[RV/RV] Florida State (1-0) at UNCG (0-1), 3:30 p.m.
Greensboro Coliseum • Greensboro, N.C.
Nov. 14, 2010 • Game 2
TV: Fox Sports Net (Rich Waltz, Mike Gminski)
Radio: WCOG 1320-AM  (Scott Pryzwansky & Stan Lewter)
Internet: UNCGSpartans.com (free audio)
LiveStats: UNCGSpartans.com

• Gameday sponsored by Moses Cone Health System
• Shuttles begin from campus at 12:30 p.m. on Stirling St. in front of EUC
• Home Opener Kickoff Party begins at 1 p.m. in Pavilion, as does the Faculty/Staff Tailgate
• Halftime performance by ACRODUNK, a high impact dunk squad
• 1st 1,000 fans will receive a Free UNCG Fan Banner

GAME NOTES (pdf format)

STORYLINES

• UNCG opened its 44th season of men's basketball Friday night at VCU. The Spartans hung around in a tough enviornment, but dropped a 101-86 decision to the Rams in the first-ever meeting the two. Brandon Evans had a career-high 26 points to lead UNCG. Korey Van Dussen added 15 points. The Spartans played well considering two starters were not in uniform with Kyle Randall and  Trevis Simpson not available to play. UNCG outrebounded VCU, 42-37, and cut the deficit to single-digits a couple of times before a late spurt by the Rams.

• UNCG debuted its new frontcourt of Aaron Brackett and Aloysius Henry on Friday night. Both are JC transfers that are expected to be immediate impacts. Brackett finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Henry added 10 points in a foul-plagued 15 minutes.

• The Spartans have had a considerably new look over the last two seasons. In fact, just one person in uniform today was in uniform in the 2008-09 opener at Charlotte – Elhanan Bone.  Brandon Evans was sitting out after transferring from East Carolina and Darrius Sellers was injured. From then to tonight, there are 15 new players on the UNCG roster, five that made their debut on Friday night and four more that could make their debut in some form tonight (not including the injured Taylor Hoffer, who redshirted all of last season with an injury). A list of top freshman debuts by Spartans is available on page 8 of tonight's notes.

• The Spartans were picked anywhere from third through sixth this season in the preseason poll. The Southern Conference's coaches poll had UNCG fourth in an always tight North Division race.

• Today is UNCG's home opener. After losing to No. 22-ranked Clemson last year, the Spartans are 29-14 all-time in home openers. The Spartans have won 10 of their last 12 home openers and are 15-4 in home openers since the move to Division I. Mike Dement's teams are 18-5 all-time in home openers - 4-1 at Cornell, 6-3 at UNCG, 8-1 at SMU.

• UNCG returns just one starter from last season, that being point guard Kyle Randall. In all, the Spartans returns 28.5 points per game from last season (averaged 63.4 as a team).

• In the process of upgrading the schedule to coincide with the team's move to the Greensboro Coliseum last season, UNCG faces seven teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference this season - four at home and two on the road. Last year, UNCG had six games against the ACC (3/3). All-time, UNCG is 1-32 against the Atlantic Coast Conference - the one win coming at Georgia Tech to open the 2007-08 season.

• The Spartans can argue that they have the toughest schedule in the country. Consider:

UNCG plays six nonconference games against 2010 NCAA tournament participants. Only Gonzaga (eight) faces more. Oakland and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi also have six. Including a league game with Wofford, UNCG has seven total.

The Spartans play eight nonconference games against 2010 postseason participants. Only Gonzaga (11), Miami of Ohio (10) and Florida (nine) face more. TAMU-CC also plays eight. Including league games with College of Charleston, Appalachian State and Wofford, UNCG will have a total of 12.

INJURY UPDATE
Redshirt freshman Taylor Hoffer will not play after suffering an ankle injury early last week. Redshirt sophomore walk-on Robbie Dilmore also injured his ankle and is doubtful. Freshman Trevis Simpson has been recovering from a shoulder injury that he suffered prior to the start of practice. He did not play in the opener and is listed as day-to-day.

