Incoming WVU HC Ross Hodge, North Texas Fall in NIT Semifinal

The Ross Hodge era at North Texas has come to an end, as the Mean Green fell in the NIT semifinals Tuesday evening.

Hodge, who was announced as the new men’s basketball coach at WVU last week, will now begin his tenure in Morgantown following Tuesday’s 69-67 loss to UC Irvine.

The Mean Green got off to a rocket start, scoring the first nine points of the game. UC Irvine did not make a basket until the 12:38 mark in the first half, at which point UNT led 13-2.

Hodge’s hallmark defense was on full display early as the Anteaters missed their first five shots from the floor and nine of their first 11.

North Texas’s lead rose to 15 points after 12 minutes of play, 24-9. From there, however, UCI Irvine flipped the game on its head. UNT only scored six more points before halftime, making just a pair of field goals.

UCI closed the first half on an 18-4 run and went into halftime tied with UNT 30-30. The Mean Green missed their last seven shots of the half.

The offensive struggles persisted into the second half, as UNT started 3-18 from the floor. Over an 11-minute stretch from the end of the first half into the start of the second, UNT shot 3-25 from the floor.

The teams stayed within five points of one another for the entire second half until UC Irvine went on a seven-point run with less than two minutes to play. UCI held on to win 69-67.

North Texas shot just 34.3% from the field while UC Irvine shot 49% and 53.8% in the second half. UNT finishes the season with a 27-9 record.

Find more coverage of new WVU basketball head coach Ross Hodge at WV Sports Now.