UNT (2-1) upset No. 20 Purdue in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, 78-69 (ot), for its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory and end a 49-game losing streak to nationally ranked opponents. Thursday, the Mean Green will aim to beat the No. 4 nationally ranked Jayhawks (3-0), which would be the highest ranked opponent UNT has ever beaten. North Texas last and only other meeting against Kansas was on Nov. 19, 2010 in Lawrence, Kansas. UNT fell 93-60. The Jayhawks were ranked No. 7 in the nation at the time. That North Texas team, like this season's, was coming off a 2010 NCAA Tournament appearance.
The Mean Green have never beaten an AP Top 5 opponent. The highest ranked opponent UNT has ever beaten was No. 8 Wichita State on Jan. 25, 1963, 69-67.
North Texas is coming off of a 64-36 beating of UT Arlington last week at the Super Pit. The 36 points UNT held UTA to is the second fewest points a Mean Green opponent has scored in the Grant McCasland era (5th season). UNT held the Mavericks to just 12 points in the first half, which is the fewest points an opponent has scored in the first half since McCasland got to UNT in 2017.
Newcomer Tylor Perry has led the way for UNT through its first three games. Perry is averaging 17.3 points per game and is scoring at a team-leading 59.3 percent clip. Perry, has been a menace on defense averaging 2.6 steals per game, which ranks tied for 28th in the nation. As of Wednesday, Perry's 56.2 3-point field goal percentage ranked 11th in the nation.
Defense has once again been the Mean Green's calling card. UNT so far this season ranks No. 8 in the nation in scoring defense (52.7) and No. 8 in turnover margin (8.3). They've played good defense without fouling as well. UNT has committed just 49 fouls this season. That's the 13th fewest in the nation.
North Texas will face either Dayton or Miami (Fla.) on Friday, Nov. 26, in the second round of the ESPN Events Invitational at the HP Field House on the campus of Disney's Wild World of Sports Complex. The game will start at either 10 a.m. CT or 12:30 p.m. CT depending on the result of Thursday.
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November 25, 2021 at 02:07AM
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Men's Basketball Faces KU On National Stage - University of North Texas Athletics - Mean Green Sports
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