UNCG-ETSU Box Score
Box Score
Ronnie Burrell had a career-high 33 points |
JOHNSON CITY, TN – James Anthony set a school-record with eight three-pointers on his way to 30 points as East Tennessee State defeated UNC Greensboro, 105-78, in Southern Conference men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon.
The win snapped East Tennessee State's seven-game losing skid. The loss for UNCG's was its fourth-straight and prevented them from gaining a share of first place in the Southern Conference's North Division. With Appalachian State's commanding win over Chattanooga in Boone on Saturday afternoon, the Montaineers pulled into a tie with the Mocs at 7-5. The Spartans trail the two by one game with four conference games remaining. The top two teams in each division gain byes in the first round of the Kyocera Southern Conference Tournament in Chattanooga on March 2-5.
Ronnie Burrell led UNCG with 33 points, his first career 30-point performance. It tied for the third-highest scoring performance by a UNCG player in the university's Division I era. It was his fifth 20-point game of the season and the 13th of his career. It left him five points shy of 1,000 for his career.
Along with Anthony's outside shooting, Tim Smith, who shot just 2-for-17 from the field in a 22-point loss to Appalachian State on Wednesday night, was on fire. He knocked down eight-of-10 shots in the first half and finished with 25 points and eight assists on the afternoon
For the game, East Tennessee State (7-16, 3-10 SoCon) knocked down 15-of-25 three-point field goal attempts. The 15 three-pointers tied an ETSU record.
“We clearly ran into a team that was due for a game like that and we played right into it,” said UNCG coach Fran McCaffery. “The problem in the first half for us wasn't so much our defense, but rather our decision making on offense. If we're turning the ball over and not getting any second shots, then we aren't helping the cause. We were creating transition opportunities for them, and they took advantage of every one of them. They shot great and that wasn't the fault of our defense. If they play at the energy level, they are going to be a real factor in this thing down the stretch.”
The Bucs jumped out to a quick 13-3 lead in the game's opening minutes. Ricky Hickman's three-pointer at 16:40 was UNCG's first field goal and began a 12-6 run to pull UNCG back to within four, 19-15.
But UNCG's first half turnover struggles continued again on Saturday. Over the previous seven games entering Saturday, UNCG had averaged 12 turnovers in the first half and just six in the second half. On Saturday, UNCG had 10 in the first 12 minutes and ETSU took advantage, using a 14-2 run to extend its lead to 33-17.
It didn't get much better from there as a red-hot shooting East Tennessee State team knocked down nine of its first 12 from three-point range and led by as many 37 in the first half. The Bucs wound up shooting 68.4 percent (26-for-38) from the field in the half and took a 64-29 lead into the locker room behind 19 points each from Smith and Anthony.
Coming out of the locker room, UNCG (13-10, 6-6) showed it wasn't about to pack it in. The Spartans extended their defense the full-length of the court and scored the first 10 points of the second half to cut the margin to 25 with 17 minutes to play. But although UNCG would make several runs in the second half, it got no closer.
UNCG, which beat the Bucs in Greensboro in overtime, 79-76, three weeks ago, has lost in each of its last five trips to Memorial Center. In those five games, ETSU has averaged 92 points and has not scored less than 84 points.
The Spartans return to action on Monday night when they visit Chattanooga for a 7 pm tip-off.
AGATE
UNC GREENSBORO (13-10, 6-6 SoCon)
BURRELL, Ronnie 10-16 13-15 33; HICKMAN, Ricky 6-15 0-0 16; BRISTOW, Ray 6-14 0-0 12; HINES, Kyle 3-3 1-2 7; OLEKSIAK, Kevin 1-7 4-5 6; GROSS, Josh 2-6 0-0 4; EVERETTE, Dustin 0-1 0-0 0; MOORE, Donald 0-0 0-1 0; BECKFORD, Brian 0-0 0-0 0; KELLY, Tim 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-62 18-23 78.
EAST TENNESSEE STATE (7-16, 3-10 SoCon)
ANTHONY, James 10-16 2-2 30; SMITH, Tim 10-19 3-5 25; STRONG, Travis 7-12 1-1 18; RHODA, Ben 4-7 0-0 8; SNEED, Dillion 4-11 0-3 8; REED, Andrew 4-7 0-0 8; SURMACZ, Greg 2-2 0-0 5; OATMAN, Sam 1-3 0-0 3; SCOTT, Aaron 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 42-78 6-11 105.
Halftime: ETSU, 64-29. 3-point goals-UNC Greensboro 4-18 (HICKMAN, Ricky 4-8; BRISTOW, Ray 0-2; OLEKSIAK, Kevin 0-5; GROSS, Josh 0-2; BURRELL, Ronnie 0-1), East Tennessee State 15-25 (ANTHONY, James 8-12; STRONG, Travis 3-5; SMITH, Tim 2-4; OATMAN, Sam 1-2; SURMACZ, Greg 1-1; RHODA, Ben 0-1). Fouled out—UNC Greensboro-GROSS, Josh; HINES, Kyle, East Tennessee State-None. Rebounds-UNC Greensboro 34 (HINES, Kyle 10), East Tennessee State 44 (SNEED, Dillion 15). Assists-UNC Greensboro 10 (BRISTOW, Ray 3), East Tennessee State 18 (SMITH, Tim 8). Total fouls-UNC Greensboro 18, East Tennessee State 18. A-4142.
– UNCG –
