Western Kentucky’s hopes for a Conference USA regular-season title vanished Sunday afternoon as the Hilltoppers suffered a 78-72 overtime loss to North Texas at The Super Pit in Denton.

WKU (19-10 overall, 12-5 C-USA), which needed the win to move into a tie for first place with the Mean Green and remain in the hunt for the title, battled from start to finish, but UNT outscored the Toppers 15-9 in the extra frame to capture the regular-season crown.

Taveion Hollingsworth led WKU with 22 points, while Carson Williams scored 19 and Josh Anderson had 16. The Hilltoppers shot 27-of-62 (44%) from the field, 8-of-20 (40%) from 3-point range and 10-of-18 (56%) from the free-throw line.

Javion Hamlet finished with a game-high 25 points for North Texas (20-10, 14-3), while Thomas Bell scored 20.

WKU closes out its regular-season slate at 6 p.m. Saturday at Florida International.

WKU jumped out to a 10-4 lead at the 15:51 mark of the first half, but Hamlet’s 3-pointer just over two minutes later helped North Texas tie it at 11-11.

A put-back layup by Anderson put the Hilltoppers up 17-16 at the 11:09 mark, and Williams’ basket with 7:35 remaining in the half made it 21-16.

WKU led 29-25 with three minutes left, but the Mean Green put together an 11-2 run to take a 36-31 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

Williams hit a 3 – and followed that up with another score – to help the Toppers even the scoreboard at 42-42 at the 14:28 mark of the second, and Hollingsworth’s layup put WKU in front 44-43.

Zachary Simmons’ dunk gave North Texas a 49-45 lead, and he threw another one down shortly after to make it 51-47 at the 10:31 mark. Williams’ third triple of the contest tied things at 55-55, and Anderson netted one of his own to put WKU up 58-55 with 7:04 remaining.

Williams’ dunk highlighted a 10-0 run for the Hilltoppers and put them up 62-55 with 4:58 left, and they held a 63-57 lead at the 3:32 mark. A pair of Hamlet free throws helped the Mean Green tie it 63-63 with 2:17 remaining.

Hollingsworth stepped to the line with the scoreboard reading that same number and just five seconds left with a chance to win it, but he missed both free throws and the two sides went to overtime.

Jared Savage’s 3 put WKU up 69-68 with 2:29 remaining, but North Texas scored four straight to take a 72-69 lead with 1:27 left.

Hamlet scored to make it 74-71 with 31 seconds to go, and the Mean Green hit free throws down the stretch to seal it.