What does Ford recall? “I remember that little dude taking care of Byron (Eaton) pretty good,” he said.

The “little dude” was 5-foot-10 freshman Josh White, and he scored 25 points at OSU’s expense in his second collegiate game.

White had two incentives to perform at a high level.

No. 1: It was a big game for North Texas. The eighth-largest crowd in Super Pit history watched the Mean Green beat a Big 12 school for the first time since 2003.

No. 2? White is the younger brother of former Oklahoma guard Quannas White. The Bedlam veteran likely has no adoration for OSU and he gave little bro a pep talk before the game.

“I don’t remember exactly what he said,” Josh said.

“But I know he motivated me for the game and I was happy to pull it out.”

Josh said his brother will be in attendance when OSU and North Texas square off in a Monday rematch at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Josh was the Sun Belt Conference freshman of the year last season and demonstrated he could play at a Big 12 level. In games against OSU and Texas, he averaged 26.5 points and shot 59.3 percent.

Was Josh under-recruited."

He said big-time programs showed interest “but they were kind of i2y on recruiting me just because of my height. I like it here.

I think I made the right choice.”

Because Josh lit up OSU last season, does that mean he will be a marked man."

“For me it does,” Eaton said.

The R-word: Eaton and Terrel Harris, speaking to the media after an opener against Texas-San Antonio, said they do not view the North Texas contest as a revenge game.

“I never take it as revenge when someone beats you the year before,” Eaton said.

“I just take it as a learning lesson. What did they do to beat us?” Ford should take it as a sign that players are listening.

He had just warned them that revenge can get in the way of execution.

“That’s not a motive to win,” he said. “If that’s ever your motive, then you are not going to be focused on the game plan. You are not going to be focused on the things you need to do and we need to do to win.”

Big debut: Eaton averaged 12.0 points and 6.5 assists in two exhibitions. He scored a career-high 27 points with four assists and four steals in a regular season opener.

“We needed him to score and he did it,” Ford said.

“That’s a sign of a good point guard that can feel the pace of the game and what needs to be done. Do I need to score? Do I need to pass? That’s a good sign. He put the team on his shoulders when we needed it.”

Eaton, citing two missed free throws, said he should have scored 29. He was disappointed in his assist total.

“I wanted to average five or six,” he said. “I’ve got to do a better job of getting my team into it.”