Men's Basketball 11/18/2009 7:00:00 PM UNCGSpartans.com

Coliseum debut - UNCG hosts No. 22 Clemson on Friday night

No. 22/23 Clemson (2-0) at UNCG (0-2), 7:07 p.m.

Greensboro Coliseum - Greensboro, N.C.
TV: FSN-South, ESPN360.com, ESPN Full Court (Rich Waltz & Dan Bonner)
Radio: WPET 950-AM (Scott Pryzwansky, Dick Stewart & Stan Lewter)
Internet: Spartan All Access (free audio only), Yahoo! Sports
LiveStats: UNCGSpartans.com

NOTE: Parking lot gates open at 4:30 p.m. for tailgating and SpartanFest. SpartanFest begins in the Pavillion at 4:30 until 6:30 p.m. Coliseum doors open to the public at 6 p.m. Shuttles from campus for students, faculty and staff begin operation at the EUC at 4 p.m.

Pete Brown battles for a rebound last Friday night against ninth-ranked Duke. The Spartans come home - to their new home at the Greensboro Coliseum - to face No. 22 Clemson on Friday night at 7 p.m. (AP Photo)

THE NEW HOUSE

UNCG debuts in its new house tonight as the Spartans celebrate their home opener in their new home venue - the historic Greensboro Coliseum.

Currently celebrating its 50th year, the Coliseum has played host to the Final Four and numerous NCAA Tournament regional and opening rounds games - 51 to be exact, ACC Tournaments (including five of the next six years), and concert performers like The Who, The Eagles, Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, George Strait, Jimmy Buffett and Shania Twain.

The venue holds 23,000, but it will be downsized to 7,617 for a typical configuration and will be enlarged when called for. The Spartans had played occasional games at the Coliseum over the years. Last February, UNCG and Davidson played here in front of a crowd of 11,267. The walk-up crowd for that was more than 1,800 fans - more than the capacity of UNCG's on-campus venue Fleming Gym (capacity 1,831). The Spartans drew more than 21,000 for No. 1 Duke in December 2005.

STUDENTS ON BOARD

There was little doubt that the UNCG students are ready for this debut tonight when ticket distribution began on Tuesday. The department is handling distribution through "Ticket Tuesdays" - distributing tickets each Tuesday for games in the following seven days.

When distribution for tonight's game began on Tuesday, students were lined up well before 9 a.m. When the day was done, 1,633 tickets had been distributed to UNCG students. The ticket allocation was originally planned for 1,500, but was extended due to the demand.

INJURY UPDATE

Freshman Taylor Hoffer is out for the season and will redshirt following preseason surgery on his leg.

TOUGH CLOSING AT VIRGINIA TECH

The Spartans enter tonight's game with a little bit of a bitter taste in their mouth. UNCG was tied with Virginia Tech on Tuesday night, 38-38, with 10:48 to play. But UNCG turned the ball over on six of their next seven possessions as Virginia Tech went on an 11-0 run. The Spartans went 5:40 between field goals. The end result was a 59-46 win by Virginia Tech.

A GOOD EFFORT

The final score from Friday night's season-opener at Duke may not have been indicative, but UNCG coach Mike Dement was not entirely displeased with his team's performance. The Spartans got solid production from three freshmen making their collegiate debut (Brian Cole, Korey Van Dussen and Kyle Randall) and didn't look flustered (just 14 turnovers) in one of the most intimidating environments in college basketball. In fact, UNCG played Duke even for most of the second half, with the Blue Devils extending their lead during a 13-5 run in a four-minute span midway through the second half. (Duke outscored UNCG, 48-35, in the second half).

One point that Dement made in the postgame press conference was that the Spartans didn't convert second chances against the bigger Blue Devils. UNCG had 13 offensive rebounds and just six second-chance points.

SPARTANS SIGN FOUR

UNC Greensboro men's basketball coach Mike Dement announced Monday the signing of four student-athletes thus far during the National Letter of Intent program's early signing period.

The Spartans have received commitments from 6-9 power forward Cody Henegar, 6-6 shooting guard Mike Liabo, 6-2 guard Drew Parker and 6-5 wing Trevis Simpson.

"We are very pleased to welcome these four individuals into our program," said Dement. "This is a good class with still one grant to fill if we choose. All four young men come from outstanding backgrounds and we look forward to them joining us next fall.

