CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)—Kendrick Davis scored 20 points as North Texas beat Charlotte 90-72 on Sunday to open its season 2-0 for the first time in 12 years.
Four other players scored in double figures for the Mean Green, who overcame foul problems and turnovers to hold off a second-half rally by the 49ers (1-1).
Rich Young scored 16 points for North Texas before fouling out with less than nine minutes to play. Michael Sturns added 14 points, Calvin Watson 13 and Ben Bell 11.
The last time the Mean Green started off with a winning record was during the 1994-1995 season under then-coach Jimmy Gales, when North Texas opened with three straight wins.
De’Angelo Alexander scored 25 points for Charlotte, which was trying for its first 2-0 start since the 2000-2001 season.
But the 49ers couldn’t fully overcome a slow start, in which they shot 28.6 percent from the field in the first half and trailed by as many as 18 points.
Davis had put the Mean Green up 44-26 on a 3-pointer with 2:42 left in the first half, but Charlotte scored nine unanswered points to pull within nine at 44-35 at the break.
The 49ers managed to cut North Texas’ lead to four points three times in the second half, the last at 64-60 on Leemire Goldwire’s jumper with 8:06 remaining.
But the Mean Green went on a 16-8 run over the next five minutes, with Sturns’ 3-point play with 2:59 left pushing North Texas’ lead back into double digits at 80-68.
The Mean Green then sealed the win by hitting 10-of-12 from the free-throw line in the final two minutes.
Goldwire, named the Atlantic 10 player of the week earlier Sunday, added 13 points for the 49ers, and E.J. Drayton had his second straight double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Goldwire earned the A-10 award for the second time in his career after scoring 26 points and hitting 12-of-12 from the free-throw line in the 49ers’ season-opening 88-82 win over Hofstra less than 24 hours earlier.
