DENTON — The North Texas men's basketball on Thursday dropped its fifth-straight game with a 60-54 loss to Florida Atlantic at the Super Pit.

After taking a first-half lead, the FAU went on a 16-3 scoring run and never looked back. The Mean Green made a run in the final minutes, thanks to three-straight three-pointers by Umoja Gibson but ran out of time. 

"One of those games where you give credit to the other team and coach, because they took it to you and had guys step up who hadn't been playing a whole lot of minutes," said head coach Grant McCasland. "We have to keep believing we're going to win. That's where we're at as a program."

UNT (20-9, 8-8 C-USA) held FAU's (17-12, 8-8 C-USA) leading scorer Anthony Adger to zero points — he averaged 16.5 per game entering Thursday. But against the Mean Green, the Owls' Richardson Maitre led his team to the tone of 15 points, 11 more than his season average, and scored six key points late when North Texas made a final push.

Down by 16 with 6:46 left in the game, Gibson knocked down his third three-pointer of the game to cut into the deficit and also move into third-place on the program's single-season three-point list with 81 on the year. 

The Owls, now in a zone defense, gave up another three-pointer to Gibson less than a minute later and then another one with 4:57 left in the game to cut the deficit to just seven points. 

A three-pointer by Roosevelt Smart brought North Texas within four points but with 17 seconds left in the game that's as close as the Mean Green would get to making a comeback. 

"We're just not playing well together," McCasland said. "We're just not in sync. When we needed a big play we forced it and then they went on transition."

Thursday was the return of starting point guard Ryan Woolridge who missed the last two games due to a lower body injury that he suffered during the second-half of the Mean Green's game at FAU on Feb. 14. It was the first time in the junior's collegiate career that he missed a game. 

He returned to the game and the starting lineup on Thursday and finished with six points, five rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes. 

North Texas will play its final home game of the season on Sunday at 3 p.m. when they host Marshall at the Super Pit. UNT will then conclude the regular season the following Saturday at Florida International before the start of the Conference USA Basketball Championship in Frisco on March 13.

QUICK SHOTS

• After Thursday's loss, UNT has won 16 of its last 19 (but have lost two of the last three) at home dating back to last season.
•   UNT is now 12-3 at home this season.
• Junior guard Roosevelt Smart scored 12 points and is just eight points shy of becoming the 23rd player in UNT history to score 1,000 for his career. (992)
• Junior guard Ryan Woolridge recorded one steal Thursday, and is now just five shy of the school record of 151 by Jesse Ratliff (1990-94).
• Redshirt freshman Umoja Gibson posted his 18th game of the season in double figures (19th of his career) after scoring 18 points on Thursday night. He entered play with 78 three-pointers this season, and after hitting five on Thursday, he has moved into sole possession of third in program history for a single season.

1. Roosevelt Smart          133         2017-18
2. Calvin Watson              90           2006-07
3. Umoja Gibson              83           2018-19

• Of Gibson's 274 field goal attempts this season, 208 have come from beyond the arc (75.9%).

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
The 2019 Air Force Reserve C-USA Basketball Championships presented by Baylor Scott & White Sports Performance Center at the Star will be held in Frisco March 13-16 at the Ford Center.

C-USA Championship all-session passes for all UNT games are available exclusively from the North Texas Ticket Office, and all revenue from the passes goes to UNT Athletics. For information on purchasing all-session passes, visit meangreenpostseason.com or call the ticket office at 940-565-2527.