Men’s college basketball: UNT 85, Arkansas State 63

Adam McCoy scored a career-high 21 points to lead the Mean Green to the second round of the Sun Belt Tournament.

Adam McCoy scored a career-high 21 points to lead the North Texas men’s basketball team to an 85-63 win against Arkansas State in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Wednesday night at the Super Pit. The Mean Green moves on to play No. 3 Western Kentucky on Sunday, March 9 at 9 pm in Mobile, Ala.

With the win, North Texas recorded its second-straight 20-win season. The Mean Green improves to 20-10. NT defeated ASU for the third time this season but the Mean Green still trails in the series, 16-13.

McCoy went a perfect 8-for-8 from the field and 5-for-5 from three-point range. He scored eight points, including two three-pointers in an instrumental 16-7 run midway through the first half for the Mean Green. McCoy’s second three-pointer capped the NT run and gave the Mean Green a nine-point lead, 33-24, with 3:10 left in the first half.

McCoy led four players in double figures. Keith Wooden recorded 14 points and nine rebounds, and Ben Bell and Josh White followed with 12 points each. Harold Stewart just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.

North Texas quickly built its single-digit half-time lead to double digits at the start of the second half. White scored five unanswered points to put North Texas ahead by 12 points, 48-36, with 17:13 left in the game.

Adrian Banks cut the North Texas lead to eight points, 60-52, with four unanswered points, but the Mean Green finished the game with on a 25-11 run.

Source: UNT