LAS VEGAS - North Texas (31-7) won a hard-fought battle 68-61 over UAB (29-10) to capture the NIT championship on Thursday night from Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. It was a back-and-forth affair in the second half between the two Conference USA foes, who met for the fourth time on the season in the NIT Championship, just the ninth time in NCAA history that teams have faced off in four head-to-head matchups. The Mean Green won three of the four meetings, including Thursday's title bout, to win the program's first NIT crown.

North Texas raced to a 10-point lead at the break and appeared to be rolling towards a rather comfortable win, but UAB had other plans. The Blazers opened the second half on a 14-4 run to tie things at 41. UAB then led by as many as four, but it was North Texas who again clamped down on their opponent as they did against Wisconsin in the semifinal, outscoring the Blazers 23-12 in the final 9:16 to pull away and seize the victory.

Mean Green guard and C-USA Player of the Year Tylor Perry led finished with 20, 14 of which came in the second half, while his teammate Kai Huntsberry led North Texas with 21 points, six rebounds and two assists. Forward Aaron Scott also played well for North Texas, scoring 14 points and pulling down seven boards in the win. Perry hit a pair of big shots inside the final minute to keep the Blazers at bay, pushing the UNT advantage to six on both occasions. The Mean Green outrebounded the Blazers 36-30 and held them to just 36% shooting.

UAB, winners of 12 of its final 14 games, were led by 2022 C-USA Player of the Year and 2023 first-team all-conference selection Jordan "Jelly" Walker, who finished with 21 points and six assists. Forward KJ Buffen was the other Blazer in double figures, scoring 11 points and recording seven rebounds.

With North Texas finishing as the NIT champion, Conference USA improved to 18-2 as a league during the postseason tournaments. Florida Atlantic is in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament (4-0) and takes on San Diego State on Saturday night in Houston, UAB and North Texas were a combined 9-1, and Charlotte won four games to win the CBI last week. Rice went 1-1 in the CBI to round out the 18-2 mark. No conference has ever won all three postseason tournaments in the same season.