DENTON, Texas (Nov. 9, 2021) – Two years ago, Oklahoma Christian visited North Texas and was overwhelmed, losing by 39 points and scoring only 40. In the rematch on Tuesday night, the Eagles showed how far they've come since then.
In North Texas' Super Pit, OC stayed within striking distance against a team coming off a NCAA Division I tournament second-round appearance. The final score – North Texas 84, OC 53 – didn't necessarily reflect how tight the basketball game was most of the way. OC was within 14 points with under six minutes left before the Mean Green closed on a 21-4 run.
As North Texas coach Grant McCasland exited the court following a postgame radio interview, he saw an OC official and said – without prompting – "You all have a good team. You'll be good."
Unlike two years ago, McCasland called a pair of timeouts in the second half to make sure his team – for which the game counted – stayed focused against OC, for which the game was an exhibition. OC coach
Kendre Talley wasn't discouraged by the final score, choosing to look at the positives.
"We competed the whole game," Talley said. "That was the main thing. I wanted these guys to come down here and fight and actually compete to win the game, and that's what they did. They fought hard. Everything didn't go how we wanted it to go, but we learned a lot about our team and we competed."
Four Eagles scored in double figures, with
D.J. Walter and
Anthony Johnson finishing with 11 points and
Drew Tennial and
Moun'Tae Edmundson adding 10 each. The Eagles made 10 steals, including four from Johnson, which proved to be the majority of the Mean Green's 12 turnovers.
The difference in the game for North Texas was junior-college transfer Tylor Perry, who hit 8 of 10 shots, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range, and scored 22 points. Four other North Texas players scored in double figures, led by Thomas Bell, who had 14 points and 12 rebounds. The Mean Green shot 54.8 percent from the field, compared to 42 percent for OC.
"They've got a really good program," Talley said of North Texas. "That's why I like to come down here and play those guys. That's going to be the best team we'll see all year. They did a really good job, but we've been taking a lot of pride in our defense and I'm glad it showed tonight. We made it tough to score on us."
OC led in the early stages. A basket by Tennial at the 15:42 mark of the first half gave the Eagles their first lead at 9-7, and a put-back basket by Johnson made it 11-10 at the 14:35 mark. A deep 3-pointer by Edmundson at the 9:21 mark tied the game at 14-14.
North Texas used a 17-4 run to gap the Eagles and the Mean Green led 42-27 after Perry hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the first half. OC quickly cut the lead to 44-32 early in the second half and would have pulled within single digits had a 3-point attempt by
Karlyn Kenner gone in.
A 3-pointer by Walter pulled OC within 56-45 with 10:48 and led to McCasland's first timeout. OC held the Mean Green scoreless for three minutes following that timeout, but the Eagles suffered their own cold spell, going more than four minutes without scoring.
Nyk Madison's two free throws with 5:56 left cut OC's deficit to 63-49, but the Eagles managed only four points the rest of the way.
OC now will turn its attention to the regular season. The Eagles will play at Metro State (Colo.) on Saturday in the season opener in Denver, then will face Black Hills State (S.D.) on the same court on Sunday.
"We've just got to continue to grind and build it brick by brick and just continue to get better," Talley said.
