# 2017–18 North Texas Mean Green men's basketball team

The 2017–18 North Texas Mean Green men's basketball team represented the University of North Texas during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Mean Green, led by first-year head coach Grant McCasland, played their home games at UNT Coliseum, nicknamed The Super Pit, in Denton, Texas, as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 20–18, 8–10 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for seventh place. They lost in the first round of the C-USA tournament to Louisiana Tech. They were invited to participate in the College Basketball Invitational where they defeated South Dakota, Mercer, and Jacksonville State to advance to the best-of-three finals series against San Francisco. After losing in game 1, they won games 2 and 3 to become CBI champions. They also had the biggest crowd since 2010 at 6,291.

## Previous season

The Mean Green finished the 2016–17 season 8–22, 2–16 in C-USA play to finish in last place. They failed to qualify for the C-USA tournament.
On March 5, 2017, the school fired head coach Tony Benford after five years without a winning season. On March 13, the school hired Arkansas State head coach Grant McCasland as head coach.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Jeremy Combs | 1 | F | 6'7" | 215 | Junior | Dallas, TX | Graduate transferred to LSU |
| Greg White-Pittman | 2 | G | 6'2" | 205 | Junior | New Orleans, LA | Transferred |
| Ja'Michael Brown | 3 | G | 6'1" | 180 | Sophomore | Raceland, LA | Transferred to Angelo State |
| Keith Frazier | 4 | G | 6'5" | 190 | Senior | Dallas, TX | Graduate transferred to UTEP |
| Deckie Johnson | 10 | G | 6'4" | 180 | Senior | Memphis, TN | Graduated |
| Derail Green | 11 | F | 6'7" | 220 | RS Senior | Houston, TX | Graduated |
| Rickey Brice Jr. | 23 | C | 7'1" | 270 | Sophomore | Arlington, TX | Graduate transferred to Texas A&M–Commerce |
| Jacob Gross | 24 | G | 6'4" | 191 | RS Junior | Sachse, TX | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| J-Mychael Reese | 52 | G | 6'2" | 185 | RS Junior | Bryan, TX | Graduate transferred |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Jorden Duffy | 2 | G | 6'0" | | RS Sophomore | Salisbury, MD | Junior college transferred from San Jacinto College |
| Roosevelt Smart | 3 | G | 6'3" | 170 | Sophomore | Palatine, IL | Junior college transferred from New Mexico JC |
| Jahmiah Simmons | 10 | F | 6'4" | 205 | Sophomore | Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands | Transferred from Arkansas State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Simmons will have to sit out for the 2017–18 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |
| Tope Arikawe | 20 | F | 6'8" | 220 | Junior | Lagos, Nigeria | Junior college transferred from Panola College |
| Michael Miller | 23 | G | 6'3" | | Junior | Michigan City, IN | Junior college transferred from Shawnee CC |

