Furman (6-8) @ UNCG (7-9)

When: Monday, January 6 7:00 pm
Where: Greensboro Coliseum (7,617)^
TV: SpartaN All-Access

^ - Greensboro Coliseum is undergoing renovations and will not be using the upper deck for any seating at UNCG games this season. I do not have the official seat totals with these changes.

Furman Athletics

UNCG Stats
Last Game: @ Western Carolina (L 51-72) Recap
PPG: 70.3
RPG: 37.1
APG: 13.1
Leader Points: Kyle Cain (15.9)
Leader Rebounds: Kyle cain (8.5)
Assists: Tevon Saddler (3.1
FG %: 44.6
3 Pt %: 35.3
FT %: 68.6

Furman Stats
Last Game: hattanooga (L 63-72) Recap
PPG: 67.3
RPG: 32.7
APG: 9.6
Leader Points: Stephen Croone 20.0
Leader Rebounds: Stephen Croone (5.0)
Leader Assists: Stephen Croone (3.6)
FG %: 44.1
3 Pt %: 35.1
FT %: 70.4

Thoughts
After falling flat in their conference debut, we get to see if UNCG can pick themselves up and get back after it. The Spartans played a pretty tough stretch of 3 games in 6 days, including an emotional win at Virginia Tech and a near comeback against NC State. I guess we all should have seen a letdown coming in the way of the Western Carolina game. But it's now been a few days. Hopefully the guys have had a few days to recharge and work on things in practice. It's time to go out and protect the home court and get win #1 in conference.

Furman comes into the Greensboro Coliseum tonight and looks a lot like UNCG. They're not a great offensive team, but have been adequate at times. They do have a bad loss to non-D1 Mint Hill. There are 2 common opponents in Presbyterian (W 74-59) and Virginia Tech (L 75-54). They are led completely by Stephen Croone was is having a great year. Just like Trey Sumler for the last opponent, Croone leads Furman in almost every major category and is super quick with the ball in his hands. He will be a handful for the the UNCG back court to contain.

However, the Paladins should struggle to match up against UNCG's interior players. Look for Kyle Cain, Kayel Locke and RJ White to be huge factors tonight. As I pointed out in my recap of the WCU game, UNCG big men are going to have to do a good job tonight of feeling the double teams coming and finding open players who will need to make shots. Also, it would be nice to see the Spartans do a better job of taking care of the basketball. A turnover number less than 12 would be a good thing.

If UNCG is serious about contending for this league and picking up a bye for the tournament, they really need to have this game. It's a home game against an opponent that they are favored against. It's time to even up the conference record. Go Spartans !!!