North Texas 83, Arkansas St. 75

[UNTflyer]

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) -- Calvin Watson hit six 3-pointers and scored 24 points to help North Texas get to its first NCAA tournament since 1988 with an 83-75 victory over Arkansas State in the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship on Tuesday night.

Watson, the Mean Green's season and career leader in 3-pointers, had lost his range in recent games, but rediscovered it at the right time, hitting his first five against the Indians.

It made the difference for North Texas (23-10), which held only slim leads most of the second half and missed 13 free throws.

Isaac Wells led Arkansas State (18-15) with 21 points. However, North Texas was able to disrupt Adrian Banks, who had 29 points in the semifinals a night earlier but finished with a relatively low 12 against the Mean Green.

Rich Young scored 15 points for North Texas, including a soaring one-handed jam and an alley-oop dunk in the last six minutes. Quincy Williams scored 12 for the Mean Green, while Ben Bell and Keith Wooden each scored 11.

Shawn Morgan scored 14 for ASU and Ryan Wedel 11.

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=270652032