"These kids and their families recognize the opportunity they have before them academically, as well as with our move to play our games in the Greensboro Coliseum and against the schedule we are going to face. They were attracted to those things and they are excited about it. We will expect them to play significant roles next season since we are graduating six seniors. They will be a big part of the future of this program."

UNCG will graduate five scholarship players this spring in Ben Stywall, Mikko Koivisto, Kendall Toney, Pete Brown and Montel Smith.

Henegar is a 6-9 post player from Marion County High School. A native of Jasper, Tenn., Henegar averaged 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks per contest last season at Marion County. He played his AAU basketball for the Nashville Celtics, where he is averaging eight points and 10.7 rebounds per game. He's helped the Celtics to a 50-20 mark over the last two years, including a River City Showdown Championship and an Elite 8 finish at the adidas 64 Tournament in Las Vegas.

Ranked as one of the Top 20 players in the state of Tennessee this season, Henegar is a McDonald's All-American nominee. He was also named to the Class AA, 3-AA all-region team last season.

Liabo is a 6-6 shooting guard/small forward from Brehm Prep in Carbondale, Ill. Currently in a year of prep school, Liabo averaged 22.5 points per game last season as a senior for Brehm. A native of Crystal Lake, Ill., he played his AAU basketball for the Illinois Warriors. Liabo was a Class 5A all-state honorable mention selection for Gulf Coast High School in the Naples, Fla. area before his family moved to Illinois prior to last season. He averaged 20 points per game as a junior for Gulf Coast, breaking the school's single-season scoring mark.

Parker is a 6-2 point guard from Laporte High School in Laporte, Texas. He averaged 10 points and eight assists per contest last season as Laporte went 28-10. Parker is ranked in the Top 20 seniors in the state of Texas according to TexasHoops.com and some regard him as the top point guard in Houston.

Parker comes from a basketball family as his mother is a former high school coach and played at the University of Houston, while his father played collegiately at Iowa State and professionally in the ABA. Andrew, Sr., who was a third-round pick of the Washington Bullets in the 1979 NBA draft, also coached Drew's AAU squad, the Houston Clippers.

Simpson, a native of Douglas, Ga., is a three-star recruit according to Rivals.com and has been rated as high as a Top 100 player nationally. At 6-5 and 190 lbs, Simpson is athletic with a 42-inch vertical leap. Last season at Coffee County High School, he averaged 16 points and six rebounds per game, playing virtually every position on the floor and earning all-region honors. He played his AAU basketball previously with the Atlanta Celtics finished with the Georgia Hawks.

A STRONG NUCLEUS

While coming off a disappointing season, the Spartans return a solid nucleus from last season's squad. Nearly 74 percent of last year's scoring returns, including three of the top four scorers from last year in Mikko Koivisto, Ben Stywall and Kendall Toney. Seven of the nine players returning from last year's roster have started 10 or more contests in their career. In addition, the Spartans regain the services of Darrius Sellers, who was lost for the season before it was even underway. Sellers suffered a leg injury that required surgery in preseason conditioning workouts after playing in 21 games as a freshman.

FRESH FACES

The Spartans also have a host of new faces that will likely see significant time this season. Brandon Evans sat out last season after transferring from East Carolina, where he was a key reserve for most of two seasons. Mike Dement has also added four freshmen, three of whom are expected to see the floor on an extended basis this season. Brian Cole will probably see even more playing time this season now that fellow freshman Taylor Hoffer is lost for the season due to leg surgery. Guards Korey Van Dussen and Kyle Randall come to UNCG highly-touted and will be a key part of the backcourt rotation. Van Dussen finished third in the Mr. Michigan voting last season at Zeeland East HS, where he led the team to their first regional title in 60 years. Randall was the AP's Class A Player of the Year in Pennsylvania.

FOR YOUR TV GUIDE

Three of UNCG's five television appearances have now been picked up by ESPN Full Court. UNCG's games against Clemson, NC State and The Citadel will all be shown as part of the ESPN Full Court package. Tonight's game has also been picked up by ESPN 360.

TWEET, TWEET

If you are a fan of Twitter, UNCG information can be found at several Twitter pages. For all general athletics information, the UNCG athletics Twitter is @uncgsports. More specifically, UNCG coach Mike Dement has his own Twitter page @coachmikedement.

A TALE OF TWO HALVES

UNCG's Ben Stywall was 0-for-5 from the field with no points in the first half at Duke. He went 7-for-11 from the floor in the second half to account for all 19 of his points.

