SEATTLE, WA – Sophomore forward Kyle Hines recorded his 12th career double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds as UNC Greensboro held off UT-Arlington, 61-49, in Tuesday's fifth-place game of the 2005 BCA Classic at Bank of America Arena on the University of Washington campus.
Junior guard Ricky Hickman added 14 points and four steals in his return to the line-up after missing the first two games. Kevin Oleksiak added 12 points for his third-straight double-figure scoring game.
“Our guys made big plays two nights in a row when the other team made plays and that is a good characteristic for a team to have,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement. “It wasn't a pretty offensive performance but you can feel good about the defensive effort. UTA shot better than 50 percent last night and they were better than 50 percent in their exhibition win and we were able to shut them down tonight.”
Both teams got off to a sloppy start, combining for nine turnovers in the first three minutes. UT-Arlington, frustrated by UNCG's 2-3 match-up zone, missed 15 of its first 18 from the field, but the three made field goals were all three-pointers to hang in for an 11-11 tie with nine minutes to play in the opening half.
Despite losing junior guard Ricky Hickman to his second foul at the 11:20 mark, UNCG battled through to take a four-point lead into the locker room, 21-17. The Mavericks finished the half a dismal 5-for-29 from the field, just 17 percent.
The Spartans came out of the locker room hot and then went ice cold. UNCG scored 12 of the first 17 points to take its first double-digit lead of the afternoon four minutes into the second half. But that was followed by a span of 6:20 without a field goal and had just one bucket in 10 minutes as the Mavericks rallied to take the lead. Two free throws by Howell gave UTA a short-lived lead, 37-36, until Kyle Hines' tip-in on a third-shot gave UNCG the lead back 35 seconds later.
UNCG started to pull away from there, kickstarted by offensive rebounding and free throw shooting. Two free throws by Hickman with 3:10 to play gave the Spartans a seven-point lead which soon expanded back to 13, 55-42, when UNCG capped a 14-0 run with a Brian Beckford put back.
Of Hickman's 14 points, 10 came from the charity stripe. The Spartans made 8 of 10 from the line in the final 2:34 after making just five of the first 10 in the game.
UNCG will return to the East Coast and next play Nov. 22 when it hits the road to take on Vanderbilt.
AGATE
UNC GREENSBORO 61, TEXAS-ARLINGTON 49
TEXAS-ARLINGTON (1-2)
Howell, Jarett 3-11 4-4 13; Dawkins, Brady 3-9 0-0 9; Thomas, Steven 3-9 3-3 9; Griffin, Jermiane 2-2 3-5 7; Vereen, Anthony 1-4 4-4 6; Long, Brandon 1-11 0-0 3; Sauls, Baron 1-3 0-0 2; Henderson, Kenneth 0-1 0-0 0; Guidry, Myles 0-1 0-0 0; Henry, Terrell 0-0 0-0 0; Epps, Rodrick 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 14-55 14-16 49.
UNC GREENSBORO (2-1)
Hines, Kyle 9-16 1-2 19; Hickman, Ricky 2-10 10-12 14; Oleksiak, Kevin 3-7 3-4 12; Beckford, Brian 3-4 3-4 9; Akinosho, Matt 2-7 0-2 4; Boddie, Devin 1-1 0-0 2; McClenny, David 0-0 1-2 1; Tooms, Bart 0-2 0-0 0; Simmons, Everson 0-1 0-0 0; Johnson, Dwayne 0-4 0-2 0. Totals 20-52 18-28 61.
Halftime: UNCG 21-17. 3-point goals-Texas-Arlington 7-28 (Howell, Jarett 3-9; Dawkins, Brady 3-7; Long, Brandon 1-8; Sauls, Baron 0-2; Epps, Rodrick 0-2), UNC Greensboro 3-12 (Oleksiak, Kevin 3-4; Hickman, Ricky 0-4; Tooms, Bart 0-1; Simmons, Everson 0-1; Johnson, Dwayne 0-1; Hines, Kyle 0-1). Fouled out--Texas-Arlington-None, UNC Greensboro-None. Rebounds-Texas-Arlington 35 (Thomas, Steven 10), UNC Greensboro 41 (Hines, Kyle 12). Assists-Texas-Arlington 11 (Guidry, Myles 2; Howell, Jarett 2; Thomas, Steven 2; Dawkins, Brady 2), UNC Greensboro 10 (Oleksiak, Kevin 3). Total fouls-Texas-Arlington 21, UNC Greensboro 18.
- UNCG -
