Upstate Hosts Duquesne In Home Opener Tuesday
11/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2008
Game Notes | Live Video - ASun.TV | Gametracker
Spartanburg, S.C. - USC Upstate plays its first home game of the season when it plays host to Duquesne Tuesday night at 7:00 in the G.B. Hodge Center. The game marks the Spartans' first and only home game prior to January as Upstate plays 10 of its first 11 games of the season away from the friendly confines of the Hodge Center. Fans not in attendance can watch the game live via the internet on ASun.TV and get live statistical updates using Gametracker on www.upstatespartans.com, the official Upstate Athletics Web site.
Upstate enters the game looking for its first win of the season after dropping its first three games on the road at Georgia, No. 8 Notre Dame and South Carolina. Duquesne enters the game with a 3-0 record. The meeting between the two schools is just the second in the series. The Dukes took an 84-66 victory over the Spartans last season in Pittsburgh on Dec. 30.
Looking Back At South Carolina
Upstate played even with South Carolina in the second half Saturday, but the Gamecocks put together a strong first half to claim a 75-53 victory over the Spartans in the Colonial Center. Nick Schneiders collected a career-high five blocked shots, all in the second half, to lead Upstate to a strong second-half showing. Upstate cut a 27-point deficit to 14 with under 10 minutes to play, but could get no closer as South Carolina took the 22-point win, the deficit at the half. Schneiders added a team-high 11 rebounds to go along with eight points and two assists. Bobby Davis tallied 12 points and nine rebounds. De'Marion Gordon battled South Carolina's Devan Downey and finished with a career-high 10 points in 18 minutes of play Saturday against the Gamecocks.
Scouting Duquesne
Duquesne enters Tuesday's game at Upstate with a 3-0 record. The Dukes play at Duke on Friday at 3:00 p.m. on ESPN. Tuesday's game at Upstate marks the second straight game Duquesne will play against a team from the Upstate. The Dukes played Furman Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh.
Duquesne is an outstanding shooting team from the field, connecting on 54.2 percent of its shots with three players who have taken 10 or more shots shooting over 50 percent from the field. The Dukes hit 33.3 percent of its shots from the three-point arc. The only chink in the armor is that Duquesne only shoots 54.2 percent from the free throw line. The Dukes out-rebound opponents by seven boards, have 22 more assists, 19 more steals and forced 15 more turnovers. Duquesne averages 84.0 points per game while holding opponents to just 64.0 points on the year. The Dukes' lowest winning margin is 11 at Saint Francis.
Four Duke players average in double figures for the year. Aaron Jackson leads the way while scoring at an 18.0 ppg clip. He also tops the team in rebounding, pulling down 6.7 boards per outing. He shoots 57.6 percent from the floor. Damian Saunders shoots 69.0 percent from the field and averages 15.7 points per game. Bill Clark and Eric Evans also average in double figures at 13.3 and 10.7 points per game, respectively. Jackson also leads the team with 20 assists on the season.
Earlier This Year
Duquesne has won its first three games of the year, playing twice at home in Pittsburgh and once on the road. The Dukes opened up with an 84-55 victory over High Point on Nov. 14 in Pittsburgh before traveling to Saint Francis for an 83-72 win on Nov. 20.
Furman traveled to Pittsburgh Sunday and the Dukes claimed an 85-65 win over the Paladins, scoring in the 80s for the third-straight game. Jackson finished with a game-high 20 points to go along with 10 rebounds and six assists to lead the Dukes to the win. Saunders added 15 points, while Clark finished with 14 points and four assists.
About The Coach
Ron Everhart is in his third season at the helm of the Duquesne program. He inherited a program that was coming off a 3-24 record in 2005-06. In two seasons, he turned the program around, producing the Dukes' first winning record in 14 seasons with a 17-13 record last year. He currently owns a 204-204 overall record in 15 seasons as a head coach. Prior to his stint at Duquesne, Everhart was the head coach at Northeastern (82-68) from 2001-06 and McNeese State (92-104) from 1994-01. He led both Northeastern and McNeese State to one NIT appearance. He has posted 17 or more wins six times in 14 years of coaching entering 2008-09.
