OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 29, 2021) – For the second time in three men's basketball seasons, Oklahoma Christian will travel to play at NCAA Division I North Texas in an exhibition game, OC coach Kendre Talley said Wednesday.

OC will face the Mean Green on Nov. 9 at 7:30 p.m. in the UNT Coliseum (also known as "The Super Pit") in Denton, Texas. It will be the second and final exhibition game of the 2021-22 season for the Eagles, who will host Calvary (Mo.) on Nov. 6 in the annual homecoming game.

North Texas beat OC 79-40 on Nov. 5, 2019, in a contest that counted as a regular-season game for the Mean Green and as an exhibition for OC, which competes in NCAA Division II. Four current OC players competed in that game – senior guards Johnatan Reyes-Valdez and Anthony Johnson, junior swingman D.J. Walter and sophomore center Hunter Staten.

This season's game will also be a countable one for North Texas and will serve as the Mean Green's season opener. North Texas, the two-time defending champion in Conference USA, is coming off an 18-10 season in which the Mean Green upset Purdue in the first round of the NCAA tournament before falling to Villanova.

The connection between the two programs is former OC assistant coach Luis Lopez, who spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coach under North Texas coach Grant McCasland. Lopez now serves as a major gifts officer for OC.

"We are excited to have a second opportunity to travel and down and play UNT," Talley said. "I am very appreciative of coach McCasland and the North Texas staff. The experience of playing a Division I team is a benefit in itself, but they give also a true test to see where we are early in the season. 

"UNT has been a great program that's continued to improve year in and year out. Having made a great run in the tournament last year and bringing some guys back with tournament experience, I expect them to have a really good again this year. We are looking forward to this opportunity, the guys are excited, and hopefully we can have a good fan base come down and support us! "

Opportunities to play against Division I foes – either in exhibition or regular-season contests – have been rare for the Eagles in recent decades. Since 1975, OC has played in only seven such games.

Perhaps the biggest win in OC basketball history came on Dec. 3, 1979, when the Eagles faced Memphis State (now just Memphis) at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tenn. OC, then coached by Jerry Jobe, led most of the way and beat the Dana Kirk-coached Tigers 90-76. During the 1982-83 season, OC gave Division I San Diego a scare before falling 70-61 in a regular-season game.

In exhibition play, the Eagles are 0-5 all-time against Division I foes. OC played at Oklahoma State in 2005 and led the Cowboys early in the second half before losing 84-62 and in 2006, the Eagles played a Halloween night game at OU and lost 79-51 to the Sooners.

On Nov. 3, 2013, OC led NCAA tournament-bound Oklahoma (with then-sophomore guard Buddy Hield) 41-38 at halftime before eventually falling 88-76 in Norman. Among the OC players who appeared in the game were Talley, then a senior guard, and Lopez, then a freshman guard for the Eagles.

OC also played an exhibition game at Tulsa on Nov. 2, 2016, losing 72-53.

In the early days of OC basketball, the Eagles played a handful of regular-season games against teams that would be considered NCAA Division I, facing opponents such as New Mexico, New Mexico State, West Texas State, Texas-El Paso, Wichita State and North Texas. OC played at North Texas on Jan. 19, 1971, falling 70-69.