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March Madness 2011: North Texas Falls Short In Sun Belt Title Game.

The Mean Green of North Texas will not be headed to the big dance this year.

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North Texas lost to Arkansas-Little Rock 64-63 in a back and forth contest that came down to the wire.

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North Texas appeared to have done just enough to seal the win after Josh White converted a 3-pointer with 25 seconds to go to put them up 62-58.

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But alas, it wasn't meant to be.

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Costly turnovers down the stretch and a missed free throw by Tristan Thompson gave Arkansas-Little Rock the opening they needed to steal the win.

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It was a tumultuous year for the Mean Green. After a 14-2 start to the season, North Texas struggled down the stretch. Things started unraveling after a dust up between star guard Tristan Thompson and head coach Johnny Jones in a game against Troy earlier this season. 

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All was forgiven in the tournament though as Thompson produced throughout, carrying the Mean Green at numerous times.

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The Mean Green will look very different next year as they featured 4 starting seniors in their starting lineup.

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No need to panic though, a strong recruiting class and the arrival of troubled standout Tony Mitchell from Missouri should provide North Texas with another shot at making the NCAA tournament next year.

Photographs by jamesbrandon, jdtornow, phlezk, flygraphix, mcdlttx, tomasland, and literalbarrage used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.