GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men's basketball team opens the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Wednesday night when the Spartans host Houston Baptist. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum. Tickets are all general admission and will be $10 for adults and $5 for youth. 

The game will also be broadcast on ESPN3 and the ESPN App with Scott Pryzwansky and Darryl Kosciak on the call. Additionally, the game will be aired on 1320 WCOG AM and online via Tune In with Tim Bickford on the call. 

The CBI is a single-elimination tournament that features 16 teams. The tournament takes place on campus sites and will conclude with a best-of-three championship series when down to the final two teams. After first round games, the quarterfinal round will take place March 21, followed by the semifinal round March 23. The championship series is a best-of-three series hosted March 28, March 30 and April 1, airing on ESPNU.

The winner of Wednesday's game between UNCG and Houston Baptist will advance to a second round matchup March 21 against the winner of Ohio/Albany, also played Wednesday night. 

Wednesday's game marks the fourth postseason appearance all-time for UNCG during the NCAA Division I era. The Spartans have appeared in two NCAA Tournaments in 1996 and 2001 while also playing in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in 2002. UNCG fell to Cincinnati and Stanford in the NCAA Tournament while dropping a game at Memphis in the NIT.

The Spartans enter Wednesday's game with a 14-18 overall record and have won five out of their last six games. The Spartans are 11-4 at home this season, marking their most home wins since the 2001-02 season and will be looking to win 12 games at home for the first time since the 2000-01 campaign. 

The Spartans have played 14 games this season against teams that have qualified for the postseason this year with there games against NCAA teams, two against NIT teams, two against CBI teams, five against CIT teams and two against Vegas 16 teams. 

Four Spartans are averaging double figures this season and all five starters are averaging at least 9.4 points per game. Freshman guard Francis Alonso (Malaga, Spain/Cushing Academy) leads the team in scoring at 13.1 points per game. Alonso has hit a team-high 82 3-pointers, connecting on 40.2 percent. Senior forward Kayel Locke (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) enters the game seventh all-time in program history with 1,501 career points scores. Locke is second on the team in scoring with 12.8 points per game and is 13 points from sixth place all-time. 

Junior center R.J. White (Frisco, Texas/Frisco) is third on the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game and leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per game. White enters Wednesday's game 17 points shy of the 1,000-career point mark. He ranks 13th in NCAA Division I with a 61.7 field goal percentage (156-of-253). 

Junior guard Diante Baldwin (Greensboro, N.C./High Point Christian) rounds out the double figure scorers at 11.3 points per game. Baldwin leads the team with 162 assists and 48 steals. Sophomore forward Marvin Smith (Richmond, Va./Fork Union Military Academy) chips in 9.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game while connecting on 51 3-pointers. 

Houston Baptist enters Wednesday's game with a 17-16 overall record and posted a 10-8 mark in the Southland Conference. The Huskies have dropped five out of their last six and nine out of their last 12 games. Prior to that, HBU was on a 10-game winning streak from Dec. 29-Jan. 30. 

Anthony Odunsi leads the Huskies in scoring at 17.6 points per game. Odunsi leads the team with 120 assists and has gone to the free throw line a team-high 296 times, hitting at 83.8 percent. Colter Lasher is second on the team in scoring t 10.4 points per game while grabbing 4.1 rebounds per game. Lasher has hit 32 3-pointers, connecting at 33.3 percent from deep. 

Josh Ibarra is third on the team in scoring at 10.3 points per game and leads the team on the glass with 6.6 rebounds per game. Ibarra has missed the last 11 games due to an injury. Jordan Stickler leads the team with 52 3-pointers while Asa Cantwell has hit 48. 

-UNCG-