# 2021–22 North Texas Mean Green men's basketball team

The 2021–22 North Texas Mean Green men's basketball team represented the University of North Texas during the 2021–22 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. They finished the season 25-7, 16-2 in C-USA Play to finish as regular season champions. They defeated Rice in the quarterfinals of the C-USA tournament before losing in the semifinals to Louisiana Tech. As a No. 1 seed who didn’t win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Texas State in the first round before losing in the second round to Virginia.

## Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Mean Green finished the 2020–21 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, the 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 before losing to No. 5-seeded Villanova in the second round.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| James Reese | 0 | G | 6'4" | 167 | Senior | Eastover, SC | Graduate transferred to South Carolina |
| Keith Barnes | 2 | G | 6'4" | 200 | RS Freshman | St. Louis, MO | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Javion Hamlet | 3 | G | 6'4" | 193 | RS Senior | Memphis, TN | Graduated/went undrafted in 2021 NBA draft |
| Jalen Jackson | 4 | G | 5'11" | 177 | Sophomore | San Antonio, TX | Transferred to Texas A&M–Corpus Christi |
| Larry Wise | 22 | G | 6'5" | 194 | RS Sophomore | Waxachacie, TX | Transferred to West Texas A&M |
| Mykell Robinson | 23 | G | 6'7" | 205 | Freshman | Houston, TX | Transferred to Dodge City CC |
| Zachary Simmons | 24 | F | 6'10" | 239 | Senior | Abilene, TX | Graduated |
| Terence Lewis II | 34 | F | 6'7" | 208 | RS Junior | Upper Marlboro, MD | Graduate transferred to Jackson State |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Rasheed Browne | 0 | G | 6'2" | 175 | Senior | Philadelphia, PA | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi |
| Tylor Perry | 5 | G | 5'11" | 183 | Junior | Fort Coffee, OK | Coffeyville CC |
| Bryce Zephir | 12 | G | 6'4" | 190 | Sophomore | Carson, CA | Chipola College |
| Hameir Wright | 44 | F | 6'9" | 220 | GS Senior | Albany, NY | Washington |

