SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Basketball in March is time to come together with the moniker to survive and advance as Upstate Men's Basketball begins their quest at the Hercules Tires Big South Men's Basketball Championships in Johnson City, Tennessee against Gardner-Webb Wednesday night.
2025 Big South Hercules Men's Basketball No. 8 vs. No. 9 Matchup
March 5, 2025| 7:30 P.M. ET
No. 8 Gardner-Webb (10-19; 5-11 Big South) vs. No. 9 USC Upstate (6-25; 2-14 Big South)
Freedom Hall Civic Center| Johnson City, Tennessee
TV: ESPN+ | Via WatchESPN.com or the ESPN App
Radio: Fox Sports Spartanburg 98.3 FM/1400| Also available via the FoxSports Spartanburg or TuneIn App
Weekly Coaches Interviews: Catch head coach Marty Richter twice every week! Tuesdays at 3:20 p.m.: Fox Sports Spartanburg live at Delaney's and Mondays at 4:00 p.m.: "Spartans at the Spice" at Sugar N Spice (Watch).
How they Stack Up
Series: Gardner-Webb leads 12-6
Last Five Meetings: Feb. 15, 2025 (GW 96; UPST 87; Jan. 18, 2025 (GW 97; UPST 68); Feb. 17, 2024 (GW 73; UPST 65) ; Jan. 27. 2024 (GW 75; UPST 70); Mar. 3, 2023 (UPST 77; GW 76)
How they Compare
|
USC Upstate
|
|
Gardner-Webb
|
|
75.5
|
Scoring Offense
|
78.1
|
|
83.6
|
Scoring Defense
|
73.9
|
|
-8.1
|
Scoring Margin
|
4.2
|
|
.457
|
Field Goal Pct.
|
.465
|
|
.478
|
Field Goal Pct. Defense
|
.476
|
|
.314
|
Three-Point FG Pct.
|
.336
|
|
.345
|
Three-Point FG Pct. Defense
|
.332
|
|
.678
|
Free Throw Pct.
|
.727
|
|
34.3
|
Rebounds/Game
|
34.3
|
|
37.2
|
Rebounds Against/Game
|
32.0
|
|
-3.2
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Rebounding Margin
|
2.3
|
|
13.6
|
Assists/Game
|
10.8
|
|
14.0
|
Turnovers/Game
|
12.4
|
|
12.3
|
Turnovers Forced/Game
|
14.7
|
|
-1.7
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Turnover Margin
|
2.2
|
|
7.3
|
Steals/Game
|
7.4
|
|
2.2
|
Blocks/Game
|
2.1
|
Overview:
Gardner-Webb swept the season series over USC Upstate winning both matchups and currently have won the last four meetings between two teams. The last win for Upstate was March 3, 2023 which occurred at the Big South Men's Basketball Championships. In the postgame interview after the regular season finale against Longwood, Head Coach mentioned that his message to the team after the game was, "We're in March, everyone is 0-0 now and the only thing that matters now at this level of basketball is who wins the Conference Tournament." In the February 15th matchup against Gardner-Webb, the Spartans used a late run to cut into the lead of the Runnin' Bulldogs in single digits with four Spartans in double figures.
Regular Season Matchups
January 18, 2025: Gardner-Webb 97; USC Upstate 68
February 15, 2025: Gardner-Webb 96; USC Upstate 67
Players to Watch
USC Upstate: The Freshman Guard from Miami, Florida has shown when he gets hot with finding his rhythm on the court then he is a force to be reckoned with. Being named Freshman of the year and being a top-10 scorer in the Big South proved he knew when to turn it in showing up ready to play each night. Dean's eye for finding an open teammate causes a threat with many shooters spread around the court. Mister Dean will look to be ready to battle as the Spartans look to overcome the Runnin' Bulldogs. The Wednesday night matchup will feature players from both sides that can spread the floor and used a balanced paint attack.
Gardner-Webb: Graduate Guard, Anthony Selden displayed a 19 point and seven rebound performance in the Feb. 14, 2025 meeting while averaging 14.3 points per game as the second leading scorer. Selden has displayed three-level scoring for the Runnin' Bulldogs while looking to get to the charity stripe. While Sophomore Guard, Darryl Simmons is known to get hot from the three-point line and leads the team with 17.4 points per game, Selden can be seen another player that can get hot while doing what he can to help the team win.
Up Next for the Spartans
Following the Wednesday night matchup, the winner of the 8/9 battle will advance to the Quarterfinals to take on No. 1 Seed High Point Friday, March 7 at Noon.
SAVE THE DATE FOR SPARTY'S BALL – MAY 17th – Support USC Upstate Athletics at Sparty's Ball, the largest fundraising event of the year for the Upstate Athletic Fund (UAF), to be held Saturday, May 17, 2025 at the Milliken Club at Fifth Third Park. For tickets, sponsorship and auction information, click here!
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