Denton, Texas – Jasper Floyd and Atin Wright combined to score 37 points as No. 2 seed North Texas defeated Furman 75-64 in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament Wednesday night at the Super Pit in Denton, Texas.
 
The Mean Green, who improved to 25-8 overall and 16-1 at home this season, advance to host No. 3 seed Arkansas State in second round action this weekend. The Paladins concluded their season at 25-10.
 
Trailing 34-32 at the halftime break, the Mean Green opened the second half with a 13-2 run to take a 45-36 lead which they did not relinquish the rest of the way. Furman kept the deficit in single digits throughout the majority of the second half but could not get closer than three points. Leading 63-58 with under five minutes to go, Wright answered Nick Anderson's triple with one of his own to start a 10-1 run to give North Texas a 73-59 lead with less than a minute remaining.
 
North Texas shot 53.8% from the field, connected on 8-of-18 three-point attempts and converted on 11-of-13 foul shots to outscore the Paladins by nine at the charity stripe to record a win in the NIT for the fourth straight year. Floyd poured in a game-high 19 points to go with six rebounds, and seven assists while Wright went 7-for-14 from the floor to finish with 18 points. Moulaye Sissoko added 11 points and six rebounds for the Mean Green.
 
Eddrin Bronson came off the bench to go 6-for-6 from the field, including 3-for-3 behind the arc, to lead the Paladins with 15 points. Tom House, starting in place of Ben VanderWal (illness), totaled 13 points and Anderson tallied 12.
 
Furman shot 48.1%, but the Paladins, who started the game 5-of-9 from three-point range, finished 10-of-30 beyond the arc and got to the foul line just four times. The Paladins managed a 26-24 edge in points in the paint.