FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: David Beall, dbeall@uscupstate.edu

GAMEDAY CENTRAL | GAME NOTES

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's basketball team is searching for Senior Day success Saturday afternoon, welcoming Kennesaw State University to the Hodge Center for a 2:02 p.m. tip-off on ESPN3.

The matchup between the Spartans (13-14, 7-7 A-Sun) and Owls (3-22, 2-11 A-Sun) is the second meeting this season and 28th all-time with Upstate looking to sweep the season series.

Gameday Lineup

Date: Sat., Feb. 16 | 2:02 PM EST
Teams: USC Upstate (13-14, 7-7 A-Sun) vs. Kennesaw State (3-22, 2-11 A-Sun)
Location: Spartanburg, S.C. | Hodge Center
TV: ESPN3 | TV Talent: Matt Stewart (play-by-play), Sonny Smith (Analyst)
Radio: ESPN Spartanburg 97.1 FM / 1400 AM | Radio Talent: Phil Cox (play-by-play)
Live Stats: PrestoSports Primetime
Twitter: @UPSTMBB | #UpstateHoops

Story Lines

• The Spartans have won four straight against the Owls, including a 66-54 victory at the KSU Convocation Center on Jan. 17. Three players finished in double figures for Upstate, including a game-high 17 points from Torrey Craig, who added 10 rebounds for a double-double.

• Upstate has dominated the recent history with Kennesaw, winning seven of the last eight meetings with the Owls, including five straight victories at home. The Spartans have not lost to KSU in the Hodge Center since the Division II days, falling 87-82 on Jan. 17, 2004.

• Saturday will mark the 12th nationally televised game for USC Upstate this season. The Spartans have seen all nine of their home conference games broadcasted across the globe on ESPN3, and have also played in front of a national audience on the road at Baylor, Kansas State and FGCU.

• Despite four consecutive losses, Upstate still remains one of three teams in the league with a positive scoring margin at +3.7, sitting behind FGCU (+6.7) and Mercer (+5.8). Kennesaw ranks last in the league in scoring margin at -10.0.

• Even with back-to-back losses at home, the Spartans have still managed to win 21 of their last 26 games inside the Hodge Center and currently sit at 8-4 at home heading into the final regular season home contest of the year.

• Following a 6-for-24 performance from long range Thursday against Mercer, Upstate now ranks second in the A-Sun in three-point field goal percentage at .342. The Owls are last in the league at .297 and are also the cellar dwellers in the conference in the three-point field goal percentage defense.

• Torrey Craig broke out of a mini slump against Mercer, knocking down nine of 23 shots and scoring a game-high 29 points, his second-highest point total this year. With the 29-point effort, Craig climbed to seventh on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,447 points and sits just 25 points away from climbing into the top five.

• Just like the matchup on Jan. 17 in Kennesaw, Ga., Saturday will feature the top two scorers in the league as Craig claimed the top spot again in the A-Sun with his recent surge. His 16.9 points per game rank No. 1 in the league as he sits just ahead of KSU's Markeith Cummings at 16.8.

• The top two rebounders will also battle, as KSU's Aaron Anderson leads the A-Sun at 8.8 rebounds per game, while Ricardo Glenn is second at 8.2. Glenn also tops the conference in offensive boards at 3.9.

• Jodd Maxey continues to set the standard in the Atlantic Sun for blocking shots, leading the league at 1.7 blocks per game and 45 total blocks. His two blocked shots Thursday against Mercer marked his 12th multi-block game of the season.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: (Baylor's Scott Drew) "This is a game that as a coach, you know that your opponent is a lot better than people might realize. You can see them in the NCAA tournament winning a game."

(Kansas State's Bruce Weber) "They have a really good ball club. When we looked at it going into all these non-conference games they had 21 wins last year and the best turn-around in the country."

(Saint Louis' Jim Crews) "I thought they were good coming in, and I know they're good coming out. Every time we made a mistake, they drilled us every single time. It was uncanny. If we made a defensive slip, we got burned."

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