# 2020–21 North Texas Mean Green men's basketball team

The 2020–21 North Texas Mean Green men's basketball team represented the University of North Texas during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by fifth-year head coach Grant McCasland, and played their home games at UNT Coliseum in Denton, Texas as a member of the West division of Conference USA. In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they finished the season 18–10, 9–5 to finish in third place in the division. They defeated Middle Tennessee, Old Dominion, Louisiana Tech, and Western Kentucky to win the C-USA tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 13 seed in the South region. There they upset No. 4-seeded Purdue in the first round for the school’s first ever NCAA tournament victory, before losing to No. 5-seeded Villanova in the second round.

## Previous season

The Mean Green finished the 2019–20 season 20–11, 14–4 in C-USA play to finish to win the regular season championship. Before postseason play could begin, the C-USA tournament and other postseason tournaments were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 26, 2020* 7:00 p.m., YouTube Live | | Mississippi Valley State | W 116–62 | 1–0 | UNT Coliseum (1,206) Denton, TX |
| November 28, 2020* 5:00 p.m., SECN+ | | vs. Arkansas | L 54–69 | 1–1 | Bud Walton Arena (4,400) Fayetteville, AR |
| December 1, 2020* 7:00 p.m., Youtube Live | | Texas A&M–Commerce | Canceled | Canceled | UNT Coliseum Denton, TX |
| December 4, 2020* 7:00 p.m., SECN+ | | at Mississippi State | L 63–69 | 1–2 | Humphrey Coliseum (1,877) Starkville, MS |
| December 11, 2020* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at No. 11 West Virginia | L 50–62 | 1–3 | WVU Coliseum (291) Morgantown, WV |
| December 15, 2020* 7:00 p.m., YouTube Live | | Arkansas–Pine Bluff | W 81–56 | 2–3 | UNT Coliseum (1,211) Denton, TX |
| December 17, 2020* 7:00 p.m., YouTube Live | | Houston Baptist | W 85–55 | 3–3 | UNT Coliseum (1,251) Denton, TX |
| December 19, 2020* 11:00 a.m., SECN+ | | at LSU | Postponed | Postponed | Pete Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, LA |
| December 22, 2020* 1:00 p.m., YouTube Live | | LSU–Alexandria | W 110–78 | 4–3 | UNT Coliseum (1,203) Denton, TX |
| January 2, 2021* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Loyola–Chicago | L 49–57 | 4–4 | Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL |
| CUSA regular season ||||||
| January 1, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UAB | Postponed | Postponed | UNT Coliseum Denton, TX |
| January 2, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UAB | Postponed | Postponed | UNT Coliseum Denton, TX |
| January 8, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at UTSA | W 77–70 | 5–4 (1–0) | Convocation Center (388) San Antonio, TX |
| January 9, 2021 3:00 p.m. | | at UTSA | L 69–77 | 5–5 (1–1) | Convocation Center (389) San Antonio, TX |
| January 15, 2021 7:00 p.m., Stadium | | UTEP | W 63–33 | 6–5 (2–1) | UNT Coliseum (1,369) Denton, TX |
| January 16, 2021 3:00 p.m., Stadium | | UTEP | W 74–65 | 7–5 (3–1) | UNT Coliseum (1,416) Denton, TX |
| January 22, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Old Dominion | Postponed | Postponed | Chartway Arena Norfolk, VA |
| January 23, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Old Dominion | Postponed | Postponed | Chartway Arena Norfolk, VA |
| January 29, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Rice | W 79–74 | 8–5 (4–1) | Tudor Fieldhouse Houston, TX |
| January 31, 2021 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Rice | W 79–53 | 9–5 (5–1) | UNT Coliseum (1,303) Denton, TX |
| February 5, 2021 7:00 p.m., Stadium | | Louisiana Tech | L 63–68 | 9–6 (5–2) | UNT Coliseum (1,535) Denton, TX |
| February 6, 2021 1:00 p.m., Stadium | | Louisiana Tech | W 57–55 | 10–6 (6–2) | UNT Coliseum (1,532) Denton, TX |
| February 12, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Southern Miss | W 65–49 | 11–6 (7–2) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,200) Hattiesburg, MS |
| February 13, 2021 4:00 p.m. | | at Southern Miss | W 68–56 | 12–6 (8–2) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,200) Hattiesburg, MS |
| February 20, 2021 4:00 p.m., CBSSN on Facebook | | Western Kentucky | Postponed | Postponed | UNT Coliseum Denton, TX |
| February 21, 2021 1:00 p.m., CBSSN on Facebook | | Western Kentucky | Postponed | Postponed | UNT Coliseum Denton, TX |
| February 26, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Marshall | W 77–65 | 13–6 (9–2) | Cam Henderson Center (1,055) Huntington, WV |
| February 27, 2021 1:00 p.m., Stadium | | at Marshall | L 72–73 | 13–7 (9–3) | Cam Henderson Center (1,228) Huntington, WV |
| March 5, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UAB | L 51–65 | 13–8 (9–4) | UNT Coliseum (1,359) Denton, TX |
| March 6, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UAB | L 61–65 | 13–9 (9–5) | UNT Coliseum (1,450) Denton, TX |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| March 10, 2021 9:00 p.m., Stadium | (W3) | vs. (E6) Middle Tennessee Second Round | W 76–56 | 14–9 | Ford Center at The Star (856) Frisco, TX |
| March 11, 2021 9:00 p.m., Stadium | (W3) | vs. (E2) Old Dominion Quarterfinals | W 61–55 | 15–9 | Ford Center at The Star (1,137) Frisco, TX |
| March 12, 2021 3:00 p.m., CBSSN | (W3) | vs. (W1) Louisiana Tech Semifinals | W 54–48 | 16–9 | Ford Center at The Star (789) Frisco, TX |
| March 13, 2021 8:00 p.m., CBSSN | (W3) | vs. (E1) Western Kentucky Championship | W 61–57 $^{OT}$ | 17–9 | Ford Center at The Star (903) Frisco, TX |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 19, 2021 7:25 pm, TNT | (13 S) | vs. (4 S) No. 20 Purdue First Round | W 78–69 $^{OT}$ | 18–9 | Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis, IN |
| March 21, 2021 7:45 pm, TNT | (13 S) | vs. (5 S) No. 18 Villanova Second Round | L 61–84 | 18–10 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||