UNCG-Bridgewater Box Score
Box Score
GREENSBORO, NC – Sophomore guard Ricky Hickman scored 21 of his 23 points in the first half and freshman guard Dwayne Johnson celebrated his first start by tying a school-record with 12 assists as UNC Greensboro blasted Bridgewater College (VA), 92-55, in men's basketball action Tuesday night at Fleming Gymnasium.
The 37-point margin was the largest in UNCG's 14-year Division I era. UNCG also set a school-record with 29 assists in the game. The Spartans (3-1) converted 23 Eagle turnovers into 38 points. UNCG jumped out to a 15-2 lead and ran away with it from there.
“The game plan was to turn up the defensive intensity,” said UNCG coach Fran McCaffery. “When you have 38 points off turnovers, you are successful at doing that. They are a team that wants to run a half-court offense and we wanted to disrupt that. We also wanted to run the floor, and when you get 29 assists, you are being very effective in doing that. You don't get that many assists in a half-court set, you get that with transition baskets.”
Hickman, coming off of a dismal 1-for-10 from the field night at Duke on Saturday, could not be stopped in the first 12 minutes on Tuesday. Hickman was 7-for-8 from the field, including 5-for-6 from three-point range, in the first 12 minutes to account for his first 19 points as UNCG jumped out to a 42-11 lead.
“I took (the Duke loss) personally,” said Hickman. “It hurt. I had never been through something like that before. I was really down after Sunday's game. I ran into Coach K afterwards and he told me that I just needed to stop rushing things and just let it happen. I've never gone from one extreme to the other like that before.”
Johnson, a native of Queens, NY, tied the school-record that has been achieved on three other occasions. He is the first freshman to record 12 assists in a game.
The Spartans, who led by as many as 41, also had freshman Kevin Oleksiak add 14 points off the bench to compliment Ronnie Burrell's 11 points and Kyle Hines' third double-double in four games. Hines, a freshman from Sicklerville, NJ, had 14 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks on the night, shooting 6-for-8 from the floor.
Bridgewater (3-1), an NCAA Division III school out of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), had Ricky Easterling, Harry Moore and Jared Chalk each tally eight points to lead the way.
UNCG hits the road for the weekend to play in the Gazette Hawkeye Classic in Iowa City, IA. The Spartans will take on Southern Mississippi on Friday evening at 6:45 pm EDT. Tournament host Iowa faces Centenary in the second game at 9 pm EDT.
AGATE
UNC GREENSBORO 92, BRIDGEWATER 55
BRIDGEWATER (3-1)
Maupin, 2-5 0-0 5; Michael, 1-5 0-0 2; Easterling, 4-12 0-0 8; Moore, 3-7 2-2 8; Durrette, 2-2 1-1 6; Tarkington, 2-6 0-0 6; Hopper, 2-4 0-0 6; Stewart, 3-5 0-0 8; Cunningham, 2-5 0-0 4; Strotman, 1-1 0-0 2; Butler, 0-3 0-0 0; Antes, 0-1 0-0 0; Davis, 0-3 0-0 0; Fitzgerald, 0-2 0-0 0; Weyl, 0-1 0-0 0; Chalk, 0-0 0-0 0; Drewer, 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-62 3-3 55.
UNC GREENSBORO (3-1)
Gross, 3-6 0-0 7; Hickman, 9-13 0-0 23; Hines, 6-8 2-4 14; Burrell, 4-5 3-4 11; Oleksiak, 3-8 7-7 14; Wilson, 4-8 0-0 9; Kelly, 2-2 0-0 6; Johnson, 2-2 0-0 5; Everette, 1-2 1-2 3; Moore, 0-1 0-0 0; Bristow, 0-1 0-0 0; Yarborough, 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-56 13-17 92.
Halftime: UNCG 55-28. 3-point goals: Bridgewater 8-23 (Tarkington, 2-5; Hopper, 2-4; Stewart, 2-3; Maupin, 1-4; Durrette, 1-1; Antes, 0-1; Weyl, 0-1; Michael, 0-2; Easterling, 0-2), UNC Greensboro 11-22 (Hickman, 5-7; Kelly, 2-2; Oleksiak, 1-4; Johnson, 1-1; Gross, 1-2; Wilson, 1-5; Bristow, 0-1). Fouled out: Bridgewater: None, UNC Greensboro: None. Rebounds: Bridgewater 34 (Michael, 7), UNC Greensboro 29 (Hines, 10). Assists: Bridgewater 7 (Maupin, 2), UNC Greensboro 29 (Johnson, 12). Total fouls: Bridgewater 13, UNC Greensboro 8. Att:774
