Box Score
BOCA RATON, Florida — The North Texas basketball team is on its first losing streak this season after a 57-47 loss at Florida Atlantic Thursday night.

The Mean Green, who had limited bodies heading into the game were forced to play three guys over 35 minutes and struggled to find consistent offense against the Owls. The 47 points are the fewest UNT has scored in second-year head coach Grant McCasland's tenure.

"Give Florida Atlantic credit, because they executed well," McCasland said. "When FAU needed to make plays they made them. Those guys for us who were in there at the end, I appreciate their fight. They had to play most of the second half as a unit. But it takes a lot of physical effort to win a game on the road."

With 17 minutes left in the game, North Texas'(20-6, 8-5 C-USA) iron man Ryan Woolridge left the game with an injury and never returned. He finished with 23 minutes played, which is the fewest he's played under McCasland and the fewest he's played since Jan. 26, 2017 versus Charlotte. That was also the last time Woolridge didn't start a game. Thursday was Woolridge's 74th consecutive start.

Woolridge finished with a season-low two points and a season-low two rebounds. 

With Woolridge out, the Mean Green went to senior Michael Miller for most of their offense against FAU (15-11, 6-7 C-USA). 

Miller led all scorers with 18 points as he finished 7-of-12 from the field after a slow start to the game. 

But even with Miller leading the charge, the Mean Green couldn't get over the hump in the second-half.

Trailing by just two at halftime, North Texas quickly tied the game at the start of the second-half with a Miller layup but the Owls responded with a three-pointer. North Texas pulled within one possession three more times after that, but each time FAU responded with a three-point play.

"Every time it felt like we got it close they'd have an answer," McCasland said of FAU. "Again I love our groups competitiveness but it just wasn't enough to get it done on the road."

With the loss and a win by Southern Miss over UTSA on Thursday, North Texas falls into a tie with the Golden Eagles for fourth-place. UNT, though, owns the tiebreaker with their win over USM on Jan. 5. 

After Thursday's results, the Mean Green are still in the top pod of the Conference USA Bonus Play portion of the schedule next week but UAB sits just one game behind UNT and owns a tiebreaker over the Mean Green. 

North Texas has a quick turnaround as they face FIU on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN+ and the Mean Green Sports Network. UAB, who beat Marshall 77-68 in Huntington, West Virginia, on Thursday faces Western Kentucky (16-10, 9-4 C-USA) on Saturday. Southern Miss is home against UTEP (8-16, 3-10 C-USA). 

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.

QUICK SHOTS
- Despite only playing 23 minutes, Woolridge did collect three steals on Thursday. He is now just six steals away from setting the all-time record. 
- Umoja Gibson made two three pointers and now has 74 on the year. He is three away from Chris Davis' record of most three-pointers by a UNT freshman.