Upstate Remains at Home Thursday Evening to Host UNC Asheville
11/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's basketball team wraps up a quick two-game homestand Thursday evening as the Spartans host the UNC Asheville Bulldogs in non-conference action at 7 p.m. from the Hodge Center.
Upstate (1-1) began their home schedule on Monday evening with a 91-66 victory over Mars Hill. Deion Holmes led the Spartans with 21 points off the bench and was one of five players to finish in double-figures. Ramel Thompkins and Josh Cuthbertson each collected the first double-doubles of their career, while Cuthbertson fell three rebounds shy of a triple-double. Thompkins scored a career-high 16 points and Cuthbertson dished out a career-best 10 assists. The 10 assists are the third-most in a game by an Upstate player in the Division I era.
The Spartans finished the game shooting 45.8% (33-of-72) as a team highlighted by a 55.3% (21-for-38) mark in the first half. Upstate had eight blocks in the game and out-rebounded Mars Hill 55-38.
Mike Cunningham is averaging a team-high 14.5 points per game this season and is one of four players scoring in double-digits along with Holmes (12.5), Thompkins (11.0) and Malik Moore (10.5). Thompkins leads the team in rebounding at 10.0 per game and Cuthbertson dishes out a team-high 6.0 assists per contest.
UNC Asheville currently sits at 0-2 on the season following road losses at VCU and Georgia. The Bulldogs are under the direction of fourth-year head coach Nick McDevitt. UNCA is led offensively by Ahmad Thomas with 16.5 points per game and pulls down a team-best 5.0 rebounds per contest along with Kevin Vannatta.
The Spartans and Bulldogs are meeting for the 15th time in program history with UNC Asheville holding an 8-6 lead in the all-time series. The series dates back to 1970 and the two teams last met on Dec. 15, 2013 when the Bulldogs won 73-63 at the Hodge Center. Upstate last defeated UNCA on Nov. 29, 2012 with a 73-71 victory in Asheville. Six of the 14 previous meetings have been decided by five points or less.
Fans can follow the action on www.upstatespartans.com via live stats. The game is being streamed live on WatchESPN and the ESPN app. Updates will also be posted on the Upstate men's basketball Twitter page (@UpstateMB).
The Spartans begin a seven-game road trip on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 5:30 p.m. against Charleston Southern.
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