Kansas’ men’s basketball team will meet North Texas in a first-round ESPN Events Invitational game set for Thursday, Nov. 25 at HP Field House at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Florida, the network announced Thursday.
Winner of that game, which is set for either 1 p.m. or 1:30 p.m., Central time, will face the winner of a first-round game against Dayton or Miami (Florida) at either 12 p.m., or 12:30 p.m., on Friday, Nov. 26. Finals will be contested at a yet to be determined time on Sunday the 28th.
Other first round games on the other side of the bracket will match Alabama versus Iona and Belmont versus Drake on the 25th.
North Texas is coming off a 2020-21 season in which the (18-10) Mean Green won the Conference USA championship title and earned an automatic bid into the 2021 NCAA Tournament. It was the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010.
North Texas defeated Purdue, 78-69, in overtime in the first round for the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament victory. The Mean Green lost in the second round to Villanova, 84-61. UNT will return six players from last season’s squad including starters Thomas Bell and Mardrez McBride.
Head coach Grant McCasland is 79-51 in four seasons at UNT.
This will be the second meeting between KU and North Texas. The Jayhawks won, 93-60, on Nov. 19, 2010 at Allen Fieldhouse.