Spartans Set To Duke It Out With Duquesne
12/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2007
Complete USC Upstate-Duquesne Game Notes in PDF Format 
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - USC Upstate travels to the "Steel City" of Pittsburgh, Pa., to take on the Dukes of Duquesne Sunday evening. Upstate enters the game with a 2-10 record, having dropped its last two games in the State Farm Sun Bowl Tournament in El Paso, Texas. Duquesne enters the game with an 8-3 record following an 86-70 victory over Robert Morris Friday night in Pittsburgh. Spartan fans can listen live on the radio in the Spartanburg area on ESPN 1400 AM or catch the broadcast online at www.epsn1400am.com or at www.upstatespartans.com. Live statistical updates are also available online through upstate's athletics website using Gametracker. Live video can be accessed for a fee on Duquesne's official athletic website at www.goduquesne.com.
Recapping State Farm Sun Bowl Tournament
Luke Payne and Bobby Davis turned in spectacular performances, but the Spartans could not overcome the UTEP Miners or the Buffalo Bulls in the State Farm SUn Bowl Tournament. Davis turned in his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 13 rebounds and Payne added 11 points as Upstate fell to host UTEP, 77-69 in the semifinals of the tournament. Upstate held a 31-30 lead at halftime, only their second lead at the half this season, but could not withstand a Miner run to open the second half. The following evening, Payne scored a career-high 26 points and Davis added 13 with six boards, but Upstate took an 80-66 loss at the hands of Buffalo.
Payne was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 18.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game during the two-game tournament.
Payne Receives A-Sun Weekly Honor
Senior guard Luke Payne became the first basketball player (men or women) at USC Upstate to receive weekly honors from the Atlantic Sun Conference when he was named the league's player of the week on Dec. 24.
Payne received the honor after leading the Spartans to its first win over an NCAA Division I opponent, a 58-56 victory over SMU on Dec. 18. He finished the game with a game-high 19 points to go with three assists and three steals. He then led the Spartans in the State Farm Sun Bowl Tournament on Dec. 21-22. He was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game (see third note for more detailed information).
For the week, Payne averaged 18.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game during the three-game span to earn A-Sun weekly honors.
Payne joins men's soccer players Troy Simon and Jason McCabe, men's golfer Josh Gallman (twice) and volleyball player Sandra Campbell as Spartans who have earned A-Sun weekly/monthly honors this year.
Payne Receives BP TOWC Honor
Despite playing the final two games, and part of the first, with a deep thigh bruise at the BP Top of the World Classic Nov. 16-18, starting guard Luke Payne played well enough to garner All-Tournament honors. He scored 43 points in three games, averaging 14.3 points and three rebounds per outing in the tournament. He scored 17 points against Akron and Oregon State and nine against IUPUI.
Payne Receives Sun Bowl Honor
Luke Payne had a tremendous tournament at the State Farm Sun Bowl Tournament in El Paso, Texas, Dec. 21-22. His performance, in particular, in the second game of the tourney against Buffalo not only secured his spot on the All-Tournament team, but it overshadowed a standout two-game performance by teammate Bobby Davis.
Payne finished the UTEP game (Dec. 21) with 11 points, five assists and four rebounds. In the tourney finale against Buffalo the next day, the senior guard went for a career-high 26 points to go along with five rebouonds and three assists. He was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.
Payne's efforts overshadowed those of Davis who turned in his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 13 rebounds against UTEP and finished with 13 points and six boards against Buffalo. Davis averaged 12.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in the tournament.
Monumental Win
USC Upstate's 58-56 win at SMU (Dec. 18) was another milestone victory for the Spartans this year. Upstate claimed its first win in the Division era against Brevard on Dec. 6. However, Brevard is a Division II member, making the SMU win the first against a Division I program this year as well as the first win over a Division I opponents in the history of the school.
Upstate has several wins over programs currently competing on the Division I level, but the wins came in the 1970s and 80s when the institutions played in the NAIA before moving to NCAA Division I membership.
Second Long Road Trip
USC Upstate began its second major road trip of the season on Dec. 18 at SMU. The Spartans then played in the State Farm Sun Bowl Tournament prior to taking a short break for Christmas. Following a brief break for Christmas, the Spartans hit the road again to play at Duquesne (Dec. 30) and Iowa State (Jan. 2). Upstate's six-game road swing will end with its first ever Atlantic Sun Conference game at East Tennessee State on Jan. 5 in Johnson City, Tenn. Upstate will return home on Thursday, Jan. 10, to take on A-Sun rival Gardner-Webb.
