N. Texas meets Purdue in First Round

Published Mar. 18, 2021 7:30 a.m. ET

Associated Press

No. 13 seed North Texas (17-9) vs. No. 4 seed Purdue (18-9)

NCAA Tournament First Round, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis; Friday, 6:25 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: North Texas is set to take on Purdue in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. North Texas needed overtime to beat Western Kentucky by four points on Saturday, while Purdue fell to Ohio State in overtime on Friday, 87-78.

SUPER SENIORS: North Texas has relied heavily on its seniors. Javion Hamlet, Zachary Simmons, Thomas Bell and James Reese have combined to account for 67 percent of the team's scoring this year and 91 percent of all Mean Green points over the team's last five games.

FACILITATING THE OFFENSE: Hamlet has made or assisted on 60 percent of all North Texas field goals over the last five games. Hamlet has accounted for 34 field goals and 33 assists in those games.

UNDEFEATED WHEN: The Boilermakers are 13-0 when holding opponents to 41.3 percent or worse from the field, and 5-9 when opponents shoot better than that. The Mean Green are 10-0 when they score at least 74 points and 7-9 on the year when falling short of 74.

ASSIST RATIOS: The Boilermakers have recently converted buckets via assists more often than the Mean Green. Purdue has an assist on 47 of 74 field goals (63.5 percent) across its previous three games while North Texas has assists on 33 of 62 field goals (53.2 percent) during its past three games.

GETTING DEFENSIVE: North Texas has held opposing teams to 61.2 points per game this season, the 10th-lowest figure among all Division I teams. The Mean Green have allowed only 54 points per game over their four-game winning streak.

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