N. Texas, WKU meet in CUSA quarters
No. 10 seed North Texas (21-11, 9-10) vs. No. 2 seed Western Kentucky (18-13, 11-7)
Conference USA Conference Tourney Quarterfinals, Ford Center at The Star, Frisco, Texas; Thursday, 8:30 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: North Texas and Western Kentucky are prepared to square off in the CUSA tournament quarterfinals. The only meeting between the teams this season came on Feb. 9, when the Hilltoppers shot 43.1 percent from the field while holding North Texas’s shooters to just 34.3 percent en route to a three-point victory.
SUPER SENIORS: North Texas has relied heavily on its seniors. Ryan Woolridge, Umoja Gibson, Michael Miller and Jorden Duffy have collectively accounted for 59 percent of all Mean Green points this season, though their output has dropped to 48 percent over the team’s last five games.
ROBUST RYAN: Woolridge has connected on 32.1 percent of the 56 3-pointers he’s attempted. He’s also made 58 percent of his free throws this season.
PERFECT WHEN: Western Kentucky is a perfect 7-0 when the team makes nine or more 3-pointers. The Hilltoppers are 11-13 when the team hits fewer than nine threes.
ASSIST RATIOS: The Mean Green have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Hilltoppers. Western Kentucky has an assist on 32 of 73 field goals (43.8 percent) over its previous three matchups while North Texas has assists on 43 of 73 field goals (58.9 percent) during its past three games.
TOUGH DEFENSE: North Texas has held opposing teams to 62.8 points per game, the second-lowest figure among all CUSA teams.