NORFOLK, Virginia — The North Texas men's basketball team fell 72-61 at Old Dominion Thursday night.
The Mean Green (18-4, 6-3 C-USA) made more field goals, more three pointers but were outscored by 14 at the free throw line and were outrebounded by nine against one of the most physical teams in Conference USA.
"They physically took it to us," said head coach
Grant McCasland. "They got to the rim and when you give up that many aggressive points at the rim you're just not going to win. Give Old Dominion credit. They were the more aggressive team."
The Monarchs 17-6, 7-3 C-USA led wire-to-wire on Thursday and dominated the paint early in the game, scoring 21 points down low in the first half and holding the Mean Green to no first half free throws and UNT struggled to hold off the ODU aggression.
North Texas'
Ryan Woolridge led the Mean Green and all scorers with 19 points to go along with seven assists.
Umoja Gibson made four of his first five three pointers as he finished with 14 points.
In the second-half,
Michael Miller kept North Texas within reach by going four-for-eight from the field and scoring 10 of his 17 points in the second half. He took the Mean Green's only free throw attempts on Thursday, going 1-for-2. He took the team's only trip to the free throw line with just under four minutes remaining in the game.
Woolridge, Miller and Gibson were the only North Texas players to score in double figures. The Mean Green were once again without senior
Jorden Duffy on Thursday who is averaging 10.4 points per game and started the first 19 games of the year.
"We're going to have to learn to become the more physical and aggressive team, McCasland said. "Our depth has taken a hit that's for sure. We only have eight guys playing and it shows. We struggled to score."
With the loss, North Texas is no longer in first place of the C-USA standings. They stay on the road on Saturday as they travel to Charlotte for a a 3 p.m. tip. The game will be aired live on ESPN+ and on the Mean Green Sports Network on KHYI 95.3 FM.