North Texas News

Men's Basketball Advances To Second Round Of NIT

The North Texas men's basketball team advanced to the second round of the 2023 National Invitation Tournament Wednesday with a 69-53 win over Alcorn State at the Super Pit.

It's the second straight year the Mean Green have advanced to the second round of the NIT and third straight year they've won a game in a national postseason tournament.

The No. 2 seed Mean Green will host the No. 3 seed Sam Houston Bearkats in the second round on Sunday at 3 p.m. CT

"They gave us everything in the first half and got on the offensive glass and gave us problems," said head coach Grant McCasland of the Braves who led for part of the first half and were down just four at halftime. "(Alcorn State) competed and we have a ton of respect for them. I thought in the second half our defense really stepped up and we were able to separate."

UNT (27-7) opened the second half on a 13-3 run, which gave them some breathing room over the SWAC regular season champion Alcorn State (18-14).

North Texas on Wednesday was paced by Conference USA Player of the Year Tylor Perry who scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half. He was 6-of-12 from the floor and 4-of-8 from 3-point range on the night.

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Fellow senior Kai Huntsberry scored 10 points and grabbed a season-high 8 rebounds to go along with five assists and no turnovers as he was second on the team in scoring.

North Texas will host Sam Houston in the second round. The Bearkats beat Santa Clara on the road Wednesday, 58-56.

Tickets for the second-round game are on sale now and can be purchased here. Tickets start at $15 for upper general admission seating and lower bowl seating will be only $20, plus fees. Season ticket holders who opted to purchase their respective season locations prior to the Tuesday deadline will automatically be charged for Sunday's game. The North Texas Athletics Ticket Office will begin charging and delivering tickets electronically starting Thursday at 4 p.m. CT. Season ticket holders who did not purchase their season tickets by the deadline will need to contact the ticket office or visit the online ticket office to purchase tickets.

Current UNT students will receive free admission thanks to the UNT Division of Student Affairs, Department of Athletics, and through the generosity of several donors. UNT students can claim their tickets for Sunday's game at UNTTIX.com. For those Mean Green fans who would like to help send current UNT students to the NIT please click here.

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

Original source can be found here