ATHENS, Ohio – On the road for the final time during the 2021 calendar year, USC Upstate men's basketball heated up from behind the arc Tuesday afternoon, draining its highest number of three-point field goals this season to spur a second-half comeback attempt at Ohio.
 
For the fifth time this season, three Spartans finished in double-figures as senior forward Bryson Mozone led the contingent, posting his sixth 15-plus point scoring effort of the season with 18 points. Freshman guard Jordan Gainey and junior forward Khydarius Smith tallied 14 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Gainey paced Upstate from beyond the arc, shooting 66.7 percent from long range, knocking down a career-high four three-point attempts. Finishing just behind Gainey in made threes, Mozone knocked down three triples with freshman guard Jalen Breazeale adding two as six Spartans drained a shot from distance Tuesday afternoon.
 
Game Information
Score: Ohio 85; USC Upstate 70
Records: USC Upstate (3-9; 0-0 Big South); Ohio (9-2; 0-0 MAC)
Location: Convocation Center | Athens, Ohio
 
How It Happened
First Half

• Opening the game's scoring, Ohio jumped out to an early advantage behind a 6-0 run over the half's first minute. Using the first of his team-high four triples, Jordan Gainey snuffed the Bobcat run.
• Answering an Ohio three-pointer with one of his own Gainey sparked a 5-0 Spartan run, Bryson Mozone adding a jumper to Gainey's three, to pull Upstate within one (9-8) heading into the first media timeout.
• Between the under-16 and under-12 media timeouts, Ohio outscored Upstate 11-2 to pull the Bobcats lead into double figures for the first time on the afternoon.
• Seeing the team's deficit hover around double-figures, rising to as much as 13 points, over the final 12 minutes of the half as Ohio and Upstate traded jabs, the Spartans swung heavily in the half's final minute, scoring six straight points to close the half as Mozone and Gainey hit threes on consecutive possessions.

Second Half

• Adding to the Spartans' six-point scoring run to close the first half, Bryson Mozone through a hoop-and-harm conversion extended the Upstate run to 9-0 to start the second half and pull his team within four at 42-38.
• After trading baskets over the next three minutes, Josh Aldrich rose up from long range to start a 6-0 scoring stretch for the Spartans, culminating in Upstate's first lead of the game. The Spartans took the lead as Aldrich dished a pass to Mysta Goodloe behind that arc as Goodloe drained the attempt to give the Spartans a 51-50 advantage.
• With Ohio taking back the lead with 12:37 remaining in the half, Gainey reclaimed the lead for the Spartans as he knocked down a paint jumper.
• With the game's lead remaining within as many as two possessions from the point of Upstate's first second-half lead (13:12) until the 6:17 mark of the half, the two teams embarked on a roughly one-minute stretch where each point was collected from the charity stripe (seven total points).
• Over the game's final four-and-a-half minutes, Ohio outscored Upstate 20-10 as the Bobcats failed to allow consecutive field goals to the Spartans to build back their advantage.

 
Notable

• Making 12 three-pointers, Tuesday's game featured the most made threes for the Spartans this season, marking the team's second game making 10 or more threes this season. Upstate's 12 threes are the most in a game since making 12 versus Hampton on Jan. 14, 2021.
• Leading the Spartans in scoring for the second consecutive game, Bryson Mozone secured his ninth double-figure scoring outing of the season, his sixth to see him drop in 15 or more points. The game also marked his fifth of the season to score 17 or more points.
• Hitting a career-best four triples Tuesday afternoon, Jordan Gainey posted the seventh game of his young career to feature multiple makes from long range. Each of his last four games that have seen him make a three-pointer has included multiple makes from outside.
• Adding 10 points for the Spartans, Khydarius Smith secured his second consecutive double-figure scoring game, the eighth such outing of his career. His back-to-back 10-plus point scoring efforts mark the second back-to-back double-figure scoring games of his career, also doing so in both ends of a doubleheader versus Presbyterian on Feb. 15 and Feb. 18, 2021.

 
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