NCAA Basketball: 2021 ESPN Events Invitational preview and predictions

DETROIT - APRIL 03: A detail of a player from the Connecticut Huskies holding a basketball with the 2009 Final Four logo on it during practice prior to the Final Four of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at Ford Field on April 3, 2009 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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NCAA Basketball North Texas Mean Green (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /

North Texas Mean Green

Record: 2-1

The Mean Green of North Texas was picked to finish 6th in Conference USA coming off a hot March that earned them a trip to the NCAA Tournament and the school’s first tourney win, mainly due to the graduation of star Javion Hamlet. But head coach Grant McCasland has them at 2-1, but the loss was a 69-66 defeat to a very good Buffalo team.

With four double-digit scorers through three games led by Tylor Perry, who comes to Denton from by way of Coffeyville Community College where he led them to the JuCo national title. He has netted 17 and is shooting a scorching 56.3% from deep, he and Thomas Bell who is averaging nearly a double-double with 15 and 8.7, have been a strong duo so far for North Texas.

Senior guard Mardrez McBride and sophomore center Abou Ousmane have been a really good complement to those two, combining to score 21.6 points and are efficient shooting 47% from the field on just 18 shots per game between the two. The Mean Green have the ability to put the ball in the basket, but defensively they have given up just 51 points per game early on. Hamlet may be gone but with McCasland on the sideline, it would be wise not to overlook the Mean Green in this tournament.

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