Career Day For Schneiders
Nick Schneiders, the Spartans' 7-3 junior center from Germany, had a career day defensively Saturday at South Carolina, totaling a career-high five blocked shots to go with 11 rebounds. Prior to the five-block outburst against the Gamecocks, his previous high was four blocks against Mercer last season on Feb. 3, helping Upstate take a 75-49 win over the Bears. Schneiders' improvement from year-to-year since he has been in the Upstate program under head coach Eddie Payne has been tremendous. He currently averages 8.3 points and a team-high 9.3 rebounds per game, up from his 4.9 ppg and 4.8 rpg averages a year ago.
Davis Mr. Consistency
Senior power forward Bobby Davis has been the model of consistency this season for Upstate. Not only has he reached double figures in scoring in each of his first three games - 11 at Georgia, 14 at Notre Dame, 12 at South Carolina - he has shot the ball with precision. He currently ranks among the A-Sun leaders and tops the Spartans shooting 50 percent from the field, 17-for-34, on the year. He is also perfect from the free throw line, converting all three of his attempts from the charity stripe.
Gordon Produces Against Gamecocks
Freshman point guard De'Marion Gordon is young and inexperienced. Once he matures physically to take the pounding of college basketball and mentally to make the right choices on the court, he could be a very good player. He proved he has the tools Saturday at South Carolina, finishing with a career-high 10 points in 18 minutes on the floor for the Spartans.
Boros Looking For Repeat From Last Year
Gabor Boros had a strong outing last year against Duquesne, finishing with 11 points and two rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench for Upstate. He was perfect from the field, going 4-for-4 and making all three of his attempts from behind the arc. The senior from Debrecen, Hungary, had seven points and four rebounds Saturday at South Carolina and currently averages 4.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game this season.
Uzochukwu Steady From Outside
Sophomore wing player Mezie Uzochukwu worked hard over the summer at becoming a more consistent shooter from outside. As a freshman last year, he shot 40.5 percent from the floor and just 28.6 percent from the three-point arc with most of his baskets coming inside the paint. This season, Uzochukwu is shooting 42.9 percent from the floor and is an impressive 3-of-4 from behind the three-point arc, second in the A-Sun in 3-Pt. field goal percentage.
Spartans Hang Tough In First Half At #8 Notre Dame
Upstate certainly gave No. 8 Notre Dame all it could handle in the first half of the game on Nov. 16. Behind the solid play of Bobby Davis and Nick Schneiders, who combined to score the Spartans' first 14 points, Upstate held two leads during the half, the first at 17-16 with 12:17 to play and the second at 19-18 with 11:05 to play. Despite Notre Dame's effort to increase the lead midway through the half, the Spartans trailed by just three, 34-31, with 3:38 to play. However, the Fighting Irish had a late surge and Luke Zeller's three-pointer at the buzzer took an eight-point lead to an 11-point advantage at the intermission.
Hitting The Century Mark
Upstate head coach Eddie Payne won his 100th game at the helm of the Spartans' program at Campbell on Feb. 21, 2008. Payne is now in his seventh season at Upstate and his 24th overall as a head coach. He owns a 100-77 record at Upstate and led the Spartans to two Peach Belt Conference championships and back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament prior to Upstate's move to Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference last season.
Upstate's Schedule Ranked 22nd-Toughest In Nation
In the daily strength of schedule ranking released by Jeff Sagarin on Nov. 20, Upstate's schedule was ranked the 22nd-toughest schedule in the nation. The Spartans play two teams ranked in the Top 10 in the latest AP Top 25 poll, four teams ranked in the Top 100 in the Sagarin overall rankings, and seven teams ranked in the Top 150 in the ranking report. Like last season, Upstate owns the toughest strength of schedule among all A-Sun schools. Mercer is second in the A-Sun at No. 40, while Jacksonville owns the 58th-toughest schedule in the nation. Stetson is the fourth A-Sun school with a schedule ranked in the top-100, coming in at No. 82.
Spartans' 2007-08 Non-Conference Schedule Ranked 20th
In Upstate's first season as a member of NCAA Division I last year, head coach Eddie Payne did not shy away from playing some of the top traditional basketball powers. According to Payne, "We felt like we shouldn't tiptoe into the water, but jump right in." The Spartans did just that, playing the 20th toughest non-conference schedule in the nation, according to Ken Pomeroy in his final analysis of the 2007-08 non-conference strength of schedule ranking. Upstate's nearest competitor in the A-Sun was Jacksonville, which played the 60th-toughest non-conference schedule, according to Pomeroy.
