland said. “They love this team and we’ve come to practice prepared everyday and these guys are believing that you don’t win games just because you have a good team. You win it because you take every practice very serious.” 

The Mean Green remain No. 2 in C-USA and are two games behind No. 1 Florida Atlantic University. The team will face Louisiana Tech University on Feb. 16.

Featured Image Junior guard Rubin Jones holds off the University of North Carolina at Charlotte junior guard Jackson Threadgill on Feb. 11, 2023. Photo by Matt Iaia