For the first time since 2010, the University of North Texas plays in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, opening their run as a #13 seed against #4 seed Purdue on Friday at 6:25 p.m. CT.
Just to get to Indianapolis, it took winning four games in four days at the Conference USA Tournament in Frisco. The final effort was a gritty 61-57 overtime victory over Western Kentucky.
In every game during their run, the Mean Green held opponents to 57 points or less.
"That's what we stood on, that was the foundation of how we played," says Irving native and fourth year head coach Grant McCasland of his team's defense. "That was the key to winning four games in four days."
As tough as the Frisco path was, the competition always gets tougher in the NCAA Tournament. North Texas takes on #20 Purdue (18-9) on Friday evening.
"I've known Coach (Matt) Painter at Purdue for a long time," says McCasland. "We have a tremendous amount of respect for their program...we know we've got our hands full."
Purdue features 6-10 Junior forward Trevion Williams, who averages 15.6 points and 9.0 rebounds a game. He was named First Team All-Big 10 in a conference loaded with talent.
Related
But the Mean Green have talent of their own, including a slew of senior starters, led by Senior point guard Javion Hamlet. Hamlet averaged 18.5 points, 7.5 assists and 6.5 rebounds a game in route to being named the Conference USA Tournament MVP last week.
But Hamlet, McCasland and the Mean Green aren't satisfied with just a berth in the tournament, they want a long stay.
"It feels like there's a definate purpose to it," McCasland said of his team's mood as they prepare for their debut. "It's a group of guys that have some grit to them and are just excited to be here."