HIGH POINT, N.C. – With the regular season having come to a close, a new season began for USC Upstate men's basketball as the 2024 Hercules Tires Big South Men's Basketball Championship got underway Wednesday night at the Qubein Center in High Point, N.C. The Spartans, showing their trademark grit, fought valiantly with their season on the line in the win-and-advance tournament as a late comeback attempt fell short as Upstate dropped its opening round matchup with No. 9 seed Radford 67-60.
 
Leading the Spartans throughout the night, redshirt sophomore guard Jalen Breazeale capped his second full season in an Upstate uniform much like he opened his first, putting forth a career-high scoring output as he led all Spartans with 19 markers Wednesday. He finished the night going 5-of-10 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, leading to his career-high total and third straight game scoring in double-figures. He also passed out six assists on the night, handing out five or more helpers for the fourth straight contest to end the season.
 
Ending the night 5-of-8 from the field, redshirt senior forward Ahmir Langlais joined Breazeale in double-figures, posting 10 points to go with four rebounds. Elsewhere in the box score, Upstate finished with seven blocks on the night with graduate student guard Nick Alves leading with three blocks.
 
Game Information
Score: No. 9 Radford 67; No. 8 USC Upstate 60
Records: USC Upstate (10-19; 5-11 Big South); Radford (15-16; 5-11 Big South)
Location: Qubein Center | High Point, N.C.
 
How It Happened
First Half

• After taking the opening tap, Radford jumped out to the early lead, scoring the first four points of the night. Upstate, however, and Jalen Breazeale answered with a pair of triples to push the Spartans to the lead for the first time. Off a find from Breazeale, Ahmir Langlais laid one in to grow the Upstate scoring run to eight.
• Answering the Spartans' scoring stretch, the Highlanders flipped the lead and momentum back in their favor with a 6-0 scoring spurt. Upstate provided its response in the form of its longest scoring run to that point, 12 points, retaking a lead it wouldn't relinquish for the remainder of the half.
• Upstate pushed its scoring stretch to 16-4 as its lead remained at 10 by answering a pair of Highlander baskets. Radford whittled the lead all the way down to one, following the long Upstate scoring stretch with its longest scoring run of the half, a 9-0 stretch, culminating with 6:07 to play.
• Closing the half, the two sides went blow-for-blow with one another, answering the long scoring runs with dueling 4-0 stretch. Upstate though closed the final minute and a half by outscoring Radford 4-2 to stake a three-point advantage at the break.

 
Second Half

• Opening the second half, Radford tallied the first four markers to regain the lead for the first time since early in the opening period. Upstate countered with a 4-0 run of its own to push the lead back to three before the two teams traded scoring spurts as the Highlanders whittled the lead down heading toward 13 minutes to play.
• Seeing the deficit sitting at one, the Highlanders crafted a 5-0 scoring run to tilt the lead back in its favor with Upstate answering with the next four points to tie the game at 45 with 10:42 to play. Radford pushed things back in its favor with a 4-0 stretch before the Spartans scored six of the next eight points to tie the game at 51 with 5:35 to play.
• Swinging momentum back on its side, Radford tallied the next six markers to build its second-largest lead of the second half. Upstate fought back once again, recording the next six points behind baskets from Langlais, Broadnax, and Breazeale to knot the game at 57 with under two minutes remaining.
• Closing out the game, the Highlanders scored 10 of the final 13 points to build its largest lead of the night at the buzzer. Broadnax tallied the final three points for the Spartans down the stretch.

 
Notable

• Passing out another six assists Wednesday evening, Jalen Breazeale pushed his streak of games with five or more assists to four, the longest streak of the season for a Spartan. The streak also stands as the longest of his career.
• With seven blocks against the Highlanders, Upstate tallied its most blocks in a game during the 2023-24 season and its highest block total since blocking nine shots versus Indiana State on March 18, 2023.
• Hitting five threes Wednesday versus Radford, Upstate improved its streak of consecutive games with at least one made-three pointer to 902 games, a streak dating back to the 1994-95 season. The stretch also includes each of the Spartans' 533 games at the NCAA Division I level (2007-pres.).

 
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