Georgia Southern (9-21, 6-11) at UNCG (6-22, 5-12)

Greensboro Coliseum • Greensboro, N.C.
Mar. 1, 2010 • Game 29
Radio: WPET 950-AM, WZTK 103.1-FM (Scott Pryzwansky, Dick Stewart & Stan Lewter)
Internet: UNCGSpartans.com (video, free audio), Yahoo! Sports (audio)
LiveStats: UNCGSpartans.com

 

Kendall Toney is among six seniors that will be honored in pregame and postgame ceremonies on Monday
night when UNCG faces Georgia Southern. Pregame ceremonies will get underway at 6:40 pm and the
seniors will have a chance to address the crowd following Monday's game.

STORYLINES

• UNCG concludes the regular season slate and celebrates Senior Night on Monday when it hosts Georgia Southern in the only regular season meeting between the two teams this season.
• If UNCG wins tonight, UNCG will be the No. 4 North seed and GSU would be the No. 6 South seed. If Georgia Southern wins, UNCG will be the No. 5 North seed and Georgia Southern and Furman would wait for Tuesday morning's RPI report to break the tie for No. 5 and 6 South seeds. (The teams split their regular season meetings and have identical marks in the decending order tiebreaker.) According to WarrenNolan.com, GSU was at 263, Furman 266 entering Sunday's action.
• UNCG lost to Davidson in its last outing, 60-56. Ben Stywall was held to one point and three rebounds in the loss. Still it was tied at 56-56 with 30 seconds left. Kendall Toney had 16 points and Kyle Randall had 15 points and seven rebounds.
• Stywall needs 11 rebounds for 300 this season. Nicchaeus Doaks of Chattanooga and Andrew Lovedale of Davidson reached the 300 mark in their 35th game of the season last year. Stywall plays his 29th on Monday night. He is also trying to become the first Spartan to ever average a double-double and the first player in the SoCon to do it since 2000-01. He is currently averaging 14.0 points and 10.3 rebounds per contest.
• Georgia Southern is one of four teams in the nation allowing 50 percent field goal shooting this season (50.8) and also one of four to be allowing 40 percent or more from behind the arc (40.4). On the other side, UNCG's 38.3 percent field goal shooting is on pace to be the lowest in school history, as is its three-point shooting (29.4).
• Ben Stywall and Kendall Toney are slated to play their 120th consecutive game Monday evening, breaking the school record set by Jay Joseph.

BREAKING IT DOWN (courtesy stats, inc. - through Saturday)

UNCG (6-22)
Offense (Rank)
Points:  63.3 (290)
Rebounds:  14.3 (19)
Assists:  9.1 (346)
FG%:  38.3% (336)
FT%:  70.3% (127)
3P%:  29.4% (326)
 
Defense (Rank)
Points:  72.3 (270)
Rebounds:  21.7 (303)
Assists:  13.9 (261)
FG%:  46.8% (327)
FT%:  67.7% (129)
3P%:  35.5% (247)
 
RPI - 257 // SOS - 124 (WarrenNolan.com)

Georgia Southern (9-21)
Offense (Rank)
Points:  70.6 (133)
Rebounds:  11.4 (184)
Assists:  13.9 (112)
FG%:  43.2% (193)
FT%:  67.8% (214)
3P%:  38.4% (30)
 
Defense (Rank)
Points:  78.9 (340)
Rebounds:  19.6 (343)
Assists:  15.0 (315)
FG%:  50.8% (345)
FT%:  66.0% (60)
3P%:  40.4% (345)
 
RPI - 263 // SOS - 146 (WarrenNolan.com)

INJURY UPDATE

Taylor Hoffer is out for the season and will redshirt following preseason surgery on his leg. Montel Smith is listed as questionable for Monday's game with a leg muscle strain suffered in practice this week. He did not dress for the last four games.

MARATHON MEN

Ben Stywall and Kendall Toney are slated to play in consecutive game No. 120 on Monday, having never missed a game in their collegiate careers. They are tied together for the longest streak in school history with Jay Joseph (2000-04), who started all 119 in his career to establish the school mark for consecutive games played. Toney and Stywall passed Scott Hartzell and Eric Cuthrell at Wofford. Hartzell started all 113 games in his career (1992-96), while Cuthrell played in all 113 but not always as a starter.