NOTABLE FROM OPENING NIGHT
• There must be something about Richmond that is to the liking of Brandon Evans. The fifth-year senior had a career-high 26 points against VCU on Friday night. His previous career high of 22 points came last December at Richmond.

• UNCG's 20 assists on Friday night were the most by the Spartans since logging 23 at Georgia Southern on Feb. 4, 2008. Freshman Drew Parker had eight assists against four turnovers in his collegiate debut.

• The Spartans opened the season on the road for the seventh straight season and the 17th time in 20 Division I seasons.

• The Spartans outrebounded VCU, 42-37, including grabbing 19 on the offensive glass.

• UNCG hadn't allowed 100 points in a game since Dec. 31, 2005 when No. 1-ranked Duke scored 102 in a game here at the Greensboro Coliseum. The Spartans have allowed 100 points in consecutive games only three times - 1970-71, 1973-74 and 1974-75.

• The 187 combined points were the most in a regulation game involving UNCG since a 106-98 loss at No. 10 Missouri back on Dec. 21, 2003. (Including OT games, it was the most since Jan. 2, 2007 when UNCG lost at NC State, 95-93, in overtime.)

...AND FOR AN ENCORE
Last year, UNCG played 12 games with an RPI rating in the Top 10. This year's slate includes 12 games against teams that played in a postseason tournament last season (NCAA, NIT, CBI or CIT).

"HELLO, MY NAME IS..."
The Spartans have had a considerably new look over the last two seasons. In fact, just one person in uniform today was in uniform in the 2008-09 opener at Charlotte – Elhanan Bone.  Brandon Evans was sitting out after transferring from East Carolina and Darrius Sellers was injured and took a medical redshirt.

From November 2008 to tonight, there are 15 new players on the UNCG roster, five that made their debut at VUC and four more of which could make their debut in some form tonight (not including the injured Taylor Hoffer).

SEASON TICKET COUNT
UNCG had a record number of season tickets last season - 1,354 season tickets for the first season in the Greensboro Coliseum. Earlier this week, the Spartans passed the 1,200 mark for season tickets. However, while that number is lower than last season's, this year there is a new five-game mini-pack that some season ticket holders chose to renew as. There have been more than 400 of those packages sold, meaning more than 1,600 packages have been sold.

The capacity of UNCG's Fleming Gymnasium - the on-campus facility - is 1,831.

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. The account posts all stories released on UNCGSpartans.com and also gives in-game updates for many of UNCG's 18 sports.

More specifically, UNCG coach Mike Dement has his own Twitter page @coachmikedement. Director of Athletics Kim Record has her own page as well @UNCGSpartansAD.

SPARTANS SIGN ONE
UNCG men's basketball coach Mike Dement received his first commitment for next season on Wednesday when 6-7 swingman Nick Paulos signed a National Letter of Intent on the first day of the early signing period.

Paulos is a native of Salt Lake City, Utah and is currently playing at New Hampton Prep School in New Hampshire. Paulos is playing at the same prep school that UNCG assistant coach Wes Miller attended. A product of Olympus HS, Paulos was a first-team all-state selection as a senior in Class 4A, averaging 17 points and eight rebounds per contest.

According to ESPN's Dave Telep, Paulos was being recruited by Creighton, Northeastern, Boston College, St. Mary's, Northwestern and Utah State.

"We are happy nick will be joining our team next season," said Dement. "He has a skill set that fits a need on our roster and, with his size and athleticism, he will allow us to match up more closely with teams on our future schedules.

"Away from the basketball court, Nick is a serious student with a great family. On the court, his prep year at New Hampton will be very valuable in his development. He will be well prepared under coach Pete Hutchins as they compete against high level competition all season."

GRAB BAG
Looking for 500: UNCG is closing in on 500 in the program's history. The Spartans have a 498-624 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 251-305 in the midst of its 20th season at the Division I level. UNCG has had 16 winning seasons in 43 years with Mike Dement leading the program to four of those.

Hold 'em down: UNCG is 45-23 under Mike Dement (this tenure only) when holding the opponents under 70 points. On the flip side, UNCG is 15-71 when the opposition scores 70 or more.