BOCA RATON, FL -- North Texas split last week's home games against Marshall and Western Kentucky. After a big 78-51 win over Marshall, the Mean Green fell three points short of WKU and put both teams in a tie for third place in Conference USA.
After playing two highly competitive opponents in front of a huge home crowd last week, the Mean Green look to grab two wins this weekend against Florida Atlantic and Florida International.
This is C-USA men's basketball's final weekend before the new flex schedule takes place. The flex schedule will allow each team to play four additional conference games against teams with the same caliber -- there will be another story on the development of the flex schedule posted soon.
There are a few records Mean Green fans will need to watch for this weekend: Ryan Woolridge sits eight steals away from setting the school record for steals in a single season (151), while Umoja Gibson is five 3-pointers away from tying the school record for most three-pointers in a single season as a freshman.
UNT needs just one win to clinch a spot in the top five of the conference and can move to the top of C-USA with two wins and losses from Old Dominion and UTSA.
Florida Atlantic (14-11, 5-7 C-USA)
North Texas starts off the weekend road trip in Boca Raton against the FAU Owls on Thursday. The Owls are coming off a home loss to UTSA, who sit at second place in C-USA.
FAU started off the season on a torrid pace and beat notable teams such as UCF (80-79) and Big 10 opponent Illinois (73-71). The Owls continued their success by starting 2-1 in conference play and handing C-USA leader Old Dominion an 80-73 loss.
The Owls also play well at their home arena, The Burrow, and have posted a home record of 7-3.
FAU is led by Anthony Adger, who averages 17.0 points per game and ranks 10th in scoring in C-USA. Adger has raised his level of play during conference play by averaging 19.4 points per game since Jan. 3.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT and can be watched on ESPN+ and the Mean Green Sports Network.
Florida International (14-11, 5-7 C-USA)
After a day of rest, the Mean Green will travel to Miami for an afternoon matchup with the Florida International Panthers. FIU comes into this weekend losing four of the last five games and sits in a tie for sixth place in C-USA.
FIU runs a high-powered offense and leads C-USA in scoring average (85) and free throws made per game (16). The Panthers are led offensively by Brian Beard Jr's 17.6 points per game and Devon Andrew's 15 points per game and have five different players averaging double-digits in scoring.
The demise for FIU this season has been their defense. They allow a league worst 82.2 points per game and allow teams to shoot 47 percent on the field. This is where North Texas can take advantage.
The Mean Green are at their best when they are penetrating and scoring at the bucket or kicking the ball out to wide-open players at the 3-point line. North Texas has struggled against good defensive teams such as last Saturday against WKU, so this matchup looks well for the Mean Green offense.
Two wins this weekend would set up UNT for an exciting finish to the regular season and a great seed in the C-USA tournament.
Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT on Saturday and can be seen on ESPN+ or ESPN3.
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