DENTON, Texas (Interstat) — Thierry Darlan scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Santa Clara rallied in the second half to beat North Texas 76-71 at North Texas Coliseum on Wednesday in a men’s NCAA Division I basketball game. Santa Clara improved to 4-0, while North Texas fell to 2-1. The Broncos trailed at halftime and did not take the lead for good until the final three minutes. The Mean Green had several chances in the closing seconds, but Santa Clara made its free throws. Attendance was 3,689.

North Texas built a 41-34 halftime lead behind Ousmane Ndour and Reece Robinson. Ndour scored inside and at the free-throw line, and Robinson hit a hook shot, a 3-pointer and a turnaround jumper during a first half in which the Mean Green controlled the paint. Santa Clara stayed close with 3-pointers from Darlan and Fedor Zugic. Brad Longcor opened the scoring with a layup, and Darlan’s layup with 53.7 seconds left in the half cut North Texas’s lead to 41-34 at the break. North Texas took its first lead at 6-5 on Casmir Chavis’s layup with 17:13 left in the first half. The teams traded baskets until Robinson’s 3-pointer with 11:09 remaining put the Mean Green ahead 19-16, and his layup at 10:38 made it 21-16 before Noah Badibanga answered for Santa Clara. Ndour’s dunk with 7:43 left made it 28-20, and Chavis’s layup with 1:08 remaining gave North Texas a 41-32 cushion. Darlan answered with the final basket of the half.

Santa Clara chipped away after halftime. Sash Gavalyugov hit a floating jumper and a pullup jumper early in the second half, and David Castillo made three 3-pointers in a span of roughly two and a half minutes to pull the Broncos to 61-60 with 9:29 remaining. North Texas answered with Chavis’s layup and free throw, but Santa Clara kept coming. Chris Tadjo’s layup with 4:48 left made it 66-64, and his tip-in layup with 4:13 remaining tied the game at 66. Je’Shawn Stevenson made two free throws for North Texas, Darlan made two free throws to tie it again, and Darlan’s layup with 2:44 left gave Santa Clara a 70-68 lead. Tadjo added a layup at 1:55, and after Chavis made two free throws to cut the deficit to 72-71, Zugic made two free throws with 19.5 seconds left. Longcor sealed it with two free throws with 8.2 seconds remaining. North Texas had opened the second half with Ndour’s layup, and Robinson’s layup at 18:25 made it 45-36. Chavis’s dunk with 15:52 left made it 51-41. Longcor’s three-point play cut the deficit to 52-49 before North Texas pushed the lead to 58-49 on Stevenson’s layup with 12:31 left. The Broncos closed on a 14-5 run over the final 7:59, turning a 66-62 deficit into the win.

Santa Clara shot 27 of 63 from the floor, 8 of 29 from three-point range and 14 of 17 from the free-throw line. North Texas shot 26 of 56 overall, 3 of 18 from beyond the arc and 16 of 25 from the line. The Broncos held a 15-7 advantage in offensive rebounds and blocked three shots. The Mean Green had 14 assists to Santa Clara’s nine. Santa Clara committed 16 turnovers and 16 fouls; North Texas committed 14 turnovers and 18 fouls. Santa Clara scored 76 points on 72 possessions with an offensive rating of 105.4. North Texas scored 71 points on 75 possessions with an offensive rating of 94.8.

Darlan paced Santa Clara with 16 points, nine rebounds, two assists and one block in 23 minutes. The 6-foot-8, 210-pound guard from Saly, Senegal, who previously attended Universal School, made key plays late. Chris Tadjo, a 6-foot-8, 250-pound forward who previously attended NBA Academy Latin America, had 14 points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes. David Castillo, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound guard who previously attended Sunrise Christian Academy, scored 13 points with three rebounds and two assists in 23 minutes. For North Texas, Ousmane Ndour, a 6-foot-10, 229-pound forward who previously attended CB Benicarlo, had 18 points and two rebounds in 24 minutes. Casmir Chavis, a 6-foot-2 guard who previously attended Park Center Senior HS, scored 14 points with two rebounds and two assists in 36 minutes. Je’Shawn Stevenson, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound guard who previously attended Lindblom HS, added 14 points, three rebounds and four assists in 34 minutes. Reece Robinson, a 6-foot-8, 223-pound forward who previously attended Saint Ignatius, had 15 points and four rebounds in 26 minutes. Sash Gavalyugov, a 6-foot-2 guard who previously attended NBA Global Academy, had 10 points, four rebounds and two assists in 27 minutes for Santa Clara. Jake Ensminger, a 6-foot-9, 215-pound guard who previously attended Ratiopharm Ulm, had two points, six rebounds, two assists and one block in 32 minutes. Cole Franklin, a 6-foot-4, 195-pound guard who previously attended DeSoto High School, had three points, six rebounds and one block in 25 minutes for North Texas.

Santa Clara had opened the season with wins against Towson 89-70, Milwaukee 95-72 and Sacramento State 83-77. North Texas had beaten Southwestern Christian 122-50 and McNeese State 77-67. Santa Clara has won four straight to open the season. North Texas had won two straight before the loss. Santa Clara’s win came in its first road game of the season. The Mean Green lost at home for the first time this season. Santa Clara next hosts New Mexico, while North Texas next hosts South Alabama.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Santa Clara 81, North Texas 75. Its ELO system had projected Santa Clara with a 65.6 percent probability to win. Santa Clara had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The over/under line was 153.5, and the game produced 147 points.