GREENSBORO, N.C. – For the first time since 1990, the UNCG men's basketball team will travel across Greensboro to the Corbett Sports Center as the Spartans face off against rival N.C. A&T Wednesday night with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off. The game will be broadcast on 1320 WCOG AM and online via Tune In with Scott Pryzwansky and Darryl Kosciak providing the call.
Wednesday's game marks the 17th meeting all-time between UNCG and N.C. A&T. The Spartans trail the all-time series by a 10-6 margin, but the teams have not played since 2012. The Aggies have posted three straight wins in the series in 2010 (82-70), 2011 (77-68) and most recently in 2012 (90-79). Wednesday's game marks just the second time in series history that the two teams have not met at the Greensboro Coliseum. The teams last played on the N.C. A&T campus Jan. 24, 1990 when the Aggies posted a 91-75 victory.
The Spartans enter Wednesday's game with a 3-3 overall record after posting a 1-2 mark this weekend at the Spartan Showcase in the Greensboro Coliseum. UNCG dropped games on the weekend to Navy and IPFW before wrapping up play with a 71-69 victory over Jacksonville. UNCG is averaging 69.3 points per game while allowing 66.2 points per game. The Spartans are shooting 34.6 percent from 3-point land while averaging 9.0 3-pointers made per game.
Six different Spartans are averaing 8.0 points per game or more this season with three different players averaging double figures. Senior forward Kayel Locke (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) leads the team in scoring at 12.5 points per game and ranks second on the team on the glass at 5.5 caroms per game. Locke earned All-Tournament accolades at the Spartan Showcase where he averaged 13.0 points per game, including 19 in the victory over Jacksonville.
Sophomore guard Marvin Smith (Richmond, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) is second on the team in scoring at 10.8 points per game while also grabbing 5.5 rebounds per game. Smith is coming off his first career double-double as he scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds Sunday. Freshman guard Francis Alonso (Malaga, Spain/Cushing Academy) rounds out the Spartans in double figures at 10.3 points per game and has hit 12 3-pointers this season.
Junior center R.J. White (Frisco, Texas/Frisco) is fourth on the team in scoring at 9.2 points per game while leading the team on the glass with 7.4 rebounds per game. Junior Diante Baldwin adds 9.2 points per game while leading the team with 28 assist and 11 steals. Classmate Clay Byrd (Connelly Springs, N.C./East Burke) leads the team with 16 3-pointers as he averages 8.3 points per game.
N.C. A&T enters Wednesday's game with a 1-7 overall record but the Aggies are coming off a 74-63 victory over Northern Kentucky Monday night. In that game, Sam Hunt returned from an injury to score a game-high 32 points as he connected on seven 3-pointers.
The Aggies have posted losses this year to Purdue, Florida, Roanoke College, Buffalo, Niagara, Virginia Tech and North Dakota State. N.C. A&T is averaging 63.9 points per game but is allowing opponents to score 83.5 points per game. Bruce Beckford leads the Aggies in scoring at 16.4 points per game and on the glass with 7.5 rebounds per game. Beckford is shooting 49 percent (47-of-96) from the field and has also gone to the free throw line a team-high 40 times.
Hunt is second on the team in scoring at 12.0 points per game and is back after missing two games due to an injury. Ahmad Abdullah leads the Aggies with 20 assists while averaging 6.8 points per game. Joshea Singleton adds 7.1 points per game and has hit seven 3-pointers.
-UNCG-
