UNT BASKETBALL: Mean Green Win Seventh Straight

Coach Andy Mac · February 17, 2023

RUSTON, Louisiana — The UNT men’s basketball team pushed its winning streak to seven in a row with a 72-62 win at Louisiana Tech Thursday night.

The Mean Green (22-5, 13-3) had four players score in double figures but were led by Abou Ousmane who scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds in the 10-point win. It’s his fifth double-double of the year.

“(LA Tech) plays with a lot of energy no matter the score but our guys played with good composure,” said head coach Grant McCasland. “I thought when things started to get loose, and they started to go on a run we got stops and our composure was where it needed to be. But give them credit. They made it hard for us for sure.”

With the win, North Texas grabs its 22nd win of the year, which is tied for the second-most in a single season in the McCasland era and fourth-most in Mean Green history. Under the sixth-year head coach, UNT now has twice as many wins (126) as loses (63).

Thursday was North Texas’ third straight win at the Thomas Assembly Center. LA Tech entered Thursday’s contest having lost just 18 times at home over the last decade. UNT is the only opponent to beat them three or more times at home over the last decade.

Along with his double-double, Ousmane scored his 700th career point Thursday night.

Tylor Perry finished with 11 points versus the Bulldogs (13-13, 6-9) and knocked down three 3-pointers in the win. The reigning first team all-conference honoree has now surpassed his scoring total from last season (420 points) and has now made 79 3-pointers this season, which is tied for sixth-most in a single season in program history.

Senior Kai Huntsberry dropped in 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting against LA Tech and Aaron Scott added 11 points — all in the first half.

Next up, North Texas travels to UTEP to face the Miners on Saturday at 8 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the Mean Green Sports Network, presented by Learfield.