North Texas’ historic season ends in blowout loss to 5-seed Villanova
North Texas had no delusions of backing its way into the Sweet 16.
As Mean Green coach Grant McCasland said before the game, “We know we’re going to have to play our absolute best game to beat Villanova, no question about that.”
Well, the Mean Green didn’t.
Villanova ended UNT’s historic season by cruising to an 84-61 victory on Sunday night in Indianapolis in a Round of 32 matchup. The Mean Green won’t be one of the tournament’s darlings going forward.
On a day that saw double-digit seeds Syracuse, Oral Roberts and Oregon State advance to the Sweet 16, UNT (18-10) ran out of its magic.
Villanova (18-6) made half of its 3-point attempts (15 of 30) and shot 55.4% from the field. The Wildcats entered the game leading the country in fewest turnovers per game and kept that intact by committing just six on the night.
North Texas made program history last Friday night by knocking off 4-seed Purdue in the first round for the school’s first March Madness victory. That’s as far as the fairy tale went, though.
UNT, which shot 40.4% on the night, simply couldn’t keep pace with Villanova.
The Mean Green jumped out to an early 21-13 lead in the first eight minutes of the game, but then the Wildcats went on a 13-0 run over the next four minutes to take a 26-21 lead. That stretch included 3-pointers by Bryan Antoine and Chris Arcidiacono.
A few minutes later, Villanova’s Cole Swider knocked down consecutive 3-pointers in a 36-second stretch to give it a 35-23 lead with five minutes left.
North Texas didn’t have a chance after that.
Villanova extended its lead to 47-27 by halftime and cruised to a 23-point victory.
The Wildcats had four players score in double figures and were led by sophomore forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl’s 18 points. UNT senior point guard Javion Hamlet led all scorers with 25 points to go along with his six rebounds and four assists.
Villanova will face 1-seed Baylor in a Sweet 16 matchup on Saturday.
This story was originally published March 21, 2021 at 10:02 PM.
