DALLAS – North Texas will make its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010 by way of Conference USA’s automatic bid, and drew No. 4 seed Purdue in the First Round. The official bracket released Sunday has the No. 13 seed Mean Green facing the Boilermakers in the South Region. Tipoff from Lucas Oil Stadium is set for 6:25 p.m. CT Friday on TNT. 
 
NCAA Tournament Bracket
 
North Texas (17-9) won its first Conference USA Championship Saturday night, becoming the fifth program in C-USA tournament history and first since 2010 to win four games in four days en route to the title.
 
North Texas, the third seed in C-USA’s West Division, raced out to a 17-0 lead and held on in overtime to defeat the No. 1 overall seed WKU, 61-57. The victory was made even sweeter by the fact that the Mean Green won the regular season in 2020 but never got a chance to compete for an NCAA ticket due to the COVID-19 pandemic canceling the postseason.
 
North Texas currently ranks 10th in the nation in scoring defense (61.2) and held opponents to just 54 points throughout the C-USA tournament. The squad also owns the country’s 28th-best 3-point field goal percentage (37.6). Senior guard Javion Hamlet was named the championship’s Most Valuable Player as he averaged 18.5 points and 6.5 boards, and set a new league tournament record with 29 assists (7.3 per game). Including Hamlet, four Mean Green players are averaging at least 10.3 points on the season.
 
20th-ranked Purdue (18-9) dropped an 87-78 overtime decision to Ohio State in the Big Ten Quarterfinals on Friday in Indianapolis. Purdue has amassed the most wins in the conference over the last five years, and is led by junior forward Trevion Williams. Williams is averaging 15.6 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. North Texas and Purdue have only met once before, the meeting coming on Dec. 10, 1970 in West Lafayette, Indiana.