Editor’s Note: This season Alex Salazar is writing about the basketball team. Support this effort buy subscribing.
The North Texas basketball programs couldn’t have asked for a much better start to the 2026-27 season.
Both the men’s and women’s teams opened their regular-season campaigns with convincing victories at the Super Pit, as the women’s team cruised past the Newman Jets 101-48, and the men delivered a dominant performance against Southwestern Christian Eagles 122-50.
UNT established control early, taking a 43-20 lead into halftime behind a strong first-half performance from sophomore guard Cherie Spencer, who led the team with 15 points before the break.
The Mean Green found another gear coming out of the locker room, exploding for 33 points in the third quarter while holding Newman to 14. Spencer finished with a team-high 22 points, while sophomore guard Kamyra Barber added 19 and junior guard Kalysta Martin contributed 15.
Defensively, North Texas was equally as impressive, outrebounding Newman 57-28 and forcing 29 turnovers, while also recording 12 steals.
Despite the lopsided victory, head coach Jason Burton acknowledged that his team needed time to settle into the season opener.
“I thought the first half we were a little rusty,” Burton said. “I think you get some first-game jitters.”
Burton pointed to improved ball movement and pace after halftime as a major reason for the offensive surge in the third quarter.
“In the first half, we tried to force a lot of things,” Burton said. “When we made the easy plays and shared the ball, we got open looks, we exploded for 33 points right there,” Burton said.
With a convincing season-opening victory behind them, the Mean Green will look to carry that momentum into their upcoming matchup against San Diego State.
The women’s victory was only half of the story, as the men’s team looked to make it a clean sweep for North Texas basketball.
The North Texas men’s basketball team had something to prove after a disappointing exhibition performance, and it did so emphatically.
The Mean Green opened their regular season with a 122-50 victory over Southwestern Christian, using a balanced offensive attack and a dominant performance on the boards to take care of business at the Super Pit.
North Texas had six players finish in double figures, led by freshman Aeneas Alexander, who recorded a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds. Cash Chavis added 17 points, while Amar Amkou finished with 16 points and nine rebounds. Je’Shawn Stevenson contributed 15 points and five assists.
The Mean Green established control early, taking a 57-17 advantage into halftime. North Texas continued to build on that lead in the second half, outscoring Southwestern Christian 65-33.
Head coach Daniyal Robinson said the team’s focus entering the opener was less about the opponent and more about establishing the standard it expects to play with.
“Regardless of the score, not playing the score,” Robinson said. “Just really focusing on how hard we play, playing connected.”
That mentality came after an exhibition loss that left the team searching for consistency. Stevenson said the coaching staff held the players accountable throughout the week, emphasizing the importance of learning from the performance.
“We knew that we wanted to get the nasty taste out of our mouth from the exhibition game,” Stevenson said. “The message was just be us and go out there and play hard.”
Despite the lopsided victory, Robinson emphasized the importance of maintaining the same level of effort and execution moving forward.
North Texas will get an early test when it travels to face McNeese, which defeated UAB in its season opener.
“They’re a team that’s built for March,” Robinson said. “We’re just looking to develop a level of consistency that showed up tonight. We need to do the same thing Thursday night.”
