DAVIDSON, N.C. – Hitting the court on World Basketball Day and closing out the team's pre-Holiday slate, USC Upstate men's basketball battled all evening as it sought its second win against a major conference team, putting itself in a position to win at the final buzzer before succumbing to Davidson 62-59.
 
Erasing a 10-point second-half deficit, Upstate fought back to tie the contest or pull within a possession on multiple occasions behind extended scoring runs. Freshman guard Eduardo Placer helped push aside the Davidson lead, scoring four straight points to end a 6-0 scoring run and knot the game at 48 into the under-eight media stoppage. Heading into the final minute, redshirt junior guard Floyd Rideau Jr. hit consecutive treys to pull the Spartans within one.
 
The Wildcats, however, withstood a late Spartan comeback attempt, giving Upstate a chance to tie at the buzzer as redshirt junior guard Trae Broadnax let fly a half-court attempt. The shot, set up by consecutive misses by Davidson at the charity stripe with a chance to ice the game marked Upstate's second attempt to tie the contest in the final 15 seconds.
 
In a game featuring balanced scoring, as all nine Spartans who entered the game scored, it was Rideau Jr. who led all scorers, dropping in 14 points behind 5-of-10 shooting—going 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. He notched 11 of his 14 points in the second half as he secured his third game of the year scoring double-figure points after halftime. Broadnax joined him in double-figures, pouring in 13 points behind 5-of-11 shooting.
 
Game Information
Score: Davidson 62; USC Upstate 59
Records: USC Upstate (4-8; 0-0 Big South); Davidson (9-3; 0-0 A-10)
Location: John M. Belk Arena | Davidson, N.C.
 
How It Happened
First Half

• After seeing Davidson open the game with five straight points, Miguel Ayesa knocked down a triple to open the Spartans' scoring. The three-ball was one of four Upstate made ahead of a late under-16 timeout, allowing the Spartans to keep the contest knotted at 12 before Jorge Ochoa hit a jumper to give Upstate a lead at the stoppage.
• A three from Broadnax and Ochoa's jumper kickstarted a 9-1 scoring run that delivered Upstate a lead it'd hold for the majority of the half. Davidson countered to pull back within one, but the Spartans answered with a 6-0 scoring run to push the advantage to seven in favor of the road squad with Eduardo Placer, Broadnax, and Ahmir Langlais scoring in succession.
• Holding Upstate without a field goal for nearly four minutes, Davidson fought back to tie the game at 25 with an 8-1 scoring stretch with Upstate's lone marker coming from the free throw line. Braodnax snapped the cold stretch from the floor with a jumper to give Upstate the lead out of the final media of the half.
• Closing the half, the Wildcats strung together eight straight points to retake the lead. Davidson carried a six-point advantage into the locker room following the scoring run.

 
Second Half

• Snapping the Wildcats' scoring run to end the first frame, Upstate's first points of the half came from the charity stripe as Jorge Ochoa hit a free throw. Davidson countered with the next five points, creating the largest lead of the game and a 13-1 scoring stretch as Upstate opted for a timeout.
• Chipping into the lead, Upstate scored seven of the next nine points to cut the Davidson advantage in half. Rideau Jr. and Justin Bailey hit threes in the stretch ahead of a Broadnax free throw. The Wildcats answered with a triple of their own before Jordyn Surratt nailed a shot from distance to answer.
• Limiting Davidson from the floor and holding them without a free throw for over six minutes, Upstate dug into the lead as Surratt's three kicked off a 13-5 scoring run for the Spartans. Closing the stretch and tying the game, Placer notched four consecutive markers for the Spartans, knotting the game at 48 into the final media timeout.
• Seeing the game tied, the Wildcats flipped the momentum over the next seven minutes, embarking on a 12-5 scoring run to build back their lead, pushing the advantage to seven with a minute-and-a-half to play. Rideau Jr. pulled the Spartans within one as he drained consecutive threes, giving Upstate an opportunity late. Davidson behind a pair of free throws with 13 seconds remaining to push the lead to three withstood two Upstate attempts to tie in the final seconds.

 
Notable

• Scoring 11 of his game-high 14 points in the second half, Floyd Rideau Jr. secured his third game of the year scoring double-digit points following halftime. He's accomplished the feat in each of his double-figure scoring games this season as he's also knocked down four or more threes in each double-figure scoring game.
• Coming off the bench, Ahmir Langlais pulled in a game-high eight boards for the Spartans. With eight rebounds against Davidson, he's corralled eight or more rebounds in three consecutive games, doing so for the second time this season as he's posted six games with eight-plus boards.
• Forcing just eight Davidson turnovers, Thursday's game snapped the Spartans' streak of consecutive games forcing 10 or more turnovers, ending the streak at 11 games to open the year. Upstate, however, won the turnover margin, doing so for the 10^th time in 12 games.
• Hitting nine threes against the Wildcats, Upstate improved its streak of consecutive games with at least one made three-pointer to 884 games, a streak dating back to the 1994-95 season. The streak includes each of the Spartans' 517 games at the NCAA Division I level (2007-pres.).

 
Up Next for the Spartans
Returning home from the Holidays and back to the G.B. Hodge Center, USC Upstate closes out 2023 and the team's non-conference play as it returns to action on Dec. 30. The Spartans host Coker to wrap non-conference play in the team's final tune-up for Big South play.
 
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