North Texas hoops rewind: UAB 76, UNT 69 -- Slow start costs Mean Green in loss

Where UNT stands: UNT fell in the semifinals of the Conference USA tournament for the second straight year and will now await its postseason fate. The Mean Green are expected to land a berth in the NIT just like they did in 2022. UNT is 26-7 on the season and has already set the program record for wins in a year.

Now what?: UNT will have to wait until after the NCAA tournament field is announced to see where it lands in the postseason

Star of the night: Aaron Scott continued to come on late in the season. The sophomore finished with a double-double that included 13 points and 13 rebounds. He scored a career-high 19 points in UNT’s win over Louisiana Tech in the quarterfinals.

Say what?:

“I was proud of our guys for fighting. The competitiveness we showed was tremendous. We made a few mental errors trying to come back.

-- Grant McCasland, UNT coach on the Mean Green’s loss to UAB

Our take: UNT fell a game short of the C-USA title game for the second straight year.

The Mean Green nearly pulled off a miracle comeback from a 20-point first-half deficit when they came up with a couple of steals in the closing seconds.

UNT wasn’t able to come up with the plays it needed. Kai Huntsberry had a good look at a 3 with the Mean Green trailing by four with 23 seconds left that didn’t go down.

The tough part of it all for UNT is that it painted itself into a corner by falling behind 22-2 in the early going.

The Mean Green pride themselves on their defense. UNT is great on that end of the floor.

The Mean Green’s problem, and this seems like nitpicking considering the success they’ve had for years now, is they can’t put the ball in the hole for long stretches at key times. UNT lost a close game to Louisiana Tech in the semifinals of last season’s C-USA tournament when it had the same issue. UNT lost that game 42-36.

The Mean Green will now turn their attention to the NIT and then a host of offseason decisions. Tylor Perry has another season of eligibility and said he’d decide what to do after the season.

McCasland has done a terrific job at UNT and has seen his name come up in connection with a host of jobs, including Texas Tech, where he was once on the staff.

Falling in the C-USA semifinals is not going to help McCasland’s resume, but he’s accomplished more than enough to remain on the radar for schools in the market for a new coach. He’s won at UNT. There will be programs with a whole lot more at their disposal that will wonder what he could do with what they have.

It’s going to be an interesting few weeks for the Mean Green, and not just because they’re likely to play in the NIT.

Here's a link to tonight's game story.