MILESTONE WATCH

Several milestones to watch in the upcoming contests:

• Mikko Koivisto surpassed 1,000 points for his career against Furman. He is in 11th place with 1,153 career points, passing Derrick Nix (1994-98) for 11th place last Saturday. He is 38 behind teammate Ben Stywall for 10th.
• Ben Stywall surpassed 1,000 points for his career against Chattanooga and moved into the Top 10 at UNCG in the home game against Appalachian State. He is in 10th place with 1,192 career points. In ninth place is Ron Sheppard at 1,321 (1985-89).
• Ben Stywall has 928 career rebounds, good for third place. Up next is Bruce Shaw at 933.
• Kendall Toney is fourth in school history for career three-pointers with 201, trailing teammate Mikko Koivisto in third.
• Mikko Koivisto is third in school history for career three-pointers with 259. Jay Joseph is second at 261.
• Mikko Koivisto has 183 career assists, good for 14th in school history. He is six behind Yusuf Stewart for 13th place.
• Ben Stywall has 25 career double-doubles, third in school history. (Demetrius Cherry is second with 27.) His 13 this season is second. Kyle Hines holds the school record with 14.
• Mikko Koivisto and Kendall Toney are both trying to become the third (and possibly fourth) player in school history to record 50 or more three-pointers in all four seasons at UNCG. Jay Joseph and Scott Hartzell are the only two previous Spartans to achieve the milestone. Koivisto has 48 this season, Toney has 46.

"24"

He isn't a super-hero like Fox TV character Jack Bauer, but Ben Stywall has been doing some pretty amazing things thus far this season... including the fact that he is slated to appear in his 120th consecutive game Monday night to break a school record (alongside teammate Kendall Toney).

 Stywall is having a tremendous season despite facing some stiff competition this season. Stywall leads the Southern Conference in rebounding at 10.3 per game. He is also in the top 10 in scoring at 14.0 points per game. Stywall had four straight double-doubles prior to the home game against Furman, when he was held to 11 points and four rebounds. He had four in a row again before a 14-point, nine-rebound night against Elon. His 13 double-doubles this season (three against the ACC and 10 against the SoCon) lead the SoCon.

 At The Citadel, Stywall broke UNCG's single-season record for rebounds. He has 289 this year, snapping Eric Cuthrell's mark from 1994-95 of 284. Stywall is shooting next for the 300 rebound mark. In contrast, last year Andrew Lovedale of Davidson and Nicceaus Doaks of Chattanooga achieved the mark in the 35th game of the season. Stywall will be playing his 29th of the season on Monday.

 He had already gone over 200 rebounds this season, which has been done at UNCG 19 times previously by 12 players (including Stywall). Stywall is the sixth player in school history to do in multiple seasons. Against Appalachian State earlier this month, Stywall joined Eric Cuthrell and Kyle Hines as the only Spartans to ever record 250 rebounds in consecutive seasons. (Hines did it three times.)

 Nationally, Stywall ranks 16th in the nation in rebounding and ninth in the nation in total offensive rebounds (117).

 Against six ACC teams this season, Stywall averaged 14.3 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, shooting 46 percent from the floor. He drew praise from virtually every ACC coach in the postgame press conferences. Now, in 17 SoCon games, Stywall is averaging 15.2 points and 11.4 rebounds despite drawing numerous double teams. He has had 15 or more rebounds in a game three times this season and four times in his career.

 The last player in the SoCon to finish the season averaging a double-double (overall) was Eric Mann from VMI (13.5 ppg, 10.5 rpg) in 2000-01. No Spartan has ever averaged a double-double for the season. In fact, Kyle Hines was not even averaging a double-double at any point in his career this late into a season.

TRUTH IN NUMBERS

UNCG's scoring margin this season doesn't show too well. The Spartans have allowed 72.2 ppg and are scoring just 63.3 ppg - a margin of -8.9 for last in the SoCon and 323rd in the nation. However, in conference play the Spartans are only at -1.8 for conference play - fairly minimal for a team that is 5-12 in league play. UNCG is averaging 64.6 ppg and allowing 66.4 ppg in SoCon play. UNCG also faces two of the Top 20 scoring defenses in nonconference play (No. 1 Princeton and No. 20 Richmond).

WOW, WHAT A DAY!

