Box Score DENTON, Tex. – Despite allowing a 19-1 run to open the second half, the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats nearly clawed back at North Texas in a road non-conference game. The Wildcats (1-2) came up short, 90-78, to the Mean Green (2-1) Thursday night at The Super Pit.
 
BCU took the deficit down from 25 at the 15:00 mark to just eight points on a Shawntrez Davis jumper at 1:26 to make it an 82-74 score, but the Mean Green sealed the win by sinking six of its final eight free-throws.
 
Two Wildcats had a pair of double-doubles. In his first start, Soufiyane Diakiate produced both 10 points and rebounds, and tallied four blocks. Davis scored 12 and recorded a season-high 14 boards in just 24 minutes. Brandon Tabb paced BCU with a season-high 20 points. The final score was benefited by the free-throw line, as UNT went 25-37 at the stripe, while BCU made 15 of its 23 opportunities. The Wildcats shot 38.4% from the floor and 25.9% from three, and pulled in a season-high 15 offensive rebounds to win the rebounding battle, 45-43. A total of five Wildcats scored in double-figures, with Malik Maitland's 12 and Isaiah Bailey's 11 joining the efforts of Tabb, Davis, and Diakite. 
 
North Texas led 42-33 at the break with a late run. The Mean Green outscored the Wildcats 12-5 over the final 3:37 despite a buzzer-beating three by Maitland. Before the Mean Green sprint, BCU cut the lead to 30-28 thanks to its own 12-5 run over about four minutes. The Wildcats went 4-4 from the field thanks to three monstrous slam dunks.
 
Bethune-Cookman scored first on a Davis jumper at 19:14, and then the teams played evenly until an A.J. Lawson jumper at 15:49 sparked 12-2 run for the hosts over the next three minutes. BCU won the rebounding battle in the first half, 22-20, led by Davis' five. Each team turned the ball over eight times, but BCU scored nine points off those miscues compared to UNT's five.
 
BCU continues play in the Ramblin' Wreck Showcase with a trip to defending NIT Runner-Up Georgia Tech on Sun., Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. ET. The game can be heard on WELE 1380 The Cat and 1380thecat.com with Nolan Alexander and Vince Martin on the call, and viewed on the ACC Network.