GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men's basketball team returns to action Saturday evening as they Spartans host Southern Conference newcomer and 2014 NCAA Tournament participant Mercer in league play. Game time is set for 5 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum. The game will be video streamed for free in full HD on the SoCon Digital Network while also being radio broadcast on 1320 WCOG AM and the TuneIn App with Scott Pryzwansky providing the call.
The Spartans enter Saturday's game with a 5-9 overall record and a 1-0 mark in SoCon play coming off a 92-48 victory over Mars Hill Wednesday. UNCG connected on 50.7 percent (35-of-69) from the field in the victory while limiting the Lions to just 32.8 percent (20-of-61) shooting from the field. Sophomore guard Tevon Saddler (Aberdeen, Md./St. Frances Academy) led five Spartans in double figures scoring with 19 points, six rebounds and four assists.
UNCG opened SoCon play Dec. 13 with an 80-79 victory at East Tennessee State. The Spartans had all five starters in double figures in the league-opening win as Saddler led the team with 24 points on his way to SoCon Player of the Week accolades.
Saddler leads the team and ranks ninth in the SoCon in scoring at 15.1 points per game. He has scored in double figures in 11 of 14 games this year, including three games with at least 20 points. He also leads the team with 54 assists and 84 free throw attempts while ranking second with 24 steals.
Junior forward Kayel Locke (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) ranks second on the team in scoring and 14th in the league at 12.5 points per game while grabbing 5.7 rebounds per game. Locke is coming off a 17-point, 7-rebound effort against Mars Hill. Redshirt sophomore center R.J. White (Frisco, Texas/Frisco) is third on the team in scoring at 11.9 points per game while leading the team on the glass at 7.2 rebounds per game. White is also third in the league with a 54.7 percent (70-of-128) field goal percentage.
Senior guard Nicholas Paulos (Salt Lake City, Utah/New Hampton School) is fourth on the team in scoring at 11.6 points per game. Paulos leads the league with 45 3-pointers and is shooting 44.1 percent (45-of-102) from distance this year. Sophomore guard Diante Baldwin (Greensboro, N.C./High Point Christian) rounds out the Spartans averaging double figures this year at 10.5 points per game. Baldwin has played the last six games after missing the first five weeks of the year due to an injury.
Mercer enters Saturday's game with a 6-8 overall record and a 1-0 mark in league play. The Bears have dropped three straight and four out of their last five games with losses at home to Dartmouth and on the road at Tennessee, Georgia and Texas A&M. Mercer is 0-5 this season on the road while picking up wins this year against Piedmont, Kennessaw State, Rice, St. Andrews, VMI and Bethune-Cookman.
The Bears are averaging 64.8 points per game while holding opponents to 63.2 points per game. Mercer leads the SoCon in field goal defense, limiting opponents to just 40.1 percent (300-of-749) shooting from the field. Guard Ike Nwamu leads the Bears in scoring at 17.4 points per game and has hit a team-high 35 3-pointers, shooting 41.2 percent from distance. Nwamu also leads the team with 72 free throw attempts and plays a team-high 35.1 minutes per game.
T.J. Hallice is second on the team in scoring at 9.1 points per game while leading the team on the glass, grabbing 6.4 rebounds per game. The Bears' other three starters average between 7.6-8.6 points per game in Darious Moten (8.6), Jibri Bryan (7.6) and Phillip Leonard (7.6). Leonard leads the team with 67 assists while Bryan is second on the team with 19 3-pointers.
Saturday's game marks just the fourth meeting all-tine between UNCG and Mercer and the first meeting at the NCAA Division I level. The teams met three times in the 1980's at the NCAA Division III level with Mercer claiming victories in 1986 (64-45), 1982 (63-52) and 1981 (88-65). This will mark the Bears first-ever trip to Greensboro as the previous meetings all happened in Macon.
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