Eric Tramiel scored a team-high 19 points and George Odufawa snagged a career-high 18 rebounds, however it was not enough to overcome a late run by Troy, falling 77-69 Thursday evening at The Super Pit.
The loss puts an end to North Texas’ four-game win streak and makes the all-time series in favor of the Mean Green 4-2. Troy (12-10, 7-3) has now won five games in a row and seven of their last eight.
Odufawa’s 18 rebounds were eighth all-time in school history and are the most by a SBC player this season.
North Texas (12-8, 5-4) held a 67-63 lead with a little over four minutes left in the game, however Troy went on a 14-2 run to close the game, including a dagger three-pointer from Kenny Ware to give the Trojans a 73-69 lead with only 1:37 left.
Troy's Brandon Hazzard scored a game-high 23 points, 13 of which came in the second half. Mario Telfair also scored 16 points and made 7-of-8 shots from the field.
The Mean Green received a valiant effort from Adam McCoy, who came off the bench to score a career-high 15 points of which included 5-of-10 from three-point territory. However, the rest of the Mean Green struggled from the outside, making only 2-of-16 from beyond the arch.
Overall North Texas finished the evening shooting only 41 percent while Troy shot 50 percent.
After Troy opened up a 60-53 lead in the second half, North Texas went on a 11-2 run to regain a 64-62 lead on a steal by Adam McCoy and a layup on the other end from Collin Dennis.
Both teams were not shy about shooting from beyond the arch in the first half. Troy’s 2-3 zone forced North Texas to take 14 three-pointers in the game’s first 20 minutes, however North Texas was only able to make four of those. Overall the Mean Green shot only 38 percent from the field and 28 percent from three-point territory.
Tramiel, who had been averaging 15 points per game since the new year, was able to keep the Mean Green close by scoring nine first half points.
The Trojans, who took a 34-33 lead into halftime, also launched their share amount of shots from downtown in the first half, connecting on 3-of-7 from three-point territory. Troy had the edge in the first half in points in the paint, outscoring North Texas 16-8 and got a team-high 10 points from Hazzard.
Troy began the contest by connecting on their first three attempts from three-point territory and jumped out to an early 11-4 lead. North Texas got things rolling shortly after going on a 7-0 run of their own, including a steal and a tying three-pointer by Dominique Johnson.
North Texas returns to action on Saturday evening at Western Kentucky, who advanced to the Sweet 16 last year.
