GREENSBORO, N.C.  – UNCG men's basketball starts its three-game home stand off right, dropping the reigning Horizon League Champion Northern Kentucky Norse in a 67-50 final. The Spartans' win was the first the program has ever had against a team from Kentucky, and marks the fourth time Head Coach Wes Miller's defense has held a team to 50 points or less this year. 

Scoring was hard to come by for both sides in the beginning stages, before a trio of three-pointers from guard Michael Hueitt Jr. helped open up an 11-point Spartan lead with eight minutes remaining in the first half. Hueitt's three from beyond the arc were just half of the Spartans' field goals from range in the first half, with UNCG hitting on six of their 16 attempts from three-point territory. Just two rebounds shy of moving into fifth on the Spartans' all-time career list, forward James Dickey pulled down five boards in the opening 20 minutes, along with two blocks, as UNCG took a 34-25 lead into the halftime break. 

The Spartans wasted no time increasing their lead in the second half, scoring 14 unanswered straight out of the break. Seven of those points came from sophomore guard Angelo Allegri, who dropped nine in the second half alone to finish with a team-high 12 overall. UNCG's defense held the Norse offense to 13-for-35 shooting in the second half, while causing seven NKU turnovers in the final 20 minutes alone. 

With the Spartan defense keeping Northern Kentucky off the board, UNCG rode to a comfortable 67-50 victory, outshooting the Norse 40 percent to 30. With the score ending in a final of 67-50, 30 of the Spartans' points came off the bench on Saturday night, with nine different UNCG athletes putting up points. 

Three Things To Know
-- James Dickey moved into fifth in program career history after pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds, he now has 870 over his four years

-- NKU's Tyler Sharpe scored 33 of his team's 67 points on the night, the Spartan defense held the rest of the Norse to just four combined field goals

-- In addition to his 13 boards, Dickey also recorded four blocks on the night to tie his season-high. He's had multiple rejections in eight different games this year

Up Next For The Spartans

The Spartans face off with William Peace for the first time in program history on December 28th, before wrapping up their three-game homestand against SoCon-foe Mercer on New Year's Day. 

-- UNCG –