Ousmane Scores 37 In C-USA Opening Win

meangreenfaninno · December 23, 2022

SAN ANTONIO — North Texas men’s basketball junior forward Abou Ousmane scored a career-high 37 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Thursday night to lead the Mean Green to a 78-54 Conference USA opening victory over UTSA at the Convocation Center.

Ousmane dropped 37 points on an efficient 15-of-19 shooting. It is the most points scored in a single game by a UNT player since Roosevelt Smart scored 42 at Rice on Jan. 13, 2018.

“Give UTSA credit, because they kept us off balance early,” said UNT head coach Grant McCasland. “We traded punches with them early in the second half but settled in defensively and got some separation. But Abou was phenomenal.”

Ousmane’s 37-point performance surpassed his previous career-high of 23 and is tied for the 18th most points scored in a game by a UNT player.

“We were way more efficient tonight and Abou made the simple play and had about as good of a performance as we’ve ever had from the forward position,” McCasland added.

As UTSA’s defense limited looks for North Texas’ guards Tylor Perry and Kai Huntsberry Thursday night, Ousmane attacked the rim and finished with finesse. Every time he went up for a hook shot, layup or dunk there was no doubt that it was going in. Even the shots that hit the rim took a good bounce and found its way into the hole.

On Thursday, Ousmane got North Texas (10-2, 1-0 C-USA) its fifth straight win by getting off to a quick start. As UNT jumped out to a double-digit lead, Ousmane had nine points 10 minutes into the game.

By halftime he had an even 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and was almost outscoring the entire Roadrunners (6-6, 0-1) team.

The Mean Green early in the second half did see their double-digit lead shrink but between the 12-minute mark of the second half and the seven-minute mark, UNT went on a 17-0 run to put the game to rest as Ousmane slammed home his 30th point forcing UTSA to call a timeout and try to end the bleeding.

Ousmane becomes the sixth player in the McCasland era at North Texas to score 30 or more points in a game. Perry scored 35 in the Mean Green’s 69-54 win over San Jose State on Nov. 25.

Perry Thursday night finished with 13 points. It was the second-most points scored in the game. He made three 3-pointers on the night, the second of which was his 100th career 3-point field goal at North Texas.

Thursday concludes North Texas’ four-game road trip. They return home Thursday Dec. 29 to host Florida Atlantic at 7 p.m. CT.

UNT fans and families can purchase one ticket and get up to four tickets free for the men's basketball home games on Dec. 29 and Dec. 31 versus FAU and FIU. Or for the women's basketball games on Jan. 5 and Jan. 7. This offer is for advance purchase only. Contact the Mean Green Ticket Office at 940-565-2527 for more information.