## Recruiting class of 2017

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Mark Tikhonenko PF | Moscow, Russia | Mount Zion Preparatory School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Mar 30, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Umoja Gibson PG | Waco, TX | University High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Jun 26, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Zach Simmons PF | Cedar Hill, TX | Cedar Hill High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | Sep 30, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 19, 2016. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 5:00 pm | | Eureka | W 122–65 | 1–0 | The Super Pit (3,252) Denton, TX |
| Nov 13, 2017* 7:00 pm, BTN Plus | | at Nebraska | L 67–86 | 1–1 | Pinnacle Bank Arena (9,028) Lincoln, NE |
| Nov 16, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Bethune–Cookman Ramblin' Wreck Showcase | W 90–78 | 2–1 | The Super Pit (2,013) Denton, TX |
| Nov 20, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Texas–Rio Grande Valley Ramblin' Wreck Showcase | L 63–75 | 2–2 | The Super Pit (1,892) Denton, TX |
| Nov 22, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Rogers State | W 88–74 | 3–2 | The Super Pit (1,678) Denton, TX |
| Nov 24, 2017* 3:00 pm, RSN | | at Georgia Tech Ramblin' Wreck Showcase | L 49–63 | 3–3 | McCamish Pavilion (4,867) Atlanta, GA |
| Nov 27, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Grambling State Ramblin' Wreck Showcase | W 82–77 | 4–3 | The Super Pit (1,513) Denton, TX |
| Nov 30, 2017* 7:00 pm, SSTV/FSOK | | at Oklahoma | L 72–82 | 4–4 | Lloyd Noble Center (8,132) Norman, OK |
| Dec 2, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Texas–Arlington | L 60–65 | 4–5 | College Park Center (2,728) Arlington, TX |
| Dec 6, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Indiana State | W 79–76 $^{OT}$ | 5–5 | The Super Pit (1,642) Denton, TX |
| Dec 9, 2017* 5:00 pm | | at McNeese State | W 85–47 | 6–5 | The Super Pit (1,612) Denton, TX |
| Dec 16, 2017* 9:00 pm | | at San Diego | W 86–83 $^{OT}$ | 7–5 | Jenny Craig Pavilion (1,419) San Diego, CA |
| Dec 20, 2017* 6:00 pm, FS2 | | at Georgetown | L 63–75 | 7–6 | Capital One Arena (4,226) Washington, D.C. |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| Dec 28, 2017 8:00 pm | | at UTEP | W 63–62 | 8–6 (1–0) | Don Haskins Center (6,306) El Paso, TX |
| Dec 30, 2017 7:00 pm | | at UTSA | W 72–71 | 9–6 (2–0) | Convocation Center (1,130) San Antonio, TX |
| Jan 4, 2018 7:00 pm | | Charlotte | L 68–70 | 9–7 (2–1) | The Super Pit (1,826) Denton, TX |
| Jan 6, 2018 5:00 pm | | Old Dominion | L 60–63 | 9–8 (2–2) | The Super Pit (1,907) Denton, TX |
| Jan 13, 2018 2:00 pm | | at Rice | W 85–78 | 10–8 (3–2) | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,487) Houston, TX |
| Jan 18, 2018 6:00 pm, Stadium | | at Louisiana Tech | L 65–66 | 10–9 (3–3) | Thomas Assembly Center (4,236) Ruston, LA |
| Jan 20, 2018 4:00 pm | | at Southern Miss | L 78–85 | 10–10 (3–4) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,540) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Jan 25, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Florida Atlantic | W 59–53 | 11–10 (4–4) | The Super Pit (1,952) Denton, TX |
| Jan 27, 2018 5:00 pm | | FIU | W 69–67 $^{OT}$ | 12–10 (5–4) | The Super Pit (2,096) Denton, TX |
| Feb 3, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Rice | W 74–70 | 13–10 (6–4) | The Super Pit (2,322) Denton, TX |
| Feb 8, 2018 7:00 pm | | at UAB | W 67–60 | 14–10 (7–4) | Bartow Arena (3,383) Birmingham, AL |
| Feb 10, 2018 5:00 pm | | at Middle Tennessee | L 73–79 | 14–11 (7–5) | Murphy Center (6,209) Murfreesboro, TN |
| Feb 15, 2018 8:00 pm, Stadium | | Western Kentucky | L 94–102 $^{OT}$ | 14–12 (7–6) | The Super Pit (2,306) Denton, TX |
| Feb 17, 2018 5:00 pm | | Marshall | L 72–74 | 14–13 (7–7) | The Super Pit (4,115) Denton, TX |
| Feb 22, 2018 6:00 pm | | at FIU | L 68–69 | 14–14 (7–8) | FIU Arena (2,163) Miami, FL |
| Feb 24, 2018 6:00 pm | | at Florida Atlantic | L 54–74 | 14–15 (7–9) | FAU Arena (1,221) Boca Raton, FL |
| Mar 1, 2018 7:00 pm | | UTSA | W 80–62 | 15–15 (8–9) | The Super Pit (3,627) Denton, TX |
| Mar 3, 2018 7:00 pm | | UTEP | L 66–68 | 15–16 (8–10) | The Super Pit (3,744) Denton, TX |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| Mar 7, 2018 8:30 pm, Stadium | (7) | vs. (10) Louisiana Tech First round | L 62–68 | 15–17 | The Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| CBI ||||||
| Mar 14, 2018* 6:00 pm | | at South Dakota First round | W 90–77 | 16–17 | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (1,348) Vermillion |
| Mar 19, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Mercer Quarterfinals | W 96–67 | 17–17 | The Super Pit (1,145) Denton, TX |
| Mar 21, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Jacksonville State Semifinals | W 90–68 | 18–17 | The Super Pit (2,784) Denton, TX |
| Mar 26, 2018* 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | at San Francisco Finals – Game 1 | L 62–72 | 18–18 | War Memorial Gymnasium (1,358) San Francisco, CA |
| Mar 28, 2018* 7:30 pm, ESPNU | | San Francisco Finals – Game 2 | W 69–55 | 19–18 | The Super Pit (4,196) Denton, TX |
| Mar 30, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | San Francisco Finals – Game 3 | W 88–77 | 20–18 | The Super Pit (6,291) Denton, TX |
| *Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||