Tulsa Men Face North Texas on Wednesday

GAME #27: Tulsa (11-15, 5-8 AAC) at North Texas (18-6, 9-3 AAC)
Date/Time:	Wednesday • February 19, 2025 • 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	The Super Pit (10,500) • Denton, Texas
Coaches:	Tulsa – Eric Konkol (Wisconsin-Eau Claire, '00), 3rd Season UNT – Ross Hodge (Texas A&M Commerce '03), 2nd Season
TV:	ESPN+ \| Kyle Youmans (PxP) and DJ Draper (Analyst)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM / Varsity Sports App (Bruce Howard and JR Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	54th Meeting \| Tulsa leads 40-13
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Notes:	Tulsa Notes \| UNT Notes \| The American Notes

TULSA, Okla. –– The University of Tulsa men's basketball team seeks its third straight win as the Golden Hurricane travels to take on North Texas Wednesday evening in the Super Pit.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. (CT) and will air on ESPN+ with Kyle Youmans and DJ Draper on the call. Fans can also catch the contest on Big Country 99.5 FM and the Varsity Network app. Bruce Howard and JR Rollo will bring fans the action.

The Hurricane (11-15, 5-8 The American) and Mean Green (18-6, 9-3 The American) both carry two-game winning streaks into Wednesday night's action. Tulsa took down UTSA 80-76 in a Saturday contest after going on the road and beating Temple 80-74. North Texas beat Tulane at home 76-66 before beating Rice last Tuesday 67-61 on the road. The Mean Green has not played since Feb. 11.

This is the only regular season meeting between the two schools and the second time they have met as league foes. There was only one meeting in the 2023-24 campaign, which UNT won 68-55 in the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Wednesday will be the 54^th meeting between TU and UNT in a series that dates back to 1922. Tulsa holds a 40-13 advantage in the series and 17-10 record in games played in Denton, though this is the first meeting there since 2014. In fact, though TU has won seven of the past 10 meetings, those 10 are spread back as far as 1992.

With its two-game winning streak, the Hurricane is attempting to grab its first three-game winning streak in conference play this season and climb its way up the conference standings. A win would also be Tulsa's first time to win back-to-back conference road games since beating Cincinnati and South Florida in consecutive games during the 2020-21 season.

Both Dwon Odom and Keaston Willis encroach on single season top 10 placements at Tulsa. Odom has 139 assists this season, leaving him eight shy of equalizing Reggie Shields' (1989-90) mark of 147. Willis has connected on 75 3-pointers this season, leaving him three short of Tony Heard (1999-00), Justin Hurtt (2009-10) and Pat Birt (2015-16), who are all tied for 10^th in a single season at TU.

North Texas is under the guidance of second year head coach Ross Hodge, who is in his eighth season overall at UNT after spending the six seasons prior to his appointment as the associate head coach. The Mean Green sits in second in the league standings behind the Memphis Tigers. Like Temple, beating the Mean Green on the road is a tough task.

North Texas is 12-1 this season in the Super Pit with its lone loss coming against UTSA on February 1. North Texas excels at slowing teams down and keeping scores low, with a style of play almost unmatched throughout the NCAA. The Mean Green allows just 59.5 points per game, which is the third lowest in the country and lowest in The American. Houston, the national leaders, allows 57.3 per contest.

UNT plays a tough, suffocating style of defense without fouling, recording just 14.8 fouls per game, which ranks second behind Wichita State in the league and 32nd nationally. Teams shoot just 41.5 percent against the Mean Green, which is second to Tulane (39.9 percent) in the conference and 63^rd in the NCAA.

Following Wednesday's contest, the Golden Hurricane will stay on the road and head further south to Houston. There, Tulsa will take on the Rice Owls in the penultimate road contest of the regular season Saturday afternoon. Tipoff against Rice is set for 1 p.m. and will air on ESPN+.

Tulsa Men Face North Texas on Wednesday

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Players Mentioned

Dwon Odom

Keaston Willis