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Men's Basketball Hosts Chattanooga Sunday At 2 p.m.
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men's basketball team returns to action Sunday afternoon as the Spartans play host to Southern Conference North Division foe Chattanooga. Game time is set for 2 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on 1320 WCOG AM with the audio and video stream available online at www.uncgspartans.com.
UNCG head coach Wes Miller and his men's basketball coaching staff along with other participating staffs throughout the national will be taking part in the National Basketball Coaches Association's (NABC) Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Awareness program this weekend. The coaching staff will wear sneakers instead of dress shoes with their usual game attire to show support for the America Cancer Society (ACS) and the fight against cancer.
Sunday's game marks the 31st meeting all-time between UNCG and Chattanooga, dating back to January 6, 1992. The Spartans trail the all-time series by a 12-18 margin, but swept the season series against the Mocs last year with an 81-72 victory at home and a 77-76 victory in Chattanooga.
Guard Derrell Armstrong (Mechanicsville, Md./Allegany CC) averaged 19.5 points per game against Chattanooga last year. Armstrong scored a career-high 29 points in the Spartans' win at home as he was 10-of-16 from the field and 5-of-8 from three-point land. He also scored the game-winning basket on the road with 16 seconds left to give UNCG the lead for good.
Guard Trevis Simpson (Douglas, Ga./Coffee) averaged 16.5 points per game in the series, including 28 points in the Spartans' one-point win on the road. Chattanooga was led last year by Drazen Zlovaric who averaged 18.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 62.1 percent from the field.
UNCG enters Sunday's game with a 3-4 record in SoCon play and sits two games behind Elon and Samford in the loss column in the North Division. The Spartans are coming off a 66-64 victory Thursday night over then North Division leader Samford.
Simpson led the Spartans to the victory over the Bulldogs as he scored a season-high 30 points, including 22 of UNCG's 27 seconds half points along with its final 14 points of the game. He leads the team and the SoCon in scoring averaging 18.6 points per game. He ranks 35th in NCAA Division I in scoring and is second on the team with 32 three-pointers made. Armstrong is second on the team in scoring and third in the league averaging 16.3 points per game as he has scored in double figures in nine of the last 10 games.
Freshman forward Kayel Locke (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) is third on the team in scoring at 9.9 points per game and third on the glass with 4.9 rebounds per game. Sophomore Nicholas Paulos (Salt Lake City, Utah/New Hampton) leads the team with 35 three-pointers made and ranks third in the SoCon as he is connecting on 42.7 percent of his long range shots.
Chattanooga enters Sunday's game with an 8-12 overall record and a 3-4 mark in SoCon play as it is tied with the Spartans in the SoCon North Division. The Mocs have defeated Samford, The Citadel and Appalachian State this season while falling to Davidson, the College of Charleston, Western Carolina and most recently Elon.
Chattanooga leads the SoCon on the glass as it grabs 38.7 rebounds per game while limiting opponents to 34.3 caroms per game. Z. Mason leads the Mocs in scoring at 14.2 points per game and is averaging a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game. Gee McGhee is second on the team in scoring at 10.3 points per game and has hit a team-high 24 three-pointers.
- UNCG -
