photo by Art Boone Jr
by Don Mooney 3-15-2025
FORT WORTH — FORT WORTH — It was a tale of two halves, a theme that seems to run through NCAA tournament play. The Mean Greens, defense-first outfit, used their prowess to spark a turnaround in a 77-59 win over Tulsa at Dickies Arena.
UNT trailed nearly the entire first half and had to dig its way out of an eight-point hole to advance. “I was disappointed defensively in the first half,” Hodge said. “I know you’re going to look at the stat sheet and say, ‘Well, coach, you shot 30% from the floor and 15% from three.’ But I thought it was our defense that led to it. We fouled too much and had some breakdowns on things we knew were coming. We didn’t execute.”
photo by Art Boone Jr
The Mean Green (24-7), the 13-team tournament’s No. 2 seed, were led in scoring by senior Atin Wright who poured in a game-high 24 points. The most he’s scored in a conference tournament game in his career. He also scored his 2,000th career point in the win Friday.
UNT turned the game around quickly after adjusting at halftime and advanced to face No. 3 seed UAB (22-11), which defeated East Carolina 94-77 in a game played late Friday night. UNT (24-7) heads into another semifinal off a terrific defensive half. The Mean Green limited Tulsa, the No. 10 seed, to 29.2% shooting after halftime.
photo by Art Boone Jr
“We settled in,” UNT guard Latrell Jossell said. “We made mistakes we usually don’t make in the first half. Credit to them. They played well in the first half. We made better decisions defensively after that.” UNT has made great decisions defensively most of the season and came into the night ranked third nationally in scoring defense with an average of 59.5 points allowed per game.
photo by Art Boone Jr
The Mean Green clamped down after Dwon Odom hit a turnaround jumper early in the second half to put Tulsa up 40-37. UNT responded by holding Tulsa (13-20) scoreless for nearly four minutes while ripping off a 12-0 run. The Mean Green were off and running at that point behind Atin Wright.
The transfer guard from Drake led UNT with 24 points and continued his late-season surge. “I’m making sure I am being aggressive, putting pressure on the defense and trying to get to the foul line,” Wright said. “That opens the game up.”
photo by Art Boone Jr
That was certainly the case against Tulsa. UNT had six players finish with at least eight points, including Jasper Floyd, who tallied 11. Wright’s big night helped UNT work its way back after struggling to get on track offensively. Tulsa led for most of the first half and took a 31-26 lead into the break.
Wright scored five quick points in the early going for UNT before Tulsa grabbed control. Braeden Carrington hit three 3s to spark a 13-0 Tulsa run that gave the Golden Hurricane a 17-9 lead. “They shot 15 free throws in the first half, which was too many,” Hodge said. “It’s hard to get into a rhythm when you are taking the ball out of the net.” Hodge credited UNT’s turnaround largely to Jossell, who scored eight of his 10 points and picked up a steal after halftime. “We challenged Latrell at halftime to play better,” Hodge said. “He knew he needed to play better, didn’t take it personally and had a monster second half.”
photo by Art Boone Jr
“This group doesn’t panic,” Hodge said. “If we settle in defensively, the offense usually follows.”The Mean Green will face the winner of UAB and East Carolina in the semifinals Saturday at 4 p.m. CT in Dickies Arena.