SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's basketball team concluded January by dropping an 85-66 decision to Wofford in a Southern Conference contest at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium Saturday night.
De'Monte Buckingham led three UNCG players in double figures with 15 points.
Kaleb Hunter contributed 14 points and
Keyshaun Langley had 12 along with a season-high four assists.
One positive from the setback was the continued consistency of Langley and Hunter off the bench. They were starters last year during UNCG's 21-win season that ended with a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The veteran duo is flourishing as they adjust to different roles for the Spartans. They have provided energy, scoring, and leadership off the bench. Against Wofford, they also had two steals each.
This was Hunter's fourth game in double figures since Jan. 8. Hunter, who averaged 9.3 points in eight January contests, is one reason why UNCG's bench has outscored nine straight opponents.
Meanwhile, Langley has reached double-digits in scoring in four of UNCG's last six games.
Quotable
Mike Jones on the game
"I think coming out of the gate, we let them get into a rhythm and they came out and made some shots because they got some real good looks. It was hard to shut it off from there. We talked about trying to get off to a good start and making sure they felt us early and not have any good looks and unfortunately, we didn't do that."
Jones on Hunter and Langley.
"Those guys are playing starters minutes. They have given us a shot in the arm. Our bench scoring is probably in the top party of the league because they have the ability to do that, and they help our team."
How It Happened
- Bas Leyte led UNCG with six rebounds.
- Dante Treacy added nine points.
- Mohammed Abdulsalam finished with seven points.
- Despite the double-digit deficit in the second half, UNCG kept battling.
- One second half highlight included Hunter transforming a steal into a two-handed dunk.
- Buckingham provided another memorable moment for UNCG when after missing a 3-point shot attempt, he sprinted the length of the floor to swat a shot into the fifth row of the bleachers.
- Langley and Jalen White drew offensive fouls from Wofford.
- During the opening half, Abdulsalam and Bas Leyte combined for nine of UNCG's 12 rebounds.
- Wofford made nine 3-pointers in the first half.
- Treacy made a free throw to bring UNCG to within, 29-23, with 3:45 remaining in the first half.
- After UNCG led for 21 seconds, Wofford used a 16-2 run to open its largest lead of the first half, 27-14.
- Jalen White's bank shot gave UNCG its first lead of the game, 12-11, with 13:21 remaining in the first half.
Inside the Numbers
- This was the seventh time this season that Hunter has in scored double figures.
- Hunter has scored in double figures in 37 career games.
- Keyshaun Langley has scored in double figures 27 times in his career.
- Buckingham scored all his points in the second half.
- This was the sixth time this season that Buckingham scored double digit points in the second half.
- Buckingham has scored in double figures in six consecutive games and 14 of UNCG's last 15 contests.
- This was the 17th time this season that Buckingham has scored in double figures.
- Buckingham has scored in double figures 76 times during his career.
- This was the 16th time this season that Leyte finished with at least five rebounds.
- Wofford had 12 assists on its 13 first-half baskets.
- Wofford had five players reach double digits led by Max Klesmit's 18 points.
- Isaiah Bigelow and Ryan Larson (six assists) added 13 points each for Wofford.
- The Terriers made 16 3-pointers.
Up Next
- UNCG hosts VMI on Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m.
- UNCG hosts VMI on Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m.
