#637/638 ASA TOP PLAY ON 10* Under 127.5 Points – North Texas vs UMass, Saturday at 3 PM ET - UNT is the slowest paced team in the nation in adjusted tempo while UMass likes to play fast. They are also dead last in possessions per game at 59 which is a full 4 possessions lower than the next team. As we’ve said in the past, the slow paced team almost always gets control of the tempo and we expect that here. It’s always easier to slow down a fast paced team rather than speed up a slow paced team. The Mean Green rank 4th nationally in points allowed per game at 52. While we know UNT has been one of the better defensive teams in the country in each of their 6 years under head coach Grant McCasland, UMass is now a defensive minded team as well under new head man Frank Martin, formerly at KSU and South Carolina. His teams were always known for defense and he has already instilled that this year with the Minutemen. The difference is drastic with UMass ranking 89th in adjusted defensive efficiency this season after finishing last year ranked 348th in that category. Neither team shoots the ball great with UNT ranking 308th in eFG% and UMass 212th. The Minutemen have played 3 straight fast paced teams and they’ve only faced 1 team this year ranked lower than 300 in pace and that was Charlotte. The total points scored in that game was 114. These 2 met last year and totaled 123 points and that was when UMass had a terrible defense as we mentioned. It looks like Massachusetts will again be without their leading scorer PG Fernandes with an ankle injury. Defense is the strength of both teams and if North Texas gets the pace as we expect, this stays Under.