North Texas beats La. Tech, off to best start in 66 years

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DENTON, Texas (AP) — Zachary Simmons had 16 points and six rebounds Thursday night and North Texas tied the program record for its best start with a 63-59 win over Louisiana Tech.

The Mean Green (14-1, 2-0 Conference USA) matched the 1952-53 team's start with their sixth win in a row and will have an opportunity to surpass them on Saturday when they host Southern Miss.

North Texas built a 30-11 lead when Jorden Duffy's 3-pointer capped a 16-0 run with 7:22 left in the first half. The Mean Green never trailed from there, but the Bulldogs (11-4, 1-1) rallied in the second half and tied it twice in the final two minutes.

Simmons' layup with 22 seconds left gave the Mean Green the lead for good at 61-59 and Duffy added a pair of free throws with three seconds left to secure the win.

Duffy and Michael Miller had 13 points each for North Texas.

Daquan Bracey led Louisiana Tech with 22 points and Jacolby Pemberton added 11. The Bulldogs had their seven-game win streak snapped.