UNT Basketball: Mean Green Open AAC Era With Gutsy Road WIn

Dannymacfan · January 5

WICHITA, Kansas – The UNT men’s basketball team defeated Wichita State Thursday night on the road 74-62 in its American Athletic Conference debut.

The Mean Green (8-5, 1-0) got the road win despite playing shorthanded as John Buggs III did not dress due to a day-to-day shoulder injury and senior point guard Rubin Jones left the game early in the second half with an injury.

North Texas was led Thursday by junior Aaron Scott who scored 18 points. Scott started the game making three straight 3-pointers, which is more than he made in all of December. Right behind Scott was Jason Edwards who poured in 17 points. Junior Moulaye Sissoko grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds in the win.

“I’m really proud with how we stuck together tonight,” said head coach Ross Hodge. “We have a lot of respect for coach Paul Mills and what they’re putting together here and to do this with the adversity we faced, we have a lot to be proud of.”

UNT held the Shocker’s (8-6, 0-1) Xavier Bell to zero points on the night. He was averaging more than 14 per game coming in.

The Mean Green weathered the adversity as they built up a big early lead. Behind shooting and defense, North Texas led Wichita State by 20 with 16 minutes left in the game.

North Texas has a quick turnaround as they host Tulane Saturday at 1 p.m. CT at the Super Pit. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and the Mean Green Sports Network, presented by Learfield.

For more information on UNT men's basketball tickets, contact the Mean Green Ticket Office at 940-565-2527 or at ticketoffice@unt.edu. Fans can visit the UNT Athletics Ticket Office located at Gate 2 of DATCU Stadium between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

DeepGreen · January 5

"Junior Moulaye Sissoko grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds in the win."

Sissoko was a monster last night.

HoosMeanGreen · January 5

Was that the NIT Sissoko that everyone references?

Matt from A700 · January 5

1 minute ago, HoosMeanGreen said:

Was that the NIT Sissoko that everyone references?

There were a couple of times I wish he had gone right back up after collecting an offensive rebound instead of bringing the ball down, but we're headed in the right direction.

He's got to be more ready to make free throws, though. As does Allen.

CMJ · January 5

Sissoko was also pretty active on defense, which doesn't necessarily show up in the stats. Definitely reminded me of his performance against Oklahoma State for one.