### Recruiting class of 2021

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Aaron Scott SF | Legacy the School of Sport Sciences | Spring, TX | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Mar 22, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Chrisdon Morgan C | DeSoto High School | DeSoto, TX | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) | Sep 25, 2020 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ||||||
| Matthew Stone SF | Kingfisher High School | DeSoto, TX | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 15, 2020 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ||||||
| 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: "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 31, 2021. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 30, 2021* 4:00 p.m. | | at No. 16 Arkansas Charity Exhibition | L 60–68 | | Bud Walton Arena (19,200) Fayetteville, AR |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 7:30 p.m., YouTube | | Oklahoma Christian | W 84–53 | 1–0 | The Super Pit (3,758) Denton, TX |
| November 15, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Buffalo | L 66–69 | 1–1 | The Super Pit (3,058) Denton, TX |
| November 18, 2021* 7:00 p.m., YouTube | | UT Arlington | W 64–36 | 2–1 | The Super Pit (3,211) Denton, TX |
| November 25, 2021* 2:30 p.m., ESPN | | vs. No. 4 Kansas ESPN Events Invitational quarterfinals | L 59–71 | 2–2 | HP Field House (3,514) Kissimmee, FL |
| November 26, 2021* 10:00 a.m., ESPN2 | | vs. Miami (FL) ESPN Events Invitational Consolation round | L 63–69 | 2–3 | HP Field House (3,859) Kissimmee, FL |
| November 28, 2021* 9:30 a.m., ESPNU | | vs. Drake ESPN Events Invitational | W 57–54 | 3–3 | HP Field House (3,252) Kissimmee, FL |
| December 4, 2021* 3:00 p.m. | | LSU–Shreveport | W 73–35 | 4–3 | The Super Pit (2,740) Denton, TX |
| December 11, 2021* 3:30 p.m., FloSports | | vs. UMass Basketball Hall of Fame Classic | W 66–57 | 5–3 | Dickies Arena Fort Worth, TX |
| December 14, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | San Houston State | W 65–55 | 6–3 | The Super Pit Denton, TX |
| December 18, 2021* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Wichita State | W 62–52 | 7–3 | Charles Koch Arena (8,277) Wichita, KS |
| December 21, 2021* 5:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | vs. Tulsa Compete 4 Cause Classic | Canceled | Canceled | Paycom Center Oklahoma City, OK |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| January 1, 2022 5:00 p.m., ESPN+/YouTube | | Rice | W 75–43 | 8–3 (1–0) | The Super Pit (2,409) Denton, TX |
| January 6, 2022 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | | UAB | L 63–69 | 8–4 (1–1) | The Super Pit (3,207) Denton, TX |
| January 8, 2022 5:00 p.m., YouTube | | Middle Tennessee | W 70–63 | 9–4 (2–1) | The Super Pit (3,280) Denton, TX |
| January 13, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Marshall | W 69–65 | 10–4 (3–1) | Cam Henderson Center (3,818) Huntington, WV |
| January 15, 2022 3:00 p.m., Stadium | | at Western Kentucky | W 65–60 | 11–4 (4–1) | E. A. Diddle Arena (4,012) Bowling Green, KY |
| January 20, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Charlotte | W 65–51 | 12–4 (5–1) | The Super Pit (3,759) Denton, TX |
| January 22, 2022 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Old Dominion | W 69–56 | 13–4 (6–1) | The Super Pit (3,475) Denton, TX |
| January 27, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Southern Miss | W 63–54 | 14–4 (7–1) | Reed Green Coliseum (3,205) Hattiesburg, MS |
| January 29, 2022 3:00 p.m., Stadium | | at Louisiana Tech | W 63–62 | 15–4 (8–1) | Thomas Assembly Center (4,002) Ruston, LA |
| February 5, 2022 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UTSA | W 69–45 | 16–4 (9–1) | The Super Pit (4,227) Denton, TX |
| February 7, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UTEP Rescheduled from February 3 | W 66–58 | 17–4 (10–1) | The Super Pit (3,813) Denton, TX |
| February 12, 2022 2:00 p.m., CUSA.TV | | at Rice | W 67–44 | 18–4 (11–1) | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,102) Houston, TX |
| February 17, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Florida Atlantic | W 54–51 | 19–4 (12–1) | FAU Arena (1,774) Boca Raton, FL |
| February 19, 2022 3:00 p.m., Stadium | | at UAB | W 58–57 | 20–4 (13–1) | Bartow Arena (4,721) Birmingham, AL |
| February 24, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Southern Miss | W 85–61 | 21–4 (14–1) | The Super Pit (4,150) Denton, TX |
| February 26, 2022 3:00 p.m., Stadium | | Louisiana Tech | W 56–49 | 22–4 (15–1) | The Super Pit (8,522) Denton, TX |
| March 3, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UTSA | W 59–48 | 23–4 (16–1) | Conovcation Center (864) San Antonio, TX |
| March 5, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UTEP | L 68–70 | 23–5 (16–2) | Don Haskins Center (5,521) El Paso, TX |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| March 10, 2022 5:30 p.m., Stadium | (W1) | vs. (W5) Rice Quarterfinals | W 68–50 | 24–5 | Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| March 11, 2022 11:30 a.m., CBSSN | (W1) | vs. (W3) Louisiana Tech Semifinals | L 36–42 | 24–6 | Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| NIT tournament ||||||
| March 15, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (2) | Texas State First Round – Oklahoma Bracket | W 67–63 $^{OT}$ | 25–6 | The Super Pit (3,386) Denton, TX |
| March 20, 2022 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (2) | Virginia Second Round – Oklahoma Bracket | L 69–71 $^{OT}$ | 25–7 | The Super Pit (4,866) Denton, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||
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