Sunday, March 9th, 10:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: The Mitchell Center (10,000) -- Mobile, Alabama. Television: Local. Home Record: UNT 15-2, WKU 13-1. Away Record: UNT 4-8, WKU 10-3. Neutral Record: UNT 1-0, WKU 1-2. Conference Record: UNT 10-8, WKU 16-2. Series Record: Western Kentucky leads, 8-2.

GAME NOTES: The North Texas Mean Green set out to defend their title from a year ago as they face off against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in the 32nd annual Sun Belt Conference Tournament at the Mitchell Center in Mobile. Last year North Texas, which is the sixth seed in the tournament at the moment, defeated Arkansas State by a score of 83-75 to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. This season, UNT finished strong with two straight victories and six in the last seven outings, the most recent of those wins coming against Arkansas State on Wednesday night, 85-63, during the first round of the tournament. As for the Hilltoppers, a team that has won the tournament five times over the years, they earned themselves the three seed by winning three straight to close out the regular season, taking out FAU on the road by 10 points for good measure back on March 1st. WKU won the only meeting of the season between these teams by 10 points a month ago, which means the Hilltoppers now have an 8-2 advantage in the all-time series. The winner of this game will be right back on the court on Monday facing the winner of the FAU/UALR meeting.

Adam McCoy was perfect on Wednesday when he stepped onto the floor versus Arkansas State, making all eight of his field goal attempts, of which five were from three-point range, as he finished with 21 points in the win. Keith Wooden posted 14 points and nine rebounds, followed by Ben Bell and Josh White with 12 points apiece, the former also accounting for half the unit's 12 assists on the night in The Super Pit. Surprisingly, even with the squad posting better than 77 ppg over the course of 30 games, there's no single player who is a dominant force on offense. Collin Dennis and White are both averaging a team-high 13.9 ppg, followed by the top rebounder in the group Quincy Williams (7.8 rpg) who has managed to hit for an even 10 ppg to this point. The Mean Green are beating opponents on the glass by almost seven per game and are shooting a collective 40.1 percent behind the three-point line.

Showing once again why he's the top player in the Sun Belt Conference this season, Courtney Lee erupted for 29 points and cleared five rebounds as the Hilltoppers topped FAU last Saturday in Boca Raton by double digits. Tyrone Brazelton made good on 4-of-6 shots behind the three-point line to finish with 22 points, followed by A.J. Slaughter and his 15 points effort off the bench as he made good on 4-of-5 out on the perimeter as well. An even 50.0 percent shooter from the field over the course of his 30 starts, Lee turned those successful attempts into a team-high 20.9 ppg. Lee added four and a half rebounds per game and was extremely active on defense with 53 steals along the way as well. Brazelton is up to 13.1 ppg and has directed the offense with his 112 assists.

Having the extra time off because they played so well during the regular season, the Hilltoppers have been itching to get back on the hardwood and intend to scratch that itch with a win over UNT tonight.

Predicted Outcome

Western Kentucky 78, North Texas 73