Mean Green Beat Evansville 80-63 In Season Opener

[Dannymacfan]

DENTON – The UNT men’s basketball team opened the 2024-25 season with an 80-63 home win over Evansville Tuesday night.

The Mean Green (1-0) led by as many as 29 points early in the second half and newcomers Jasper Floyd, Johnathan Massie and Atin Wright combined for 57 of North Texas’ 80 total points.

“I thought in the first half we played as close to perfect basketball as possible,” Massie said. “But give a lot of credit to Evansville. They kept fighting and they are a really good team.”

The Mean Green scored 42 points in the first half, which tied their first half point high from all of last year. On the defensive end UNT played its signature clamp down defense to get a big double digit early lead. Evansville shot just 27 percent from the floor and 15 percent from deep in the first half as they trailed by 25 at the break.

In the second half, the Purple Aces’ star freshman Gabriel Pozzato exploded for 20 of his 28 points and brought his team back from the once 29-point deficit to 12 points late in the game.

“The game opened up a little and they started hitting shots and the rhythm we had early the game went away but they’re a solid team,” Floyd said. “We were probably a little fatigued too but overall I thought it was a great game and I’m proud of our fight.”

Floyd finished with 23 points, just one point shy of his single game career high. Massie had 18 points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds. Wright hit four 3-pointers, all in the first half, and finished with 16 points.

Six newcomers in total played for North Texas and they combined for 71 of its 80 points. Returner Moulaye Sissoko started and had six points, four rebounds, two assists and a career-high four steals in 24 minutes of action

Tuesday was North Texas’ 12th straight season opening victory. They’ll aim for a 2-0 start on Thursday when they host Wayland Baptist at the Super Pit as part of a double header with the women’s basketball team. The women’s game starts at 5:30 and the men’s game will be right after.

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

[UNTLifer]

This is the most athletic and deepest team we have had in years. Going to be fun watching them gel as the season progresses. 

[NT80]

58 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

This is the most athletic and deepest team we have had in years. Going to be fun watching them gel as the season progresses. 

I still have concerns about our interior offense/defense. Evansville got 40% of their points in the paint (26 of 63), mostly guards/forwards driving to the basket

[UNTLifer]

6 hours ago, NT80 said:

I still have concerns about our interior offense/defense. Evansville got 40% of their points in the paint (26 of 63), mostly guards/forwards driving to the basket

Mostly that 6’7” Italian freshman out of the NBA academy.