Who’s Playing
North Texas Mean Green @ Memphis Tigers
Current Records: North Texas 10-3, Memphis 11-3
How To Watch
- When: Sunday, January 5, 2025 at 5 p.m. ET
- Where: FedExForum — Memphis, Tennessee
- TV: ESPN
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online Streaming: Catch select College Basketball matches on Fubo (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
What to Know
We’ve got another exciting American Athletic matchup on schedule as the Memphis Tigers and the North Texas Mean Green are set to tip at 5:00 p.m. ET on Sunday at FedExForum. The Tigers have been getting the ball to fall more lately as they’ve increased their point totals each of their last three games.
Memphis will face North Texas after failing to hit the over/under the oddsmakers set for them on Thursday which, to be fair, was an imposing 163.5 points. Memphis couldn’t have asked for a better start to 2025 than the 90-62 blowout they got against FAU. The oddsmakers were on the Tigers’ side, but they didn’t give the squad enough credit as the margin was unexpectedly wide.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Memphis to victory, but perhaps none more so than Dain Dainja, who went 7 for 12 en route to 16 points plus five rebounds and two steals. Another player making a difference was Tyrese Hunter, who went 8 for 14 en route to 20 points plus seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, North Texas had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 20.3 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Tuesday. They skirted by the Blazers 78-75 thanks to a clutch jump shot from Atin Wright with but a second left in the second quarter. The win was all the more spectacular given the Mean Green were down by 18 with 0:38 left in the first half.
North Texas can attribute much of their success to Wright, who scored 22 points in addition to two steals, and Latrell Jossell, who went 6 for 9 from beyond the arc en route to 20 points plus four steals. Jossell had some trouble finding his footing against Houston Chr. two weeks ago, so this was a nice turnaround.
Even though they won, North Texas struggled to work together and finished the game with only seven assists. That’s the fewest assists they’ve posted since back in January of 2024.
Memphis pushed their record up to 11-3 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. As for North Texas, they are on a roll lately: they’ve won seven of their last nine contests, which provided a nice bump to their 10-3 record this season.
Sunday’s matchup is shaping up to be a scrappy game: Memphis has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 36.4 rebounds per game. It’s a different story for North Texas, though, as they’ve been averaging only 32.6. Given Memphis’ sizable advantage in that area, North Texas will need to find a way to close that gap.
Memphis came up short against North Texas in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, falling 76-66. Will Memphis have more luck at home instead of on the road?
Series History
North Texas won the only game these two teams have played in the last year.
- Feb 15, 2024 – North Texas 76 vs. Memphis 66
