Tulsa Golden Hurricane at North Texas Mean Green

TALE OF THE TAPE

North Texas Mean Green Tulsa Golden Hurricane Record 9-5 → 13-1 Off Rating #293 → #4 Def Rating #35 ← #106 eFG% 50.2% → 58.4% 3PT% 31.5% → 39.8% Key Injuries McClendon (OUT) Ford Jr. (GTD)

Gary's Take Tulsa is a juggernaut right now. Eric Konkol has this team playing at a level that the American Athletic Conference isn't used to seeing. They aren't just winning; they are dismantling teams with the fourth-best adjusted offensive efficiency in the country. When you look at a team shooting nearly 60% effective field goal percentage, you're looking at a group that doesn't beat itself. Tylen Riley and David Green have been the catalysts, but it's the ball security—only 10 turnovers a game—that really separates them.

North Texas is going to try to make this a rock fight. That's what they do at the Super Pit. Daniyal Robinson has kept that defensive identity alive, and they are elite at running teams off the three-point line. But here's the problem: you can't win if you can't score. The Mean Green are ranked 293rd in offensive efficiency. Je'Shawn Stevenson is a talent, but he doesn't have enough help to keep pace with a Tulsa team that can put up 90 points in their sleep.

The market is giving a lot of respect to the North Texas home court and their historical dominance over Tulsa, but this isn't the same Golden Hurricane team from years past. Tulsa's ability to space the floor and knock down shots from deep will eventually break the Mean Green's no-easy-looks defense. Once Tulsa gets a two-possession lead, North Texas simply doesn't have the perimeter shooting to mount a comeback. I'm riding with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane ML -162 to handle business in Denton.