GREENSBORO, NC -- Sophomore guard Kevin Oleksiak set a school-record with nine three-pointers on his way to a career-high 31 points as UNC Greensboro pounded next-door neighbor Greensboro College, 85-47, in non-conference men's basketball action at Fleming Gym on Friday night.
Oleksiak, a native of Abington, PA, hit 9-of-14 from behind the three-point arc to break the school mark held by Scott Hartzell. His 14 attempts tied a school record, as well. Hartzell knocked down eight on a school-record 14 attempts against Winthrop on Feb. 13, 1995. The 31 points were the eighth-highest total by a Spartan since the program's move to Division I in 1991-92.
“I was stuck on eight for a while, I think,” said Oleksiak, whose nickname among his teammates is “KO”. “Coming out of one of the last media timeouts, Dwayne Johnson said something about me needing just one for the record, but I thought he was kidding. Then, it seemed like every play we ran was for me, so I started thinking maybe he was serious.
“I always feel good when I warm-up, so I don't really know what kind of night it will be from that. Tonight I hit two in a row, one from each corner, early on and that was when I thought it would be a good night.”
“I think Kevin is a little more confident this season,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement. “He is another year older, a little more mature.
“I wasn't entirely happy with our performance tonight. We turned the ball over too much (21 after setting season-lows in the two previous games). We wanted this game to be a time for us to get the guys on the bench some work and they didn't play well. But, coming out of the exam break, it is a win.”
Johnson added a career-high 12 points and eight assists, and junior Ricky Hickman chipped in 18 points for UNCG. The 38-point margin was the widest in the program's Division I era.
UNCG (7-3) scored the first 16 points of the game, connecting on six of its first eight shots from the field. The Pride (2-4), playing their first game 20 days due partly to final exams, didn't get on the scoreboard until the 13:42 mark. The Pride made just four of their first 19 shots from the field and never recovered, falling behind 30-8. From there, the Pride never got closer than 18.
After tying the record with over 14 minutes still to play, Oleksiak had a couple of cracks at sole ownership. His first attempt at a ninth three-pointer drew some attention. Three Greensboro defenders ran at Oleksiak as he rose up from just beyond the top of the key. After that, Oleksiak was pretty much face-guarded by Pride defenders and it didn't look like he would get another chance. But with just over two minutes to play, he knocked down a 21-footer from the right wing to break the mark.
The Spartans take to the road for a pair of games before taking a break for the holidays. UNCG will open the trip with a game at Delaware on Monday at 7:30 pm.
AGATE
GREENSBORO COLLEGE (2-4): Newman, James 5-10 3-4 18; Holloway, Brian 3-10 1-2 7; Watson, Lamont 3-6 0-0 6; Davis, Justin 2-4 0-0 5; McDuffie, Michael 2-5 0-0 4; Greene, George 2-6 0-0 4; Parker, Dontez 1-2 0-0 2; Camp, Bryant 0-6 1-4 1; Tamini, Theophile 0-0 0-0 0; Battle, Justin 0-2 0-0 0; Hill, Adam 0-0 0-0 0; Theriault, Francois 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 18-54 5-10 47.
UNCG (7-3): Oleksiak, Kevin 11-18 0-0 31; Hickman, Ricky 5-9 6-8 18; Johnson, Dwayne 6-6 0-0 12; Hines, Kyle 4-5 0-0 8; Everette, Dustin 3-3 0-0 6; Beckford, Brian 1-5 1-3 3; Tooms, Bart 1-2 1-2 3; McClenny, David 1-3 0-0 2; Akinosho, Matt 0-3 2-2 2; Moore, Donald 0-0 0-0 0; Boddie, Devin 0-0 0-0 0; Vlazny, Gregory 0-1 0-0 0; Simmons, Everson 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 32-59 10-15 85.
Halftime: UNCG 40-17. 3-point goals-Greensboro College 6-15 (Newman, James 5-8; Davis, Justin 1-3; McDuffie, Michael 0-1; Greene, George 0-1; Theriault, Francois 0-2), UNCG 11-23 (Oleksiak, Kevin 9-14; Hickman, Ricky 2-3; Beckford, Brian 0-2; McClenny, David 0-1; Vlazny, Gregory 0-1; Simmons, Everson 0-2). Fouled out--Greensboro College-None, UNCG-None. Rebounds-Greensboro College 27 (Greene, George 10), UNCG 43 (Tooms, Bart 8). Assists-Greensboro College 10 (Theriault, Francois 3; Greene, George 3), UNCG 22 (Johnson, Dwayne 8). Total fouls-Greensboro College 12, UNCG 14. A-606
- UNCG -
