NIT Tournament 2023: North Texas, Sam Houston look to advance to quarterfinals
By Ryan Kay
A second-round game will be played Sunday afternoon in this mid-major match-up in the NIT tournament that features two teams from the state of Texas.
Game Match Up
Teams and Records: Sam Houston 26-7 (10-5) at North Texas 27-7 (13-2)
Date: March 19th
Time: 4 PM EST
Channel/Streaming: ESPN+
North Texas
Conference: C-USA
Best Wins: Grand Canyon (60-58), San Jose State (69-54), Fresno State (61-52), UMass (62-44), Long Beach State (68-47), at Western Kentucky (70-66), at Middle Tennessee (56-51), Louisiana Tech (67-65), at UAB (63-52), at Louisana Tech (72-62), UAB (82-79), Charlotte (67-43), Middle Tennessee (64-50), Western Kentucky (67-33), Alcorn State (69-53), and Louisana Tech (74-46)
Notable Defeats: At Saint Mary’s (33-63), Florida Atlantic (46-50), UNC Wilmington (51-55), at Charlotte (49-55), Rice (60-72), UAB (69-76), and at Florida Atlantic (62-66)
NET Ranking: 38
KenPom Ranking: 44
RPI Ranking: 28
College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 71
Sagarin Ranking: 64
Quadrant 1 Record: 1-3
Quadrant 2 Record: 3-2
Quadrant 3 Record: 11-1
Why North Texas can win this game
North Texas has won 12 of their last 14 games heading into their match-up against Sam Houston. The Mean Green played in a top-tier mid-major conference and finished in second place in the Conference USA regular season standing. They may have won the conference title but Flordia Atlantic surprised many within the conference and had an outstanding season and finished in first place. North Texas in conference play beat Middle Tennessee twice, defeated UAB twice, and was victorious against Louisana Tech three times as well. The Mean Green faced a common opponent in Grand Canyon where North Texas beat the Lopes 60-58 and Sam Houston lost to Grand Canyon twice this season.
This should be a very entertaining match between two Texas schools and the Mean Green has a better resume with a higher NET and RPI ranking. North Texas’ defense has been good this season but it has really taken it to a whole new level defensively as of late and the Mean Green will look to grind out a win today to make it to the quarterfinals.
Sam Houston
Conference: WAC
Best Wins: At Oklahoma (52-51), at Utah (65-55), at Texas State (69-62), at New Mexico State (75-62), Tarleton State (75-68), at Utah Tech (78-53), Stephen F. Austin (76-71), Seattle (55-40), at Tarleton State (64-59), California Baptist (56-45), Southern Utah (64-57), at Stephen F. Austin (64-59), Cal Baptist (64-51), and Santa Clara (58-56)
Notable Defeats: At Nevada (60-78), at Oklahoma State (51-65), Grand Canyon (75-78), at UT Arlington (58-70), at Southern Utah (74-86), Grand Canyon (68-72), and at Utah Valley (64-80)
NET Ranking: 65
KenPom Ranking: 64
RPI Ranking: 55
College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 44
Sagarin Ranking: 91
Quadrant 1 Record: 1-3
Quadrant 2 Record: 2-1
Quadrant 3 Record: 10-2
Why Sam Houston wins this game
Sam Houston may have wanted to be in the NCAA tournament instead of the NIT but they have shown that they want to make a run in the NIT with their impressive win against Santa Clara in the first round. What may separate the Bearkats from other mid-major teams in post-season play is that Sam Houston has two quality road wins over power five conference teams. The Bearkats on the road earlier in the season defeated Utah and Oklahoma and played a difficult non-conference schedule playing Nevada, Oklahoma State, and Utah Valley on the road as well which has helped the Bearkats have a top 45 ESPN BPI ranking.
Sam Houston only lost one game on their home court this season and has won 14 of their last 16 games going into their game against North Texas. These two teams last played in 2021 when the Mean Green defeated the Bearkats by a final score of 65-55. Much has changed since then and since 2011, North Texas has won three of the last four times they have played. However, Sam Houston like North Texas has an outstanding defense and this should be an amazing defensive battle between these two Texas schools.
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On paper, North Texas should win this game as they are the No. 2 seed and Sam Houston is the No. 3 seed in this tournament. However, the Bearkats even on the road have proven that they can win games like these, and their defense against Santa Clara was spectacular. This will be a low-scoring and close game in which Sam Houston defeats North Texas by a final score of 62-60 to advance to the quarterfinals of the NIT tournament.