UNCG-William & Mary box score
GREENSBORO, NC – Senior forward Ronnie Burrell scored 22 points and hauled in 10 rebounds to lead UNC Greensboro to an 84-62 win over William & Mary in non-conference men's basketball action Monday night and give UNCG its best start in 10 years.
The Spartans' 7-2 start is the best under sixth-year head coach Fran McCaffery. They are 7-2 for the first time since Mike Dement's 1994-95 club opened the season 7-2 on its way to the NCAA Tournament. It was also UNCG's seventh-straight win at Fleming Gymnasium and improved McCaffery's teams to 23-1 at home in non-conference action.
Burrell's 22 points marked his second straight 20-point game and, coupled with his 10 rebounds, was his 10th career double-double. The native of Montclair, NJ also went over the 750-point mark for his career in continuing his attempt to become the 13th Spartan to record 1,000 career points.
Sophomore guard Ricky Hickman, a native of Winston-Salem, NC, added 20 points, his fifth 20-point game of the season, along with five assists, three blocked shots and five steals. UNCG is 7-0 this season when Hickman scores 15 or more points.
UNCG freshman Kyle Hines also had another spectacular night. Hines finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and six blocks. Over the three games in five days span, Hines has 19 blocked shots while averaging 15.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game and shooting 62% from the floor. When the new national statistical leaders are released Tuesday afternoon by the NCAA, Hines will likely lead the nation at 4.8 blocks per game (44 total this season).
Against William & Mary, UNCG had a team total of 13 blocked shots, a school record. It marked the second-straight game that UNCG blocked 10 or more shots.
“We were very impressed with William & Mary on film,” said McCaffery. “We set out to stop (Corey) Cofield tonight, and we did a pretty good job of that. They hit some three-pointers in the first half, but I thought we did a better job with their perimeter in the second half. We got out into our transition game and that was when we were able to have some success.”
When UNCG got it going, the Spartans were impressive on Monday. UNCG went the first 4:15 without a field goal as the Tribe opened with an 8-2 lead. However, UNCG responded with 16 straight points as a part of a 20-1 run that gave them a 13-point lead, 22-9. William & Mary got to within six points late in the first half, 36-30, before the a three-pointer by Ricky Hickman and a lay-up by Kyle Hines gave UNCG a nine-point lead going into intermission.
But, on the way to the locker room, William & Mary coach Tony Shaver got hit with a technical foul. When UNCG came out of the locker room, Burrell hit two free throws that began a 10-0 run to open the second half. Burrell had eight of those 10 points as UNCG took control for good. William & Mary got no closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
The Spartans dominated in the paint again on Monday. UNCG outscored the Tribe, 56-16, in the paint, which contributed to UNCG shooting 51.6 percent from the field for the game.
William & Mary was led by Laimis Kisielius' 15 points, including three three-pointers. Cofield, the 2004 Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year, was held scoreless, going 0-for-3 from the field, and grabbed just two rebounds before fouling out in 25 minutes of action.
UNCG hits the road to take on Wisconsin on Thursday night in Madison. The Badgers are receiving votes in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Top 25 polls. Game time is 8 p.m. ET.
AGATE
UNC GREENSBORO 84, WILLIAM & MARY 62
WILLIAM & MARY (3-4)
Kisielius, 6-11 0-0 15; Smith, 3-6 4-5 10; Ofori Attah, 4-9 1-2 9; D'Antoni, 3-6 0-0 8; Trumbower, 2-3 0-0 6; Loehrke, 2-4 0-0 4; Mann, 2-3 0-0 4; Dutton, 1-1 0-0 3; Markham, 1-3 0-0 3; Stratton, 0-3 0-0 0; Cofield, 0-3 0-0 0; Mokris, 0-1 0-2 0; Hutt, 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-54 5-9 62.
UNC GREENSBORO (7-2)
Burrell, 9-13 4-4 22; Hickman, 8-12 2-2 20; Hines, 7-11 2-2 16; Gross, 5-14 0-1 11; Bristow, 3-7 0-0 7; Oleksiak, 0-3 5-6 5; Johnson, 1-2 1-1 3; Clifton, 0-1 0-0 0; Beckford, 0-1 0-0 0, Everette, 0-0 0-0 0, Moore, 0-0 0-0 0, Yarborough, 0-0 0-0 0, Kelly, 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-64 14-16 84.
Halftime: UNCG 41-32. 3-point goals: William & Mary 9-18 (Kisielius, 3-6; D'Antoni, 2-4; Trumbower, 2-3; Dutton, 1-1; Markham, 1-1; Mokris, 0-1; Ofori Attah, 0-2), UNC Greensboro 4-13 (Hickman, 2-6; Bristow, 1-2; Gross, 1-2; Clifton, 0-1; Oleksiak, 0-2). Fouled out: William & Mary: Cofield, UNC Greensboro: None. Rebounds-William & Mary 26 (Smith, 5), UNC Greensboro 38 (Burrell, 10). Assists: William & Mary 10 (D'Antoni, 4), UNC Greensboro 13 (Hickman, 5). Total fouls: William & Mary 16, UNC Greensboro 12. Att: 564
