A dominant start by North Texas proved too much for Old Dominion’s men to overcome Saturday night as the Mean Green gained a 69-56 Conference USA victory in Denton, Texas.
The Monarchs (7-11, 2-3 C-USA), who went scoreless for the final six-plus minutes in Thursday’s loss at Rice as they yielded the game’s final 16 points, saw that malaise carry over against North Texas (13-4, 6-1), which is contending for the West Division lead along with UAB and Louisiana Tech.
UNT went ahead 9-0 in the first three minutes and expanded the lead to as many as 22 points in the first half, which ended in a 40-21 Mean Green lead.
The Monarchs elevated their game early in the second half, pulling to 48-41 on two Austin Trice free throws with 9:05 to go, but couldn’t get closer.
Jaylin Hunter hit 9 of 13 field-goal attempts and led ODU with 20 points, while Trice had 14. Trice and Kalu Ezikpe had eight rebounds apiece, but Ezikpe made only 2 of 10 shots.
The Monarchs hit 48.1% (25 of 52) from the field, but they were only 3 of 8 from 3-point range and 3 of 9 on free throws.
North Texas made 52.3% (23 of 44) overall and canned half of its shots (9 of 18) from beyond the arc. Rubin Jones scored 16 for UNT, while Thomas Bell had 15 and Abou Ousmane 12.
ODU will try to end its three-game slide at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Charlotte.