The second major road trip follows a lengthy road schedule to open the season as the Spartans played at Utah on Nov. 9 before heading to Fairbanks, Alaska, to play three games in the BP Top of the World Classic (Nov. 16-18). Upstate played three more road games (UNC Greensboro, Cincinnati and Wake Forest) before heading home for a win against Brevard on Dec. 6.
Spartans No. 41
According to the latest strength of schedule ranking by Jeff Sagarin, Upstate has the 41st toughest schedule out of 341 teams in Division I college basketball. The schedule rank peaked at No. 39 two weeks ago.
Spencer Out Indefinitely
Freshman reserve forward Rory Spencer is out of the lineup indefinitely with a stress fracture in his right foot.
Home Sweet Home
Despite playing just 10 games at home this season, the Spartans will be happy to do so. Upstate has a solid home record, going 55-18 in six years under head coach Eddie Payne.
Davis Doubles Up
Junior forward Bobby Davis turned in a solid performance at the State Farm Sun Bowl Tournament. He entered the second and final game of the tournament as the odds on favorite to earn All-Tournament honors after posting 11 points and 13 rebounds against host UTEP to record his second double-double of the season. Davis turned in 13 points in the Buffalo game and grabbed six rebounds. He averaged 12.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per outing in the tournament.
Shaking Up The Lineup
Head Coach Eddie Payne has used seven different starting lineups this season. Bobby Davis is the only Spartan to start every game this season, while Luke Payne has started 11 times. He missed his 12th start with a severe thigh bruise, but has played in all 12 games this year.
Payne Reaches Milestone
Senior guard Luke Payne notched his 1,000th-point at UNC Greensboro (Nov. 24). The Spartanburg High School graduate sank a three-pointer with a little over seven minutes to play in the game to give him 12 points in the contest and 1,000 for his career. He went on to finish with 15 points in the game.
Payne became the 17th player in the history of the storied program to reach the 1,000-point milestone. He currently has 1,127 points in his career and ranks 13th all-time in scoring, recently passing Charles Ford (14th), Terrance Gist (15th), Carlos Bryson (16th) and Willie Murdaugh (17th) on the all-time scoring list.
In addition to his scoring prowess, Payne ranks among the program's all-time leaders in 14 other statistical categories.
Payne currently leads the Spartans in scoring at 16.2 points per game and is the lone Spartan to average in double figures this season.
Upstate Road Warriors
By season's end, USC Upstate will have played 30 games with two-thirds of the games being played away from the G.B. Hodge Center. In fact, the Spartans opened the season playing their first seven games away from the friendly confines of the Hodge Center before playing its home opener against Brevard on Dec. 6. Upstate will play 13 of its first 15 games on the road this season.
In all, Upstate will travel more than 12,000 miles away from Spartanburg, and nearly 24,000 miles round trip, this season to play 20 games away from home.
Shooting The 3-Ball
While USC Upstate has not shot the lights out from the field and scores at a 60.6 ppg clip, the Spartans have shown prowess from behind the three-point arc.
Upstate knocks down 34.7 percent of its shots from downtown and currently ranks fourth in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Playing No Gimmies
Upstate's ambitious schedule in 2007-08 certainly has no slouches on it. In fact, when you combine the win-loss records of the 10 Division I opponents the Spartans have played so far this year, the opponents are a combined 68-38.
Upstate's current road trip at Duquesne and Iowa State finds the Spartans playing against teams with a combined 14-8 record.
Byrd Flies To The Top
Jeremy Byrd collected six steals in the season-opening game at Utah, surpassing Terrance Gist (276) to move atop the all-time steals list at Upstate. Byrd now has 305 picks in his stellar four-year career with the Spartans.
Byrd, from Greenville, leads the Atlantic Sun with 3.44 steals per game, a full 1.04 steals ahead of second place on the list. He led the Peach Belt Conference in steals the first three years of his collegiate career, recording 94 steals as a reserve his freshman campaign and 90 each as a sophomore and junior.
Hines Gives Schneiders Props
Reigning Southern Conference player of the year and UNC Greensboro standout Kyle Hines gave Upstate center Nick Schneiders praise on his blog. Hines was in the middle of recapping recent action when he talked of Schneider's thunderous dunk over him.
