Spartans Set to Close out Non-Conference Schedule at Virginia Tech
12/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The USC Upstate men's basketball team will close out its non-conference slate on Thursday afternoon as it battles the Virginia Tech Hokies for the first time in school history.
The Spartans and Hokies have a pair of common opponents this season (Campbell and Virginia). The Spartans were tied at Virginia on Nov. 15th with 14 minutes to play before falling 74-54. Against Campbell (Dec. 16), Upstate rallied from 19 down with 10 minutes to play and had a chance to tie the game with 34 seconds to play. Campbell sank four free throws in the final 27 seconds to claim the seven point victory.
The Hokies defeated Campbell in the season opener on Nov. 12th by a score of 70-60. In the ACC opener for the Hokies and the Cavaliers, Virginia led wire to wire as they claimed a 57-54 victory on Dec. 5.
Spartan Tip-Off…
• Sophomore Tony Dukes was one of three players to reach double figures against Auburn. The Ellenwood, Ga., native finished with a team-high 13 points.
• Freshman Chandler Hash is averaging 7.4 ppg over the last five games and he set a career-high against NC State with 12 points behind a 4-for-5 performance from beyond the three point arc.
• Freshman Babatunde Olumuyiwa has 35 blocks on the season, placing him ahead of five different A-Sun team totals (Mercer - 34, North Florida - 26, Lipscomb - 25, Stetson - 19, Florida Gulf Coast - 15).
• Senior Mezie Uzochukwu surpassed the 700 career point plateau at NC State as he became the 39th player in school history to accomplish that feat.
• Senior Josh Chavis needs just five points to become the 40th player in school history with 700 points in a career.
• Through the first 11 games of the season, a Spartan newcomer has led the team in scoring in all but one game (Michigan - Chalmers Rogers).
Today's Opponent – Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech enters Thursday's matinee with a 7-4 record overall and a 0-1 mark in ACC play.
The Hokies are led by Malcolm Delaney (19.9 ppg) and Jeff Allen (12.1 ppg). Dorenzo Hudson also averages double figures with 10.4 ppg. Allen is also the rebounding leader at 9.0 rpg.
Virginia Tech is riding a three-game win streak with victories over Penn State (W, 79-69), Mississippi State (W, 88-57) and St. Bonaventure (W, 76-68, OT).
The Hokies have victories over Campbell, UNC Greensboro, Cal State Northridge and Oklahoma State. Virginia Tech's losses have come at #3 Kansas State, a neutral site loss to UNLV and home losses to #22 Purdue and Virginia.
Hanging Chads?
At the conclusion of the 2009-10 basketball season the Hodge Center underwent renovations and after an official recount of the seating capacity, the Hodge Center has been determined to seat 818 Spartan fans. After the recount took place, it was determined the UNC Asheville, ETSU and Campbell games were all sellouts, giving the Spartans back-to-back-to-back sellouts in the renovated facility.
Spartans Streaking
With the 60-59 victory over ETSU on December 5th at the Hodge Center, Upstate has now won nine consecutive home conference openers. Upstate's streak began on Jan. 11, 2003 when Upstate (then a member of D-II and the Peach Belt Conference) defeated Armstrong Atlantic State 63-62. Since moving to D-I, Upstate has won four straight home conference openers (Gardner-Webb (1/10/08), North Florida (1/3/09), Stetson (11/30/09) and ETSU (12/5/10)).
This is Home
After a $4 million renovation of the Hodge Center, made possible by the generous donation of Mrs. Dodie Anderson (USC Upstate, '81), the Spartans christened the new facility with a pair of thrilling victories. In the opening game, the Spartans defeated UNC Asheville, 93-91, in double-overtime on Nov. 29. Tony Dukes hit a three-pointer with two seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 69 apiece. In the second-overtime, Carter Cook connected on two free-throws with 6.9 seconds left as Upstate claimed the victory.
In the conference opener, USC Upstate was ahead or tied for all but 1:18 against ETSU, but it was Chalmers Rogers layup with three seconds remaining that gave the Spartans the 60-59 win over the Bucs. Rogers' layup in the final seconds was his only basket of the game.
Fantastic Freshmen
The freshmen duo of Babatunde Olumuyiwa and Torrey Craig find themselves near the top of the national rankings.
Among national leaders, Olumuyiwa finds himself eighth in blocks per game (3.18 bpg) and he is currently the national leader among freshmen. In blocks in a single game, the Athens, Ga., native is tied for third (with 9) with D.J. Covington (VMI) and Aaric Murray (La Salle). The trio trails only William Mosley (Northwestern State) and Ty Walker (Wake Forest) who each recorded 11 in a single game this season.
Torrey Craig is currently averaging 6.7 rebounds per game, placing him 22nd nationally among freshmen. He also recorded 15 rebounds against ETSU, which places him in a tie for 11th in a single game (among freshmen), while his 14 rebound performance against UNC Asheville places him in a tie for 18th (among freshmen).
