Payne Announces 31-Game Schedule for Upcoming 2016-17 Season
9/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Spartanburg, S.C. – USC Upstate head men's basketball coach Eddie Payne has announced this afternoon that the Spartans will play a 31-game schedule for the 2016-17 season, which includes 14 contests to be played inside the G.B. Hodge Center.
Upstate begins the season with eight of its first 10 games away from Spartanburg beginning on Nov. 12 as it faces Georgetown for the first time in program history. The Spartans then return to the Hodge Center for their home opener on Nov. 14 versus Mars Hill, followed by a contest with UNC Asheville on Nov. 17. Upstate closes out the month with four straight road games at Charleston Southern (Nov. 19), Charlotte (Nov. 22), College of Charleston (Nov. 27) and Auburn (Nov. 29).
The Spartans open the month of December with the Holy City Hoops Classic hosted by The Citadel where they will face Campbell (Dec. 2), The Citadel (Dec. 3) and Colgate (Dec. 4) during the three-day tournament. Upstate then plays five of the following six games at home with the lone road matchup coming on Dec. 15 at Alabama. The Spartans host Virginia-Wise (Dec. 10), Presbyterian College (Dec. 13), Jacksonville State (Dec. 18), Florida College (Dec. 20) and Allen (Dec. 30) in their five home games.
Upstate concludes non-conference play on Jan. 2 at UMKC before opening the ASUN portion of its schedule with three consecutive home games against NJIT (Jan. 7), North Florida (Jan. 12) and Jacksonville (Jan. 14). A three-game road trip follows at Florida Gulf Coast (Jan. 19), Stetson (Jan. 21) and Lipscomb (Jan. 25), before entertaining Kennesaw State on Jan. 28 and Lipscomb on Jan. 30.
The Spartans are slated to play four of its six games in the month of February away from the Hodge Center. The month starts with three straight road games against Kennesaw State (Feb. 4), Jacksonville (Feb. 9) and North Florida (Feb. 11). Upstate plays its final two home games of the season Feb. 16-18 versus Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast, with the contest against FGCU serving as Homecoming for the Spartans. The season finale is scheduled for Feb. 23 at NJIT.
"As always, we have another challenging schedule starting with our opener against the Georgetown Hoyas," said Payne. "We have embraced this type of schedule and we are looking forward to another great and exciting year. The ASUN looks to be very deep and the most competitive it has been in many years."
Season tickets are now on sale and can be purchased through the USC Upstate Athletics Department. Upstate is offering three exclusive ticket packages, beginning with the faculty/staff package that is available for $100. Fans will have the opportunity to choose between the Full Season Package ($170) and the VIP Sideline Package ($220). The Full Season Package includes an exclusive parking pass and a complimentary game program, while the VIP Sideline Package includes the parking pass, game program and prime first row/court-side seats.
For more information on how to purchase season tickets, please contact the USC Upstate Athletics Department at (864) 503-5893. All season ticket packages allow admission to all men's and women's home games.
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