"USC Upstate had a 7-2 player on their team that I had to guard in the game," Hines blogged. "He was the tallest player I had played against. I faired well against him until one play in the second half, he dunked on me pretty bad. Coach (Mike) Dement showed the play like five times during our film session. I must admit it looked really bad on film. The coaches and rest of the team got a good laugh out of that one."
A-Sun Makes Some Noise
If the start if the season is any indication of how good the Atlantic Sun Conference is going to be this year, the league will be tough. Belmont, East Tennessee State, Gardner-Webb, Mercer and Upstate have pulled off impressive wins early in the season. Below is a listing of the notable wins this season by A-Sun schools.
N7 Gardner-Webb def. No. 22 Kentucky, 84-68 N9 Belmont def. Cincinnati, 86-75 N10 Mercer def. No. 18 Southern Cal, 96-81 N19 Belmont def. Alabama, 85-83 D18 USC Upstate def. SMU, 58-56 D21 East Tennessee State def. Georgia, 76-58
Greensboro Newbies Have Solid Pedigrees
When coaches bring in new recruits, they not only look for individual talent, they also look to see how well a player helps their former team and the how well the teams do in competition. Josh Chavis and Mezie Uzochukwu, both from Greensboro, N.C., come to Upstate after strong senior seasons.
Chavis, from Dudley HS, played in the North Carolina East-West All-Star game. He also spent the summer playing for the N.C. Gaters AAU team. He was the starting point guard on the team that won the AAU 19-Under National Championship.
Uzochukwu, from Northeast Guilford HS, also played in the North Carolina East-West All-Star game. He finished the game with a team-high 16 points to go along with eight rebounds, leading the West squad to the 81-75 victory and earning MVP honors. He joined a prestigious club of East-West MVP winners, including recent honorees Kevin Swinton and William Graves, both of whom now play in the ACC.
Burrows Brings Experience To Sidelines
First-year assistant coach Bill Burrows is anything but new to the game. The veteran of the sideline has been a head coach on the high school level in North Carolina for nearly 30 years and was an assistant coach at Georgia Tech and Towson. He can tell stories of coaching greats such as Brad Daugherty and Brad Johnson, but his best quality may be his ability to tell stories that both entertain and educate.
Paul Makes Good
Former Spartan starting point guard C.J. Paul is now living the life around the NBA. No, he is not playing in the world's top league, he is serving as the personal assistant/manager for his younger brother, Chris, the former NBA Rookie of Year now in his third season with the New Orleans Hornets.
Scouting Duquesne
Duquesne enters Sunday's game with an 8-3 record, having dispatched of Robert Morris, 86-70, Friday in Pittsburgh. The Dukes have won two in a row after dropping three straight games in early December.
Duquesne opened the season with six straight wins (Howard, Winston-Salem State, at Rice, at Oakland, Niagara and vs. Cal State Northridge) before losing three straight (at Drake, Pitt and at West Virginia). The Dukes rebounded with a win over St. Francis (Pa.) on Dec. 21 and then against Robert Morris Friday.
About The Team
Duquesne does not have a player that has started every game this season. In fact, the most starts by any Duke is seven in 11 games this season, making a probably starting lineup difficult to determine.
Duquesne has three player who average in double figures. Kojo Mensah leads the way at 14.6 ppg, while Shawn James is right behind at 14.0 ppg. Kieron Achara scores at a 12.1 ppg clip.
The Dukes averages 87.9 points per contest while giving up 71.7 points per outing. Duquesne shoots at a 47.6 percent clip from the field. However, the Dukes are not deadly from behind the three-point arc, hitting only 30.1 percent of their shots from downtown. Duquesne is solid at the free throw line, hitting 75.4 percent of its charity tosses.
Duquesne grabs 42.0 rebounds per game while allowing opponents to hit the boards at a 38.7 per game rate. The Dukes has 219 assists, 198 turnovers, 97 blocked shots and 108 steals on the year.
About The Coach
Ron Everhart is in his second season at Duquesne and 14th overall. He led Duquesne to a 10-19 overall record in 2006-07, finishing 10th in the Atlantic 10 Conference with a 6-10 league mark. He owns a 191-184 overall record.
Prior to coming to Duquesne, Everhart was the head coach at Northeastern for five seasons (2001-06), averaging 16.4 wins per year at the Boston, Mass., school. He began his head coaching career at McNeese State. He served as head coach for seven seasons (1994-01).
A 1985 graduate of Virginia Tech, he negan his coachign career as a graduate assistant under Bobby cremins and served for six seasons as an assistant coach at Tulane under Perry Clark.
