When North Texas head coach Johnny Jones looks back now, there is little doubt in his mind that the Mean Green’s win over Oklahoma State in the second game of the 2007-08 season was a turning point in program history.

UNT was coming off an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, but had several new players filling key roles after the departures of Calvin Watson and Kendrick Davis.

UNT pulled off an 82-73 stunner anyway that seemed to signal the Mean Green would continue to be a solid program.

UNT will play at Oklahoma State at 1 p.m. today for the second consecutive season since that win in Stillwater.

“It was a good win for us,” Jones said. “It gave us a lot of confidence early in the season. The guys saw that if they worked hard, good things would happen. It also energized our fan base.”

UNT has maintained its momentum ever since, running its streak of consecutive 20-win seasons to three. The Mean Green is off to another good start in its pursuit of a fourth straight 20-win campaign after knocking off UT-Arlington 101-99 in double overtime on Wednesday.

Josh White scored 35 points and the Mean Green made clutch play after clutch play late in the second overtime. White scored five straight points for UNT in the extra period to give the Mean Green just enough of a cushion to hang on for the win.

White and fellow junior guard Tristan Thompson both started as freshmen in UNT’s win over the Cowboys. White scored 25 points in a performance that was a sign of what was to come.

White has developed into one of the top players in the Sun Belt Conference.

“To be a part of beating a great Big 12 team was amazing,” Thompson said. “It let us know that we could win a game like that.”

UNT and White have been winning big games ever since and come into today’s matchup riding a wave of momentum after snapping a five-game losing streak in its series against the Mavericks.

Building on that win against OSU could be a challenge. The Cowboys (2-0) were picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 this season by the league’s coaches and feature one of the league’s top players in junior guard James Anderson, who is averaging 26.0 points and 12.5 rebounds a game.

“They are a very good basketball team with a lot of talented guys coming back and some more talented guys coming in,” Jones said.

UNT will counter with a balanced attack led by White, who will face OSU for the first time since he suffered a wrist injury while being knocked to the floor in a loss to the Cowboys last season.

White continued to play, but was hampered the rest of the year. He has since recovered and is averaging 27.0 points a game. Junior forward George Odufuwa is adding 14.0 points and 17.5 rebounds a game.

Odufuwa grabbed 24 rebounds in a win over Division II Cameron (Okla.) in UNT’s season-opener.

UNT has eight players who are averaging at least 6.5 points a game.

“At the beginning of the season, coach said we were going to be deep,” Thompson said. “We have eight or nine guys who can go off for 20 points. People are sacrificing their stats and their minutes, so other people can get into the game and score.”

That formula has continued to pay off since a few of UNT’s veterans helped the Mean Green knock off OSU and show that it would be a team to be reckoned with long-term.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.