UNCG-Chattanooga Box Score
Box Score
Kyle Hines had 24 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks, setting a new record for blocks in a season (73) |
GREENSBORO, NC – Ricky Hickman, who had missed all eight of his shots in the game - six shots from the field and a pair of free throw attempts, knocked down three free throws in the final 6.8 seconds to cap an improbable comeback and lift UNC Greensboro to a 62-57 come-from-behind victory over Chattanooga and forge a tie for first place in the Southern Conference's North Division.
The Spartans, who are quickly becoming the SoCon's Cardiac Kids, rallied from a 19-point halftime deficit to beat the Mocs and pull into a first-place tie with them at 6-2 in conference play. The win marked the third time in the last four games that UNCG rallied from a double-digit deficit in the second half to pull out a victory. Previously, UNCG trailed East Tennessee State and The Citadel by 10 points in the second half before rallying for wins.
The win was UNCG's 11th in a row at Fleming Gymnasium, establishing a new school record for consecutive homecourt wins. The Spartans are a perfect 9-0 at home this season. It was also UNCG's 15th consecutive when holding the opposition under 70 points dating back to December 2003.
Kyle Hines led UNCG (13-6, 6-2) with 24 points and 14 rebounds for his Southern Conference leading eighth double-double of the season. It was also the fourth 20-point game of the season for the SoCon Freshman of the Year candidate. Both totals were season-highs for Hines.
Ray Bristow added 20 points, 15 of those coming in the second half. He knocked down five three-pointers in the game, four of those in the final 18:15.
In addition to his double-double, Hines broke the UNCG single-season record for blocks. The freshman from Sicklerville, NJ blocked his 68th shot of the season six minutes into the game to equal the mark of Eric Cuthrell set 10 years ago. Hines broke the record later seven minutes later when he blocked a lay-up attempt by Steve Cherry from behind. Hines now has 73 blocked shots in 19 games this season. Prior to this season, only five Spartans in UNCG's Division I era had recorded 70 blocks in an entire career.
As a team, UNCG blocked 11 shots in the game, marking the third time this season that the Spartans recorded double-digit blocks and giving them 118 on the season.
Chris Brown had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead Chattanooga (13-5, 6-2). It was his second double-double in the last three games. However, the Mocs committed a season-high 24 turnovers in the loss.
“(The comeback) was a combination of things. I thought the way Ray pressured the ball changed the game in the second half,” said UNCG coach Fran McCaffery. “I told the guys at half that I took the blame somewhat for the way we played in the first half. We were tentative and that was because we had talked so much about their trapping defense and we weren't attacking the way we should. I didn't really chew on them in the locker room, but I did challenge them to come out and play in the second half.”
UNCG started out slowly thanks in-part to Chattanooga's pressure defense. The Spartans turned the ball over five times in the first five minutes, falling behind, 9-4, and it didn't get better in the next 15 minutes.
Coming into Saturday's game, UNCG averaged 17.4 turnovers per game. The Spartans committed 17 turnovers in the first half, which Chattanooga converted into 21 points. As a result, the Spartans had their lowest scoring first half of the season and found themselves down, 38-19, at the half.
Employing full court pressure of their own, UNCG scored the first seven points of the second half to get back to with 12. The Mocs went on a 9-4 run to take the lead back to 17, but UNCG responded by scoring the next eight points to get the deficit back to single-digits for the first time since midway through the first half, 47-38, with just over eight minutes to play.
After Chattanooga briefly got the lead back to double-digits, UNCG ran off nine straight points. A three-pointer by Ray Bristow from the left corner and a lay-up by Hines cut it to 55-49 with 4:30 to play. Bristow then knocked down another three-pointer, this one from the left wing, to cut it to 55-52 with 3:03 to play.
After a Mocs turnover, Hines was fouled going to the basket and hit one of two at the line. Chattanooga missed three shots on its next possession before UNCG finally grabbed a rebound. Then Bristow knocked down his fourth three-pointer of the second half with 1:06 to play to give UNCG its first lead of the night, 56-55.
Ronnie Burrell followed that with a steal and a dunk to give UNCG a three-point lead with 47.7 seconds left. Chattanooga's Matt Malone followed with a tip in with 33 seconds left, the Mocs' first field goal since the 6:06 mark, to make it 58-57.
The Mocs fouled Bristow two seconds later, who knocked down 1-of-2 to make it a two-point game. Chattanooga missed three shots on its next possession before a tie-up gave the Mocs the ball on the alternating possession with 12.9 seconds left. After a timeout, Hickman stole a pass and was fouled with 6.8 seconds left. Hickman, who had not scored all night, missed his first and made the second to give UNCG a three-point advantage. Hickman stole the ball again and knocked down two more from the line with 0.8 seconds left to cap the furious rally.
For the game. UNCG finished with 21 turnovers, committing just four in the second half.
For UNCG, Ronnie Burrell recorded his 500th career rebound in the game, becoming the sixth player in UNCG's Division I era to achieve the milestone. He recorded it on a put-back with 10:09 to play in the first half. Burrell finished with seven points and eight rebounds.
UNCG returns to action Monday night when it travels up I-40 to take on backyard-rival Elon in Burlington at 7 pm. The game will be televised on C-SET.
AGATE
CHATTANOOGA (13-5, 6-2 SoCon)
Brown, 6-11 3-4 16; Katelynas, 4-12 1-3 9; Crouch, 3-7 0-0 7; Malone, 2-4 2-3 7; Pugh, 1-6 2-2 4; Long, 1-4 2-2 4; Hood, 2-5 0-0 4; Cherry, 2-8 0-0 4; Anderson, 1-3 0-0 2; Mastin, 0-0 0-0 0; Hunt, 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-60 10-14 57.
UNC GREENSBORO (13-6, 6-2 SoCon)
Hines, 8-11 8-12 24; Bristow, 6-13 3-6 20; Gross, 3-8 2-2 8; Burrell, 3-6 1-2 7; Hickman, 0-6 3-5 3; Beckford, 0-0 0-0 0; Everette, 0-0 0-0 0; Oleksiak, 0-4 0-0 0; Johnson, 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-49 17-27 62.
Halftime: Chattanooga, 38-19. 3-point goals: Chattanooga 3-13 (Malone, 1-1; Crouch, 1-3; Brown, 1-2; Hood, 0-1; Cherry, 0-2; Pugh, 0-1; Katelynas, 0-3), UNC Greensboro: 5-20 (Bristow, 5-9; Gross, 0-3; Burrell, 0-1; Hickman, 0-4; Oleksiak, 0-3). Fouled out: Chattanooga-Pugh, UNC Greensboro: None. Rebounds: Chattanooga 42 (Katelynas, 11; Brown, 11), UNC Greensboro 32 (Hines, 14). Assists-Chattanooga 7 (Brown, 2; Malone, 2), UNC Greensboro 10 (Burrell, 3). Total fouls: Chattanooga 24, UNC Greensboro 17. Att: 1018.
