Abou Ousmane had 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks and Thomas Bell recorded 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists as North Texas defeated Rice 68-50 in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Conference tourney.

Thomas Bell tied his career high with 21 points as North Texas won its 10th consecutive game, routing Rice 67-44.

Ochai Agbaji had 18 points and Christian Braun added 16 as No. 4 Kansas beat North Texas 71-59 in the first round of the ESPN Events Invitational on Thursday.

For an underdog named Javion Hamlet and his group of scrapping North Texas teammates, that was an easy question. “I’ve been waiting for this opportunity my whole life, just to show the world who Javion Hamlet is,” he said. North Texas’ pesky defense held them to 36% from the field. “You never know what happens when you get out there and scrap,” North Texas coach Grant McCasland said. North Texas moves on to play Friday night’s winner between Winthrop and Villanova.