North Texas men win Conference USA to claim first regular-season title in 31 years

The North Texas men’s basketball team won in overtime Sunday at home against second-place Western Kentucky to clinch the Conference USA title.

This is the Mean Green’s first regular-season conference championship in 31 years. And it didn’t come easy.

North Texas had to rally from behind in the final minutes of regulation to force overtime before prevailing, 78-72, to secure the No. 1 seed in the Conference USA tournament that begins Wednesday in Frisco.

The win also locked in the Mean Green for no worse than an NIT bid. But North Texas has bigger plans. The Mean Green can advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time in a decade if they win the conference postseason tournament.

“This championship is about – and for – everyone,” third-year coach Grant McCasland said. “There are so many people over the years who have put their sweat and soul into this. We wouldn’t be here without them. The relationships we’ve built, that’s what this is all about.”

North Texas (20-11, 14-4) closed the regular season Wednesday night with a 56-43 loss at Charlotte in a game that was meaningless for the Mean Green. North Texas won’t play again until Thursday in the quarterfinal round of the tournament against the winner of Wednesday’s game between the Nos. 8 and 9 seeds (that’s still to be decided).

The 14 regular-season conference wins is a program record for North Texas. The Mean Green got there Sunday behind a game-high 25 points from junior guard Javion Hamlet, who also added nine assists. Junior forward Thomas Bell also scored a career-high 20 points and had eight rebounds against Western Kentucky.

North Texas trailed by five points with 4:31 left in regulation Sunday but held the Hilltoppers scoreless the rest of the way in regulation. North Texas then went a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and 7-of-7 from the free throw line in overtime to end an 11-game losing streak against Western Kentucky.

“We never stopped believing,” Hamlet said. “From the first day we got here during the summer, when we were trailing at the last timeout, we never stopped believing.”

UTA men will host first-round Sun Belt tournament game Saturday

The UT Arlington men’s basketball team closed its regular season Tuesday night at Troy with a victory to secure the No. 7 seed in the Sun Belt tournament.

The Mavericks led most of the game against Troy and former coach Scott Cross, whom UTA fired two years ago despite a successful run as the program’s all-time winningest coach, in a 78-64 win.

UTA (14-17, 10-10) will now host a first-round Sun Belt tournament game at 2 p.m. Saturday against No. 10 seed Coastal Carolina (15-16, 8-12). UTA lost both of its games this season to Coastal Carolina (82-77 at home Jan. 11 and 89-75 on the road Feb. 8).

A victory over Coastal Caroline would advance UTA to a second-round game Monday night at No. 6 seed Appalachian State. The Mavericks have reached the Sun Belt tournament championship game the last two years but lost both times to Georgia State.

Senior forward Radshad Davis led UTA with 16 points and six rebounds against Troy. Freshman guard Sam Griffin scored 15 points and sophomore guard David Azore added 13 as the Mavericks shot a season-high 55.2 percent from the field.

“I like the way we played, particularly the way we came out defensively and the way we shared the ball,” second-year coach Chris Ogden said. “I just liked our demeanor, and hopefully that can continue into the Sun Belt tournament.”

UTA women win fifth game in a row, securing No. 3 seed in Sun Belt tournament

The UTA women’s basketball team secured the No. 3 seed in the Sun Belt tournament with a 101-73 victory Saturday over Georgia Southern in the final regular-season home game for the Lady Mavericks.

UTA (18-10, 12-4) has won a season-high five consecutive games and topped 100 points for the first time all year. Sophomore guard Claire Chastain tied a career high with 22 points to lead UTA. Seniors Marie Benson and Aysia Evans each added 20 points apiece.

The Lady Mavericks close out their regular season with two road games. They played Louisiana on Thursday night and finish against last-place Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday.

UTA will then host a first-round Sun Belt tournament game at 6 p.m. Tuesday against the No. 10 seed. If UTA wins that game, it would then host the quarterfinal round game at 7 p.m. Wednesday at College Park Center. The semifinals and Sun Belt tournament championship game will be played at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.

North Texas women lock up spot in Conference USA tournament in Frisco

The North Texas women’s basketball team secured a spot in the Conference USA tournament in Frisco by winning Saturday at Marshall, 77-69.

The victory gave the Mean Green (11-17, 5-11) back-to-back wins for only the third time all season and was their first road victory since Jan. 23 at UT San Antonio.

Freshman point guard N’Yah Boyd scored 24 points in the win and senior center Anisha George scored 13 points and added 10 rebounds.

North Texas played Thursday night at Middle Tennessee and will close its regular-season schedule at 7 p.m. Saturday at home against UT El Paso.