Updated Season Stats | Charleston Classic Website

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Despite 13 points and seven rebounds from freshman Torrey Craig (Rock Hill, S.C./Great Falls HS), USC Upstate fell victim to a torrid shooting Wofford squad, 79-61, on Thursday afternoon on day one of the Charleston Classic inside the Carolina First Arena.

Until today, Upstate (0-3) and Wofford (1-2) had not met on the basketball court since Jan. 25, 1988, when the Terriers defeated the Spartans 52-49.  With today's victory, the Terriers cut the Spartans lead in the series to seven (15-8).

"Early in the game we had some bad offensive possessions and that helped fuel Wofford's offense," said Upstate head coach Eddie Payne.  "They are a good team, but I felt early on we didn't compete at the level that we needed to.  They knocked us around a little bit before we finally woke up and started playing a little bit harder." 

Upstate fell behind early as Wofford opened the game on a 12-0 run over the first 3:51 of the game.  Upstate got on the scoreboard when Tony Dukes (Ellenwood, Ga./Atlanta Metropolitan) hit a three-pointer to halt the run.  It was the third consecutive game that Dukes scored the first basket of the game for Upstate and all three baskets have been treys.

Following Dukes' basket, the Terriers went on a 21-6 run to take a 33-9 lead with 7:19 remaining in the first half.  As the two teams broke for halftime, Upstate found itself in a 49-26 hole, thanks in large part to Wofford's hot shooting in the first half (20-for-29, 69.0%).  Meanwhile, the Spartans managed just eight field goals in the first 20 minutes.

"Wofford is probably the best team we have played thus far and they were extremely comfortable today," added Payne.  "We were unable to get them out of that comfort zone and that resulted in them shooting the ball very well in the first half."

After Upstate hit three free throws early in the second half and cut the Terrier lead to 20, Wofford went on a 17-4 run en route to a 33 point advantage, at 66-33, with 11:31 remaining.  A late Upstate surge cut into the deficit and set the final score at 79-61.

Aside from Craig's solid outing, Upstate was led by Carter Cook's (Clemmons, N.C./Calvary Baptist Day School) eight points and six rebounds and Ricardo Glenn's (Augusta, Ga./Richmond Academy) seven points and seven rebounds. 

Wofford had a quartet of players reach double figures in scoring.  Jamar Diggs posted 18, Noah Dahlman added 17, with Kevin Giltner and Tim Johnson scoring 12 and 10, respectively.

With the loss to the Terriers, Upstate will battle Coastal Carolina, on Friday at noon.  Friday's game will air on MASN (DirecTV channel 640, Dish Network 432) and CSS (Charter Cable channel 36).