UNCG's conference opener at Samford - the program's first-ever against the Bulldogs - was quite the performance. A few of the notes from that game:

• UNCG held Samford without a field goal for the final 11:15.
• The Spartans held a 27-9 advantage in rebounding in the second half, when Samford shot just 3-of-22 from the floor.
• The 40 points allowed were the fewest in the Division I era and fewest since Dec. 2, 1985 against Piedmont Bible.
• The previous mark for scoring margin in a road conference game was 23 against Winthrop in 1995.
• It was the largest margin of victory over a Division I foe ever (30 in an 84-54 win over The Citadel) and the largest since an 85-47 win over Division III Greensboro College (Dec. 16, 2005).

NOT SO OFFENSIVE

A big stat in UNCG's win over The Citadel - the Spartans held The Citadel to just one offensive rebound in the second half. For the second half, UNCG outrebounded the home team, 23-9. Citadel was 11-for-27 from the floor in the second half.

THE QUOTE TO SUM IT UP

Mike Dement was talking with the FSN broadcast crew prior to the Clemson game and summed up his three early season games against the ACC this way... "We're playing three games against the ACC to open the season. There are ACC teams not ready to play three ACC opponents to open the season."

THE IRON FOUR

UNCG seniors Pete Brown, Ben Stywall and Kendall Toney each achieved a remarkable milestone on at Akron. The trio played in their 100th career game. It was also their 100th consecutive career game, having never missed a game at UNCG. With them achieving the milestone, there have now been 32 Spartans to play 100 games in their career.

Brown's streak was snapped when he missed the NC State game due to a stomach virus - his first missed game in 103 during his UNCG tenure. He had appeared in 102 straight games prior to that. Stywall and Toney still have a consecutive games streak, currently sitting at 119 straight, equaling Jay Joseph's school record.

Mikko Koivisto also joined the club when he played his 100th career game against Maryland.

CROWDED COLISEUM DEBUT

UNCG lost in its first home outing to No. 22 Clemson, 89-67. (Complete game story and box score on page 19.) The game was played at UNCG's new home - the Greensboro Coliseum - in front of a crowd of 5,672. In that number, there were about 1,000 walk-ups the day of the game and more than 2,200 student tickets. In fact, 1,633 student tickets were distributed the first day for the Clemson game. Take note that UNCG's on-campus facility Fleming Gym has a capacity of 1,831.

SEASON TICKET RECORD

UNCG sold a record number of season tickets for this first season in the Coliseum. There are a total of 1,354 season tickets for the 2009-10 basketball season.

ABOUT THE NEW HOUSE

Currently celebrating its 50th year, the Greensboro 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.

Thus far this season, UNCG is averaging 3,158 for 14 homes dates -- including one game back at Fleming Gym because of a concert at the Coliseum that night. That ranks fourth in the SoCon this season behind Davidson (3,945), College of Charleston (3,914) and Chattanooga (3,492). The SoCon average this season is 2,411.

For the 12 games at the Coliseum, UNCG is averaging 3,254 fans (despite the fact that five of those dates were while school was out of session for the semester break). In those 13 games, 12 of those crowds have been larger than the capacity of Fleming Gym (1,831) and four of those crowds have been in excess of 4,000 (Clemson, Wake Forest, NC State and Appalachian State).

EARLY DIVIDENDS

The move to the Greensboro Coliseum and the upgraded schedule are already having a positive effect for UNCG's men's basketball program.

The Spartans signed four players during the early signing period with a big factor being playing against arguably the best non-conference slate in the country in a historic venue. Mike Dement told reporters earlier this season, "we had one of our early signees verbally commit after watching us play Duke on television. We were on the bus coming back and he called one of our cell phones. That's what this move can do for us. More games on television and a beautiful venue like this is going to have a significant impact on who we can recruit."

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.

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. Director of Athletics Kim Record started her own page as well @UNCGSpartansAD.

SPARTANS SIGN FOUR

UNC Greensboro men's basketball coach Mike Dement announced the signing of four student-athletes 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.

GRAB BAG

Mikko Koivisto: Was averaging 16.5 ppg over his last four games (all in double-figures) before being held to five by Davidson last Wednesday... knocked down his 250th career three-pointer in home loss to Western Carolina... currently sits at 1,153 career points - 11th all-time at UNCG; was the 17th player to score 1,000 points in his career... set two season-highs with 17 points and 19 points against Elon, knocking down five and six three-pointers respectively... was bothered by a hip problem most of December... also missed two games due to a nasty stomach virus.