Another Year, Another Tough Schedule
While the 2007-08 schedule was indeed demanding, Upstate has taken another step up in playing some of the toughest competition in college basketball. Not only will the Spartans play a grueling 20-game A-Sun schedule, the Spartans play four teams - Belmont, Georgia, Gonzaga and Notre Dame - which earned bids to the NCAA Tournament a year ago. In addition, Upstate plays two teams ranked highly in the Top 25 polls with Notre Dame holding down the No. 8 spot in the AP poll and the No. 9 spot in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 polls and Gonzaga coming in at No. 9 in the AP poll and No. 11 in the ESPN/USA Today poll.
Upstate Road Warriors
By season's end, USC Upstate will have played 30 games with nearly two-thirds of the contests played away from the G.B. Hodge Center. The Spartans open the season playing at Georgia, Notre Dame and South Carolina before its home opener against Duquesne on Nov. 25. However, Upstate will hit the road for seven more games away from the Hodge Center, and for the entire month of December, before returning home for its A-Sun home opener against North Florida on Jan. 3. By season's end, Upstate will have traveled more than 17,000 miles roundtrip from Spartanburg to play its 30-game schedule, playing in 11 states and three time zones.
Upstate vs. The A-10
When Upstate plays host to Duquesne Tuesday night in the Hodge Center, it will mark just the second game the Spartans will have played against an A-10 school. The first came last season when Upstate traveled to Pittsburgh to take on Duquesne, an 84-66 loss to the Dukes on Dec. 30.
Starting Lineup Consistency
Last year, Upstate head coach Eddie Payne used 12 different starting lineups in 30 games on the season. Though it is early in the 2008-09 season, Upstate's starting lineup has been the same through the first three games. Josh Chavis has assumed the starting spot at point guard, while Gabor Boros is his backcourt mate at shooting guard. Mezie Uzochukwu starts at the wing, while Bobby Davis mans the power forward position. At 7-3, Nick Schneiders is the man in the middle at the center position.
Spartans Play Conference Variety
Upstate has strategically scheduled its non-conference opponents to play a slate of games in a variety of locations and teams from several different conferences. Outside of their 20-game A-Sun slate, the Spartans will play schools from nine different conferences in its 10-game non-conference schedule this season. Last year, Upstate played schools from 10 different conference in addition to its A-Sun schedule.
Gaining Tournament Experience
While Upstate is not allowed to compete in the A-Sun and NCAA Tournaments until 2011-12 when it completes its provisional status as a new DI member, head coach Eddie Payne has seen fit to give the Spartans a dose of tournament experience in its first two seasons in DI. Upstate competed in the BP Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska, and the State Farm Sun Bowl Tournament in El Paso, Texas, last season. This year, the Spartans play in the four-game Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic.
Schneiders The Tallest Tree In The Forest
Nick Schneiders, Upstate's only center on the roster, is the tallest player to ever wear a uniform at Upstate. At 7-3, he holds the distinction by five inches over Michael Gibson, who tipped the height chart at 6-10. He is also the tallest player playing in the A-Sun. The Rietberg, Germany, native has played organized basketball for just four and a half years. He is a redshirt junior after sitting out his first season on the Upstate campus in 2005-06. Despite his youth in the game of basketball, he has developed at a rapid rate. In his first year playing with Upstate in 2006-07, he averaged 2.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game while blocking 13 shots. A year later, he more doubled his averages to 4.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per outing while blocking 25 shots. In his third season on the court for Upstate, his development is expected to steadily continue.
Uzochukwu A Calm Customer
Some freshmen, no matter how talented, shy away from taking the ball in key situations. That was not the case last year when Mezie Uzochukwu, now a sophomore on Upstate's team, put himself in position to deliver Upstate's monumental win at SMU (Dec. 18). He was fouled with 0.6 seconds to play in the game and with the score tied at 56-56. He calmly stepped up to the free throw line and sank both tosses to give Upstate the 58-56 win over the Mustangs, securing the Spartans' first-ever win over a Division I opponent.
