UNCG-Guilford Box Score

Box Score

GREENSBORO, NC – Kyle Hines, the nation's second-leading shot blocker, had 15 points, 12 rebounds and seven more blocks to lead six UNC Greensboro players in double-figures as the Spartans blasted Guilford College, 96-65, in men's basketball action Thursday night at Fleming Gymnasium.

Hines, a freshman from Sickerlville, NJ who came into the game averaging 4.2 blocks per contest, recorded six of his seven swats in the first half as UNC Greensboro jumped out to a big lead. The Spartans forced nine Quaker turnovers in the first nine minutes and converted them into 16 points as UNCG took a 28-10 lead. The Spartans led by as many as 24 in the first half and held a 52-29 advantage at the intermission.

“We saw a little bit of (Hines') shot blocking ability in practice,” said UNCG coach Fran McCaffery, “but he's really come on with it in the games. Amazingly, he has also stayed out of foul trouble for the most part. Against Southern Miss, (Ricky) Hickman had 29 points and (Ronnie) Burrell had 27 points, but it was Kyle's block late in the game that I think I will always remember about that game. It was a momentum-changer.

“The great thing about Kyle is that he does the things that he does well and doesn't try to do the things that he isn't capable of, which is something that gets a lot of college players into trouble.

“I thought overall, however, we played better than I thought we would, coming out of a 12-day layoff,” said McCaffery.

Guilford (4-4) made a run to open the second half, coming out of the locker room in a 1-2-2 full court press. The Spartans struggled against it in the early stages of the second half as Guilford went on a 10-4 run and got back to within 17 points, 56-39, with 14:55 to play. Genaro Lawhorn scored Guilford's first six points of the second half to spark the run.

However, UNCG (5-2) regained control by running off 11 straight points. All five starters scored in the run as the Spartans took a 67-39 lead with 12 minutes to play. The lead only grew from that point on.

Hickman, UNCG's leading scorer at 17.2 ppg coming into Thursday's game, led all scorers with 19 points. Josh Gross and Ray Bristow each added 15 points, while Burrell had 16 points and nine rebounds. Kevin Oleksiak came off the bench to add 11 points for UNCG.

Kerry Atkinson led Guilford with 15 points to pace four double-figure scorers. Lawhorn finished with 10 points.

Hines tied his own school-record with his seven blocks. Although official NCAA national statistics aren't released again until Monday, Hines passed Fairfield's Deng Gai, who led the nation as of Monday, on Thursday night. Hines is now averaging 4.6 blocks per game, while Gai dropped to 4.3 in a win on Tuesday night. Hines also added five steals, one shy of a school record, and shot 6-for-7 from the floor against Guilford.

For the game, UNCG converted 29 Guilford turnovers into 41 points, a season-high for UNCG this season. UNCG also had 50 points in the paint, the third time this season UNCG has topped the 50-point mark. The Spartans entered the game scoring 54% of their points inside the lane.

Thursday's game began a four-game in eight-day stretch. UNCG hits the road on Saturday to take on the Flames of Liberty University beginning at 7 pm.

AGATE

GUILFORD COLLEGE (4-4)

Atkinson, 5-12 2-2 15; Snipes, 3-9 4-4 12; Gray, 4-6 0-0 10; Lawhorn, 5-10 0-0 10; Strong, 3-9 1-2 7; Edmond, 1-3 0-2 3; Stephenson, 1-3 0-0 3; Sharpe, 1-3 0-0 2; Kimbrough, 0-1 2-2 2; Poteat, 0-0 1-2 1; Belkoski, 0-1 0-0 0; Gillette, 0-0 0-0 0; Taylor, 0-2 0-0 0; Miller, 0-1 0-0 0; Burge, 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 23-66 10-14 65.

UNC GREENSBORO (5-2)

Hickman, 6-12 7-11 19; Burrell, 7-13 2-3 16; Gross, 6-11 2-2 15; Hines, 6-7 3-5 15; Bristow, 5-10 3-4 15; Oleksiak, 3-6 2-2 11; Kelly, 1-1 0-0 3; Johnson, 1-1 0-0 2; Johnson, 0-2 0-0 0; Everette, 0-1 0-0 0; Beckford, 0-3 0-0 0; Yarborough, s0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-67 19-27 96.

Halftime: UNCG, 52-29. 3-point goals: Guilford College 9-24 (Atkinson, 3-4; Snipes, 2-7; Gray, 2-3; Edmond, 1-2; Stephenson, 1-3; Miller, 0-1; Burge, 0-4), UNC Greensboro 7-25 (Oleksiak, 3-5; Bristow, 2-5; Kelly, 1-1; Gross, 1-5; Johnson, 0-1; Beckford, 0-2; Burrell, 0-1; Hickman, 0-5). Fouled out: Guilford College-None, UNC Greensboro-None. Rebounds: Guilford College 38 (Snipes, 7), UNC Greensboro 44 (Hines, 12). Assists: Guilford College 12 (Gray, 3), UNC Greensboro 15 (Bristow, 4). Total fouls: Guilford College 19, UNC Greensboro 13. Att: 540.