Spartans, Wolfpack Set to Tangle Inside Reynolds Coliseum
12/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - After a pair of home victories over UNC Asheville (W, 93-91, 2OT) and ETSU (W, 60-59), the USC Upstate men's basketball squad will hit the road to face NC State, the second of three Atlantic Coast Conference schools on the Spartans' schedule this season.
In round one of the ACC bout, the Spartans battled Virginia on Nov. 15 and were tied at 42-42 with 14 minutes remaining before eventually falling to the Cavaliers, 74-54.
Upstate will make just two trips to the state of North Carolina this season. After traveling to Raleigh, the second and final trip will come on Feb. 26 when the Spartans travel to Buies Creek, to face A-Sun foe Campbell.
Spartan Tip-Off…
• The Spartans are 0-2 all-time on December 11, last falling at the College of Charleston, 59-57, in 1982.
• Freshman Torrey Craig earned his second A-Sun Newcomer of the Week award after leading the Spartans to their first ever win over ETSU. Craig finished with 18 points and a career-best 15 rebounds.
• Senior Josh Chavis has 11 assists in his last two games, he had just 10 in the Spartans first six outings.
• Senior Mezie Uzochukwu needs just three points to become the 39th player in school history to score 700 points in a career.
• Junior Chalmers Rogers was 1-for-2 from the floor against ETSU, but his layup with three seconds remaining proved to be the game-winner as Upstate claimed the one-point win.
• Despite scoring just 60 points on Sunday, two players reached double figures (Craig - 18 and Chavis -12) and two others were just one point from double-figures (Cook - 9 and Olumuyiwa - 9).
• Head coach Eddie Payne owns a career-record of 21-21 against teams from the state of North Carolina, but he has never faced the Wolfpack.
Spartans Streaking
With the 60-59 victory over ETSU on Sunday afternoon 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 have 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.
