GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men's basketball team returns to action for the first time in a week Wednesday night as the Spartans travel to Triad rival High Point. Game time is slated for a 7 p.m. tip-off at the Millis Center. The game will be streamed on the Big South Network with links available at www.uncgspartans.com and will also air on 1320 WCOG AM and online via Tune In with Scott Pryzwansky and Darryl Kosciak providing the call.
The Spartans enter Wednesday's game with a 3-4 overall record and a 0-2 mark on the road this season. UNCG has dropped four out of its last five games after opening the season with back-to-back victories. The Spartans are averaging 69.1 points per game while allowing 67.7 points per game. UNCG is third in the Southern Conference with 9.4 3-pointers made per game and is shooting 35.1 percent from long range this year.
The Spartans gave four players averaging double figures this season and six players averaging at least 8.0 points per game. Freshman guard Francis Alonso (Malaga, Spain/Cushing Academy) leads the team and ranks first in the SoCon among all freshmen in scoring at 12.4 points per game. Alonso has scored in double figures in five out of seven games this season, including a career-high 25 points last timeout at N.C. A&T. He is shooting 45.2 percent from 3-point land this year and his 19 3-pointers leads the team.
Senior forward Kayel Locke (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) is second on the team in scoring at 11.1 points per game while also grabbing 5.1 rebounds per game. Locke is 13th all-time in scoring in UNCG history with 1,170 career points and is eight points out of 12th place, which is currently held by Mikko Koivisto. Redshirt junior center R.J. White (Frisco, Texas/Frisco) is third on the team in scoring at 10.2 points per game and leads the team on the glass with 7.2 rebounds per game. White is coming off a 15-point performance against the Aggies where he was 7-of-8 from the field.
Sophomore Marvin Smith (Richmond, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) rounds out the Spartans in double figures scoring at 10.1 points per game while also grabbing 6.0 rebounds per game. Junior guard Diante Baldwin (Greensboro, N.C./High Point Christian) leads the team with 30 assists and 13 steals while adding 9.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
Wednesday's game marks the 11th meeting all-time between the two teams and the fifth meeting during the NCAA Division I era. The Spartans trail the all-time series by an 8-2 margin and HPU leads 3-1 as Division I foes. The two teams have split the last two meetings though with UNCG posting an 82-74 victory in the 2013-14 season before High Point recorded a 76-68 victory last season.
Locke has played the Panthers three times in his career and is 1-2 against them. He is averaging 17.0 points per game against HPU, including a team-high 21 points and nine rebounds in the victory in 2013. HPU senior forward John Brown has also faced UNCG three times in his career. Brown averages 23.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game against the Spartans as he has scored over 20 points twice, including 28 points as a freshman in 2012.
High Point enters Wednesday's game with a 6-2 overall record and a 4-0 mark at home at the Millis Center. The Panthers have picked up wins over NC Wesleyan, Drexel, Western Carolina, Morgan State, Longwood and Gardner-Webb while falling to Texas Tech and Georgia. HPU is averaging 75.0 points per game this season and allowing 66.5 points per game against.
Brown leads the Panthers in nearly every category as he averages a team-high 19.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. He is shooting 59.4 percent (57-of-94) from the field and has hit 40-of-58 (69%) from the free throw line. Additionally, he leads the team with 17 blocked shots and 10 steals to go along with 19 assists.
Lorenzo Cugini is second on the team in scoring at 14.5 points per game while grabbing 4.4 rebounds per game. Cugini leads the team with 20 3-pointers made, hitting at a 58.8 percent clip from the outside. Adam Weary rounds out the Panthers in double figures scoring at 11.4 points per game.
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