Ben Stywall: Has played in all 119 games of his career - tying the longest consecutive games streak in school history (teammate Kendall Toney and former Spartan Jay Joseph - 119)... set UNCG single-season mark for rebounds in win at The Citadel; needs seven rebounds to move into second on the career rebound list (Bruce Shaw - 933 from 1968-73)... had surpassed 200 rebounds this season, which has been done at UNCG 19 times previously by 12 players (including Stywall); Stywall became the sixth player in school history to do in multiple seasons; in last outing against ASU, topped the 250-rebound mark for the season, which only Eric Cuthrell and Kyle Hines had previously ever accomplished in consecutive seasons for UNCG... 18th player to record 1,000 points in his career... averaged 14.3 points and 10.0 rebounds in the six games against ACC teams (shooting 46 pct from the floor), including a double-double in each of the last three games against the ACC...had 26 points and a career-high 19 rebounds in the game against Samford in Greensboro... tied a then-career high with 15 rebounds against Samford in Birmingham, including 12 in the decisive second half (a big part of UNCG's 27-9 rebound edge in the second half); followed that up with 14 rebounds against College of Charleston, including 11 on the offensive glass... also had 15 rebounds against Chattanooga on January 21... his 15-plus rebounds marked just the 34th, 35th and 36th times in school history a player had 15 or more rebounds in a game; he is the seventh player to do it multiple times (also had 15 against Delaware in 2006-07)... the senior man in the Southern Conference, his 3,689 career minutes are the most among SoCon active players... had 19 points - all in the second half - in the season-opener at Duke... tied a career-high with five steals against Clemson, to go along with 13 points, six rebounds and two blocks... included in those are 17 points and 11 rebounds against Maryland, 18 points and 13 rebounds against NC State, and 13 points and 14 rebounds against Wake Forest; also had 11 points and 15 rebounds at Samford, 21 points and 14 boards against College of Charleston and 21 points and 12 boards against Wofford... 25 career double-doubles ranks third in school history... his 13 double-doubles this season leads the league (10 in SoCon play) and rank second on the UNCG single-season list (Kyle Hines has the record at 14)... active leader in the Southern Conference in free throws made (339) and attempted (532)... also the league's active leader in rebounds (933)... his 139 career steals is second on the SoCon's active leaders list.

Brandon Evans: 13 games scoring in double figures this season... had a season-high 22 points at Richmond... after having to sit out last year following his transfer from East Carolina, Evans scored just nine points in his first two games as a Spartan. However, he led the Spartans in scoring the next two games with 17 points against No. 22 Clemson and 19 points to go along with 10 rebounds in the win at USC Upstate (despite shooting 8-for-15 at the line)... had 16 points off of the bench in the win at Samford... his double-double against USC Upstate made him the first Spartan guard with a points-rebounds double-double since Ricky Hickman did it a double-overtime loss at NC State on January 2, 2007.

Cleaning the glass: The Spartans outrebounded The Citadel 23-9, holding the Bulldogs to just one offensive rebound in the second half (that came with 2:34 left in the game; The Citadel went 22:20 between offensive rebounds)... After getting beaten on the boards by Duke, 44-26, in the season-opener. UNCG outrebounded its next two opponents - Clemson and Virginia Tech. The Spartans had 20 offensive rebounds against Clemson on the way to a 37-35 advantage on the glass. .. In a three-game stretch, UNCG outrebounded the opposition by 42. UNCG had a 40-22 advantage against Samford, including a 27-9 margin in the second half when UNCG outscored the Bulldogs, 42-12. The Spartans followed that up with a 49-29 advantage in the three-point loss to College of Charleston, including 25 offensive rebounds. All in all, UNCG has outrebounded the opposition in 15 of 28 games this year, including four of six ACC opponents.

Looking for 500: UNCG is closing in on 500 in the program's history. The Spartans have a 496-622 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 249-303 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.

Hold 'em down: UNCG is 44-22 under Mike Dement (this tenure only) when holding the opponents under 70 points. On the flip side, UNCG is 14-70 when the opposition scores 70 or more.