GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men's basketball team returns home to the Greensboro Coliseum Monday night as the Spartans host Wofford in a pivotal Southern Conference contest at 7 p.m.
The game will be televised on Fox Sports Southeast and the Fox Sports Go App online with Pete Yanity and Dean Keaner on the call (AT&T Ch. 729, North State Ch. 82, DirectTV Ch. 649). Outside of the Fox Sports Southeast footprint, the game will be available on ESPN3 and the ESPN App. Additionally, the game will be aired on 1320 WCOG AM and online via Tune In with Scott Pryzwansky and Darryl Kosciak on the call.
UNCG enters Monday's game with a 9-17 overall record and a 5-8 mark in Southern Conference play. The Spartans have dropped three straight and four out of their last five games. UNCG is 8-4 at home this season, including a 4-2 mark in league play. The Spartans are averaging 72.4 points per game while holding opponents to 74.9 points per game. UNCG is shooting 44 percent (677-of-1538) from the field and 35.6 percent (227-of-637) from 3-point land.
Senior forward Kayel Locke (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) leads the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game. Locke is second on the team with 5.4 rebounds per game and is shooting 46.6 percent (137-of-294) from the field. Freshman guard Francis Alonso (Malaga, Spain/Cushing Academy) is second on the team in scoring at 12.5 points per game. Alonso is shooting 38.6 percent from 3-point land and has hit a team-high 64 3-pointers. Junior center R.J. White (Frisco, Texas/Frisco) is third on the team in scoring at 12.2 points per game. White leads the team on the glass grabbing 7.3 rebounds per game. He is shooting 61.8 percent (126-of-204) from the field.
Junior guard Diante Baldwin (Greensboro, N.C./High Point Christian) rounds out the Spartans in double figures scoring at 10.4 points per gam. Baldwin leads the team with 134 assists and 40 steals while also grabbing 5.1 rebounds per game. Sophomore forward Marvin Smith (Richmond, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) is third on the team in rebounding at 5.2 caroms per game while adding 9.7 points per game.
Monday's game marks the 36th meeting all-time between UNCG and Wofford. The Spartans trail the all-time series by a 25-10 margin, including four straight losses. UNCG last defeated the Terriers March 1, 2014 with a 73-71 victory in Spartanburg. The Spartans last won at home against Wofford January 16, 2013 (71-52). Last season, the Spartans dropped three games to the Terries falling 58-42 in Greensboro, 77-62 in Spartanburg and 70-52 in Asheville in the SoCon Tournament Quarterfinals.
Earlier this year, UNCG dropped an 87-76 contest to the Terriers January 2 in the league opener. The game also featured 17 lead changes and was tied 10 times in the back-and-forth affair that saw the Terriers pull away late in the second half. The Spartans scored 48 points in the paint in the loss while the Terriers connected on 11 3-pointers and hit 92.3 percent from the free throw line in the victory.
UNCG controlled play in the paint, out-scoring Wofford 48-18. White led four Spartans in double figures with 19 points, despite only play 23 minutes because of foul trouble. He connected on 9-of-12 from the field in the loss as the Spartans finished the game shooting 52.5 percent (32-of-61) from the field. Wofford was hot shooting all night, especially in the second half as it finished the game 26-of-52 (50%) from the field and 11-of-23 (42.3%) from long range. The Terriers hit 8-of-13 3-pointers in the second half when they out-scored UNCG 51-40. dditionally, Wofford was stellar from the free throw line hitting 24-of-26 (92.3%) compared to just 7-of-16 (43.8%) for the Spartans. Spencer Collins led four Terriers in double figures with a game-high 25 points as he was 8-of-13 from the field and hit 5-of-7 from long range while Eric Garcia added 17 points on 3-of-4 shooting from distance.
Wofford enters Monday's game with a 14-13 overall record and a 10-4 mark in Southern Conference play. The Terriers have won four straight and six out of their last seven games to move into third place in the league. Wofford is just 4-11 on the road this season, including 3-3 in league play. Last time out on the road the Terriers won 78-75 at Samford. Wofford is averaging 72.6 points per game while allowing 72.0 points per game. The Terriers are shooting 45.5 percent (658-of-1447) from the field and lead the league shooting 41.7 percent (228-of-547) from long range.
Spencer Collins leads the Terries in scoring at 15.7 points per game. Collins has hit a team-high 70 3-pointers, connecting on 45.8 percent while also hitting 81.3 percent (87-of-107) from the free throw line. Freshman guard Fletcher Magee is second on the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game. Magee is also second in shooting at 45.7 percent, having hit 68-of-74 from distance.
Justin Gordon is third on the team in scoring at 11.6 points per game while grabbing 4.0 rebounds per game. Gordon is shooting 50.2 percent (121-of-241) from the field. Eric Garcia rounds out the Terriers in double figure scoring at 10.5 points per game. Garcia leads the team with 128 assists and has hit 51 3-pointers at a 45.5 percent clip. CJ Neumann leads Wofford on the glass grabbing 6.9 rebounds per game.
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