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December 1, 2012
The game also marks the 23rd meeting all-time between UNCG and The Citadel. The Spartans lead the all-time series by a 15-7 margin and have won the past four meetings. Last year, UNCG swept the season series with an 82-71 victory at the Greensboro Coliseum and a 67-66 victory at The Citadel in arguably the most exciting game of the season. Guard Trevis Simpson (Douglas, Ga./Coffee) scored the game-winning basket off an out-of-bounds alley-oop dunk with 0.3 seconds left in the contest.
Simpson led the Spartans last season against the Bulldogs, averaging 21.0 points per game connecting on 73.7 percent (14-of-19) from the free throw line. Guard Korey Van Dussen (Zeeland, Mich./Zeeland East) chipped in 12.0 points per game against The Citadel and shot 69.2 percent (9-of-13) from the field. The Citadel was led by center Mike Groselle in the two losses as he averaged 21.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
The Spartans enter Saturday's game with a 1-5 overall record and have dropped four straight games, three of which have come at home. UNCG still leads the SoCon in scoring at 78.8 points per game but also allows the most points in the league, surrendering 82.5 points per contest.
Simpson leads the team and the SoCon in scoring at 20.2 points per game and enters Saturday's contest needing just 11 points to become the 19th Spartan all-time to reach the 1,000-career point mark. Simpson will become the third-fastest Spartan to reach the 1,000-point mark if he accomplishes the task Saturday, his 64th career game. Former Sparta Yusuf Stewart holds the record as he needed just 59 games to reach the mark, while Kyle Hines took 61 games to score 1,000 career points.
Freshman forward Kayel Locke (Owings Mill, Md./McDonogh) is coming off the best performance of his young career Wednesday night as he scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed a career-best nine rebounds against North Carolina A&T. Locke connected on a team-high 14-of-16 free throws in the game while raising his season average to 12.3 points per game. Senior Derrell Armstrong (Mechanicsville, Md./Allegany) is second on the team in scoring at 16.3 points per game despite scoring just 11 points last time out.
The Citadel enters Saturday's SoCon opener with a 3-2 overall record but have picked up just one win over an NCAA Division I program in VMI. The Bulldogs' other two victories came over Montreat and Union while posting losses to Air Force and Radford. The Citadel is shooting a league-best 50 percent (128-of-256) from the field this season and is holding opponents to a league-low 39.6 percent (112-of-283) shooting from the field.
Groselle leads the Bulldogs in scoring at 15.4 points per game and on the glass at 9.6 rebounds per game, which is tops in the league. He is shooting 63.8 percent (30-of-47) from the field and 85 percent (17-of-20) from the free throw line.
- UNCG -
Men's Basketball Opens SoCon Play Saturday Hosting The Citadel
David Williams
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men's basketball team opens Southern Conference play Saturday night as the Spartans welcome The Citadel to the Greensboro Coliseum for a 7 p.m. tip-off. The game will be broadcast on 1320 WCOG AM while both an audio and video stream will be available online at www.uncgspartans.com.
Saturday's game marks the Spartans' 16th season of Southern Conference basketball with UNCG owning a 7-8 all-time mark in league openers. The Spartans are 5-3 when they open league play in Greensboro, but have dropped their last two SoCon openers, falling to Wofford in 2010-11 and Appalachian State last year.
The game also marks the 23rd meeting all-time between UNCG and The Citadel. The Spartans lead the all-time series by a 15-7 margin and have won the past four meetings. Last year, UNCG swept the season series with an 82-71 victory at the Greensboro Coliseum and a 67-66 victory at The Citadel in arguably the most exciting game of the season. Guard Trevis Simpson (Douglas, Ga./Coffee) scored the game-winning basket off an out-of-bounds alley-oop dunk with 0.3 seconds left in the contest.
Simpson led the Spartans last season against the Bulldogs, averaging 21.0 points per game connecting on 73.7 percent (14-of-19) from the free throw line. Guard Korey Van Dussen (Zeeland, Mich./Zeeland East) chipped in 12.0 points per game against The Citadel and shot 69.2 percent (9-of-13) from the field. The Citadel was led by center Mike Groselle in the two losses as he averaged 21.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
The Spartans enter Saturday's game with a 1-5 overall record and have dropped four straight games, three of which have come at home. UNCG still leads the SoCon in scoring at 78.8 points per game but also allows the most points in the league, surrendering 82.5 points per contest.
Simpson leads the team and the SoCon in scoring at 20.2 points per game and enters Saturday's contest needing just 11 points to become the 19th Spartan all-time to reach the 1,000-career point mark. Simpson will become the third-fastest Spartan to reach the 1,000-point mark if he accomplishes the task Saturday, his 64th career game. Former Sparta Yusuf Stewart holds the record as he needed just 59 games to reach the mark, while Kyle Hines took 61 games to score 1,000 career points.
Freshman forward Kayel Locke (Owings Mill, Md./McDonogh) is coming off the best performance of his young career Wednesday night as he scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed a career-best nine rebounds against North Carolina A&T. Locke connected on a team-high 14-of-16 free throws in the game while raising his season average to 12.3 points per game. Senior Derrell Armstrong (Mechanicsville, Md./Allegany) is second on the team in scoring at 16.3 points per game despite scoring just 11 points last time out.
The Citadel enters Saturday's SoCon opener with a 3-2 overall record but have picked up just one win over an NCAA Division I program in VMI. The Bulldogs' other two victories came over Montreat and Union while posting losses to Air Force and Radford. The Citadel is shooting a league-best 50 percent (128-of-256) from the field this season and is holding opponents to a league-low 39.6 percent (112-of-283) shooting from the field.
Groselle leads the Bulldogs in scoring at 15.4 points per game and on the glass at 9.6 rebounds per game, which is tops in the league. He is shooting 63.8 percent (30-of-47) from the field and 85 percent (17-of-20) from the free throw line.
- UNCG -