NOT A GOOD SEQUEL

Mikko Koivisto had his own tale of two halves at Virginia Tech, in the opposite direction. Koivisto scored 10 of UNCG's first 20 points to help UNCG to an early lead on Tuesday night. But after beginning the game 4-for-6 from the floor, he did not even attempt a field goal in the final 28:10 as the Hokies put the clamps on the member of the Finnish National Team the last two summers.

THE RACE TO 1,000

UNCG has three players chasing the 1,000-point mark this season. Entering tonight, Mikko Koivisto needs 52 points for 1,000 in his career, while Ben Stywall is only 174 points shy of the milestone. Kendall Toney has an outside shot, as well, entering play tonight with 651 points - 349 shy of the milestone. To date, 16 players have accumulated 1,000 points in a career as a Spartan.

SPARTANS AGAINST THE TOP 25

UNCG opens the 2009-10 season with ranked opponents in two of the first three contests, including tonight's contest against No. 22 Clemson.

All-time, UNCG is 0-23 against teams ranked in the Associated Press poll. Eight of those 23 games have been against Duke, including the season-opener this season. It was the first time in 15 years that the Spartans opened the season against a ranked opponent. UNCG faced Wake Forest, ranked No. 24 in the AP poll, to open the 1994-95 season (Nov. 26, 1994). It is the third time ever that the Spartans open the season with a ranked team and Duke is the highest-ranked opponent in those three season-openers.

The game-by-game list is below.

Date Opponent (site) Rk. Result

Nov. 13, 2009 Duke (A) 9 L 62-96

March 9, 2008 Davidson (N-1) 25 L 52-82

Nov. 16, 2006 Duke (A) 11 L 48-75

Jan. 2, 2006 NC State (A) 13 L 52-83

Dec. 31, 2005 Duke (H-GC) 1 L 69-102

Dec. 4, 2004 Iowa (A) 23 L 58-83

Nov. 27, 2004 Duke (A) 9 L 44-98

Dec. 23, 2003 Maryland (A) 24 L 85-88

Dec. 21, 2003 Missouri (A) 10 L 98-106

Dec. 3, 2002 Alabama (A) 3 L 61-89

Nov. 22, 2002 Kansas (A) 2 L 66-105

Mar. 15, 2001 Stanford (N-2) 2 L 60-89

Dec. 15, 1999 Wake Forest (A) 25 L 62-71

Dec. 30, 1998 Duke (A) 2 L 58-104

Dec. 3, 1997 Duke (A) 1 L 37-93

Jan. 15, 1997 Duke (H-GC) 13 L 49-87

Nov. 30, 1996 Syracuse (N-3) 12 L 56-73

Nov. 27, 1996 Stanford (N-3) 21 L 52-88

Mar. 15, 1996 Cincinnati (N-4) 7 L 61-66

Jan. 31, 1996 Virginia Tech (A) 13 L 48-74

Nov. 29, 1995 Duke (A) 12 L 57-71

Nov. 26, 1994 Wake Forest (A) 24 L 55-75

Nov. 23, 1991 Wake Forest (A) 22 L 59-87

N-1: Southern Conference Tournament, North Charleston, S.C.

N-2: NCAA Tournament, San Diego, Calif.

N-3: Great Alaska Shootout, Anchorage, Ak.

N-4: NCAA Tournament, Orlando, Fla.

FAMILIAR FOE

While UNCG and Clemson haven't met since 1992, one person on the Spartan bench will find tonight's opposition fairly familiar. Assistant Coach Brian Judski is a Clemson graduate ('92). He got his start in coaching at Furman in 1997.

SOCON STANDING

The Spartans were picked tied for fifth in the Southern Conference's North Division during the coaches' preseason balloting. Western Carolina, which returns all five starters from last season, was picked to finish first in the North Division, while College of Charleston was picked to win the league's South Division.

In the conference coaches' voting, the Catamounts earned 10 first-place votes and finished the balloting with 64 points. Appalachian State earned the remaining two first-place votes in the North Division and finished with 55 points. Samford (44) was chosen third while last season's tournament champion, Chattanooga (39), was slotted fourth. Elon and UNCG tied for fifth place with 22 points apiece.

