North Texas hoops rewind: UNT 63, UAB 52 -- Mean Green bounce back to pick up key win

Now what?: UNT will return home to face two of its Texas rivals in C-USA in UTSA and UTEP next week. The Mean Green will face the Roadrunners on Thursday before taking on the Miners on Saturday.

Star of the day: Kai Huntsberry scored a game-high 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting in UNT’s win over UAB. Huntsberry hit three 3s and also handed out six assists.

Say what?:

“The togetherness it takes to win is the most important aspect to handling tough environments and winning. These dudes are such good teammates and so excited for each other.”

— Grant McCasland, UNT coach, on the path the Mean Green took to beating UAB

Our take: UNT was in a tough spot heading into its game against UAB. The Mean Green had lost two of their last three games and were set to face a Blazers team that was desperate to turn its season around on its home floor.

UNT handled that pressure in impressive fashion while breaking open what was a close game in the first half.

The Mean Green had terrific balance offensively. Huntsberry was one of three UNT players who finished in double figures. Abou Ousmane added 13 points and Tylor Perry 10.

UNT did a good job of holding UAB in check offensively. The Blazers hit just one of their 10 shots from 3-point range and shot just 36.2% (17 of 47) from the field.

Eric Gaines led the Blazers 15 points but missed all five of his shots from 3-point range.

Florida Atlantic remains the top team in C-USA. The 24th-ranked Owls have beaten UNT twice and are 19-1 and 9-0 in C-USA play after defeating UTEP 67-59 late Saturday night.

UAB was without Jordan Walker on Saturday, but UNT’s win did a lot to establish the Mean Green as the second-best team in the league.