Upstate Heads West on Tuesday for Road Contest at Auburn
11/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's basketball team is slated to play game four of its season-long seven-game road trip on Tuesday evening as the Spartans travel to Auburn for an 8 p.m. EST tipoff against the Tigers from Auburn Arena.
Upstate (3-3) saw its two-game winning streak come to an end on Sunday with a 72-60 loss at College of Charleston. Michael Buchanan came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points after shooting 9-of-11 from the field and pulled down a team-best six rebounds. Ramel Thompkins joined Buchanan in double-digit scoring after adding 10 points and five rebounds.
The Spartans finished the game shooting 44.4% (24-of-54) from the field and held a 30-15 advantage in points from the bench. Both teams registered 32 points in the paint.
For his performance against Charlotte and College of Charleston last week, Buchanan was named the ASUN Men's Basketball Player of the Week on Monday for the second time in his career.
Upstate currently has four players averaging in double-figures this season led by Mike Cunningham with 13.7 points per game. Along with Cunningham, Deion Holmes contributes 13.3 points per contest, Buchanan 12.5 and Thompkins 11.7. Buchanan also adds a team-best 8.5 rebounds per contest and Josh Cuthbertson dishes out a team-leading 4.7 assists per contest. Philip Whittington leads the ASUN with 12 blocks and 2.0 blocks per game.
Auburn comes in with a 4-1 overall record following wins over North Florida, Georgia State, Eastern Kentucky and Texas Tech, while falling to Purdue in the championship game of the Cancun Challenge. The Tigers have four players averaging in double-figures led by Danjel Purifoy with 16.4 points per game, and Mustapha Heron contributes 6.4 rebounds per contest. Auburn is led by third-year head coach Bruce Pearl.
The Spartans and Tigers are meeting for the second time in program history on Tuesday with Auburn holding a 1-0 lead in the all-time series. Auburn defeated Upstate 68-54 in the first meeting on Dec. 21, 2010 in Auburn.
Fans can follow the action on www.upstatespartans.com via live stats. The game is being streamed on SEC Network Plus. Updates will also be posted on the Upstate men's basketball Twitter page (@UpstateMB).
The Spartans travel back to Charleston, S.C. this weekend to compete in the three-day Holy City Hoops Classic hosted by The Citadel at McAlister Field House. Upstate will play Campbell Friday at 4 p.m., The Citadel on Saturday at 12 p.m. and Colgate on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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