Uzochukwu played in all 30 games for Upstate and started 15 contests. He ranked fourth on the team in scoring at 7.5 points per game and grabbed the third-most rebounds per outing at 4.7.
Big Shoes To Fill
When Upstate takes the floor this season, it will do so without the services of guard Luke Payne for the first time in four years. Payne graduated in May and has been on tour with Athletes In Action while waiting for an opportunity to play professionally overseas. Payne was simply the do-all leader for the Spartans last season. He led Upstate in scoring with 14.9 points per game. He also led Upstate in making 63 three-pointers, making 87 free throws and dishing out 84 assists. He also led the Spartans in scoring in 18 of 30 games and finished in double figures on 25 occasions.
Payne finished his career ranked ninth all-time in scoring at Upstate with a 1,381 points. He garnered all-tournament honors at the BP Top of the World Classic and State Farm Sun Bowl tournaments, while also earning A-Sun Player of the Week honors.
Home Sweet Home
Despite playing just 11 games at home this season, the Spartans will be happy to do so. Upstate has a solid home record, going 58-22 (.725) in seven years under head coach Eddie Payne. Overall, the Spartans are 317-133 (.704) in 450 games played at the Hodge Center since it opened in 1973. Prior to 1973, Upstate played its games at a local junior high school. The Spartans won a school-record 50 straight regular season home games from March 4, 1989 to Feb. 17, 1993.
Hard Luck Spartans In `07-'08
Newcomers to the Division I level are supposed to take their lumps, but Upstate proved to be a solid program in its new surroundings. While Upstate's 7-23 record was less than sterling, the record was also misleading. The Spartans lost 10 games by eight points or less and four games by four points or less last season. Had a few plays broken differently, Upstate could easily have looked at a double-digit win total and, possibly, a record approaching .500. One thing head coach Eddie Payne hopes the Spartans have learned from last year's experience is how to win close games on the DI level.
Carolina On Our Mind
Of the 14 players listed on the Upstate roster, nine hail from either South Carolina or North Carolina. Bobby Davis (Aiken), Pat Posey (Greenville), Zac Rich (Lexington), Chalmers Rogers (Fort Mill) and Cameron Rousey (Greenville) all call the Palmetto State home, while Josh Chavis (Greensboro), Carter Cook (Clemmons), Matt Preston (Nags Head) and Mezie Uzochukwu (Greensboro) call the Tar Heel State home.
Even the Upstate coaching staff is rooted in either South Carolina or North Carolina. Head Coach Eddie Payne was born in Winston-Salem, N.C., and grew up in Charlotte. Assistant Coach Steve Smith was born and raised in the Lowcountry of South Carolina in Varnville. Assistant Coach Ryan Walker was born in Charlotte and lived in the Queen City until the start of his junior year in high school before the family moved to Galesburg, Ill. Assistant Coach Bill Burrows was born in Baltimore, Md., but spent most of his late childhood and nearly all of his adult life in North Carolina.
Monumental Win
USC Upstate's 58-56 win at SMU on Dec. 18, 2007, was a milestone victory for the Spartans last year. Upstate claimed its first win in the Division I era against Brevard on Dec. 6, 2007. However, Brevard is a Division II member, making the SMU win the first against a Division I program last year as well as the first win over a Division I opponents in the history of the program.
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.
Mercer First A-Sun School To Knock Off One Of The Big Boys
Last season, Belmont nearly stunned Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and introduced the nation to A-Sun basketball. However, the college basketball world already knew how strong the conference was last year and how tough league teams are year-in and year-out. A-Sun schools picked up wins over Kentucky, Southern Cal, Alabama, Georgia, Cincinnati and SMU last year.
Mercer has gotten the A-Sun off to a good start this year with two wins against SEC teams as the Bears claimed a 72-69 victory over Alabama last Sunday and a 78-74 win over Auburn Wednesday night. Mercer's win over Alabama marks the second-straight year the Crimson Tide has fallen to an A-Sun school.
Burrows Brings Experience To Sidelines
Second-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 fourth season with the New Orleans Hornets. Paul was on-hand in Beijing, China, to watch his younger brother win a gold medal for the United States in last summer's Olympic Games.