Behind eight first-place votes, College of Charleston was picked to win the South Division. The Cougars finished 15-5 in league play a season ago and advanced to the tournament championship before falling to the Mocs. Wofford picked up three first-place votes and finished second in the preseason balloting with 54 points. Davidson, which has won the South Division each of the past three years, earned the final first-place vote in the South Division and came in third with 48 points. The Citadel (36) finished fourth, followed by Furman (24) and Georgia Southern (21).

THEY'RE BACK

After a one-year absence, UNCG has brought back the gold uniforms this season. The Spartans had them in 2007-08, but only wore them twice. Last year, they moved back to just two sets of uniforms - Blue and White. This year, however, the third set of jerseys have returned.

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

The Spartans played two closed scrimmages this year, rather than an exhibition against a non-Division I program. UNCG played its annual intrasquad game last Saturday with the Gold defeating the White, 65-55. Brandon Evans scored a game-high 16 points to pace four Gold squad members in double figures.

After a Kendall Toney layup with 6:36 to play put the White team up 45-43, the Gold team finished the contest on a 22-10 run to take the win. Ben Stywall got the run started with a layup to tie it, and Koren Van Dussen put the Gold on top to stay with a midrange jumper.

Stywall (15), Van Dussen (14) and Pete Brown (12) also scored in double digits for the Gold squad. Toney led the White team with 14 points, while Brian Cole had 12 and Mikko Koivisto added 11.

GRAB BAG

Mikko Kovisto: Active leader in the Southern Conference in three-point field goals with 215... was a perfect 16-for-16 from the foul line in the final two minutes of games last season and 25-of-26 from the stripe inside of the 5-minute mark... has at least one three-pointer in 13 straight contests and 58 of his last 61 games... went to the free throw line 73 times last season - nearly twice as much as he had in his first two seasons - and yet did not get to the line in his final five games... played for the Finnish National Team for the second consecutive summer... needs 52 points for 1,000 in his career... UNCG's top career free throw shooter at an 86.5% clip (141-163); third best among SoCon's active players... has 215 three-pointers in his career, third most in school history.

Ben Stywall: The senior man in the Southern Conference. His 2,804 career minutes are the most among SoCon active players... moved into fifth on the school's career rebounding list, passing James Maye, at Virginia Tech... had 19 points - all in the second half - in the season-opener at Duke... he has 12 career double-doubles, including eight last season... active leader in the Southern Conference in free throws made (234) and attempted (375)... also the league's active leader in rebounds and second in rebounds per game (7.01)... his 94 career steals is second on the SoCon's active leaders list.

Pete Brown: Had not scored in double figures in his first 89 career contests - and then did so in the last two games last season, scoring 10 points against Elon and 12 points against College of Charleston in the conference tournament.

Former Spartans overseas: Several Spartans are playing overseas again this season. In fact, earlier this month, two of the three Spartans to have their number retired, met in a Lega Due game in Italy. Kyle Hines had 24 points as Prima Veroli beat A.B. Latina, 95-87. Courtney Eldridge had 22 for A.B. Latina... others overseas include Bart Tooms (Netherlands - Upstairs Weert), Ronnie Taylor (France - Le Portel), Ricky Hickman (Finland - Namika Lahti), Josh Gross (Japan - Aishin), Davor Galic (Croatia - Darda), and Ronnie Burrell (Poland - Assec. Prokom).

Spooner steps away: Walk-on Sean Spooner decided to leave the team last week.

Looking for 500: UNCG enters the season needing 10 wins for 500 in the program's history. The Spartans have a 490-602 all-time record as a program. UNCG was 218-267 as a Division III program, 29-52 in three seasons at the Division II level and currently sits at 243-283 in the midst of its 19th season at the Division I level. UNCG has had 16 winning seasons in 42 years with Mike Dement leading the program to four of those.

UNCG ALL-TIME AT THE COLISEUM (13-21, 8-14 in DIVISION I ERA)

Feb. 5, 2009 Davidson L 54-75

Jan. 10, 2007 Virginia Tech L 51-74

Dec. 31, 2005 #1 Duke L 69-102

Feb. 24, 2003 Appalachian State L 68-71

Feb. 11, 2003 Davidson L 77-84

Jan. 7, 2003 Chattanogoa L 56-72

Jan. 16, 2002 North Carolina A&T W 85-67

Jan. 17, 2001 North Carolina A&T W 67-65

Jan. 8, 2001 Appalachian State W 78-62

Jan. 19, 2000 North Carolina A&T L 71-80

Feb. 25, 1999 Georgia Southern + L 78-81 (OT)