North Texas hangs on to beat Louisiana Tech 73-66

DENTON, Texas (AP) Jeremy Combs blocked a shot with 49 seconds left, then tipped in a basket at the other end to help North Texas hold off a Louisiana Tech rally Thursday night and clinch a 73-66 win.

Combs finished with 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds. Colin Voss, Jordan Williams and T.J. Taylor also scored 16 points apiece for North Texas (8-10, 2-4 Conference USA). Voss padded the final margin with a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach.

Trailing 49-28 at the break, Louisiana Tech (14-5, 5-1) rallied in the second half to pull within a point of the Mean Green on a bucket from Kenneth Smith that made it 63-62 with 4:30 to go. North Texas held on down the stretch to end the Bulldogs' six-game winning streak.

Alex Hamilton led Louisiana Tech with 27 points and Erik McCree added 17.