Opening Night Scores

SoCon Scores
Citadel 71 - VMI 82
Covenant 56 - Chattanooga 119
High Point 74 - UNCG 82
Davidson 77 - (4) Duke 111
Washington & Lee 64 - Elon 114
Wofford 52 - Georgia 72
App State 77 - NC State 98
Wittenberg 55 - Western Carolina 77
Martin Methodist 62 - Samford 79
Sewanee 49 - Furman 66
Columbia International 74 - Georgia Southern 110

OOC Opponent Scores
NC Wesleyan 51 - East Carolina 97
La Tech - St Mary's
Florida A&M 84 - Rutgers 92
James Madison 41 - Virginia 61
Oakland 61 - UNC-CH 84
Presbyterian 57 - Georgia Tech 88
Colgate 78 - Wake Forest 89

Duke Pulls Away From Spartans

UNCG 63 - #7 Duke 90

News & Record Recap
UNCG Athletics Recap
Duke Recap

Halftime: UNCG 34 - Duke 45

UNCG Stats
Leader Points: KyleRandal (12)
Leader Rebounds: Trevis Simpson (6)
Leader Assists: Korey Van Dussen (4)
Team FG: 24-59 (40.7%)
Team 3 pt: 4-13 (30.8%)
Team FT: 11-22 (50.0)
Rebounds: 27
Turnovers: 14

Duke Stats
Leader Points: Mason Plumlee (15)
Leader Rebounds: Ma. Plumlee, Mi. Plumlee (13)
Leader Assists: Cook, Rivers, Ma. Plumlee (2)
Team FG: 29-54 (53.7%)
Team 3Pt: 10-21 (47.6%)
Team FT: 22-32 (68.8%)
Rebounds: 46
Turnovers: 18

Thoughts:
Regardless of outcome, I really liked how UNCG played last night.I thought they caught Duke napping and came out as the aggressor. The team seemed push the ball up the court at every opportunity. It seem like UNCG players are having fun and playing very loose. It's a trend I hope continues.

Unfortunately, free throw shooting is still a problem with UNCG. The Spartans missed the front end of several first half 1-and-1 opportunities that could have really closed the gap. However, it's hard to get down on the guys for bringing that much energy to the floor of a top 10 opponent. I still think success is coming soon.

UNCG (2-9) @ #7 Duke (9-1)

When: Monday, December 19 7 pm
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314)
TV: FSN-South

Duke Athletics

Preseason Preview

UNCG Notes:
Last Game: East Carolina (L 62-71) Recap
PPG: 63.9
RPG: 35.8
APG: 10.6
Leader Points: Trevis Simpson (16.0)
Leader Rebounds: Aaron Brackett (5.7)
Leader Assists: Kyle Randall (2.3)
FG %: 37.2
3 Pt %: 30.1
FT %: 62.5

Duke Notes:
Last Game: Washington (W 86-80) Recap
PPG: 79.2
RPG: 33.7
APG: 12.7
Leader Points: Austin Rivers (15.8)
Leader Rebounds: Mason Plumlee (9.7)
Leader Assists: Seth Curry (3.3)
FG %: 49.7
3 Pt %: 40.9
FT %: 66.4

Preseason OOC Opponent Preview - Duke

Duke
Location: Durham, NC
Conference: ACC (RPI #5)
Last Season: 30-4
Finish: 2nd (out of 12)
Postseason: NCAA Tournament (Sweet 16)
Last 10: 7-3
Coach: Mike Krzyzewski (32nd yr)

2011-2012 Schedule:
- 10/29 Bellarmine (Exh)
- 11/2 Shaw (Exh)
- 11/11 Belmont
- 11/12 Presbyterian
- 11/15 Michigan St
- 11/18 Davidson
- 11/21 Tennessee (Maui)
- 11/22 Maui Invitational
- 11/23 Maui Invitational
- 1/29 @ Ohio State
- 12/7 Colorado St
- 12/10 Washington
- 12/19 UNCG
- 12/30 Western Michigan
- 1/1 Penn
- 1/4 @ Temple
- 1/7 @ Ga Tech
- 1/12 Virginia
- 1/15 @ Clemson
- 1/19 Wake Forest
- 1/21 Florida St.
- 1/25 @ Maryland
- 1/28 St. John's
- 2/2 @ Va Tech
- 2/5 Miami
- 2/8 @ UNC
- 2/11 Maryland
- 2/16 NC State
- 2/19 @ Boston College
- 2/23 @ Florida St
- 2/25 Va Tech
- 2/28 @ Wake Forest
- 3/3 UNC

Additions:
- 6'-4" SG Austin Rivers - ESPN Rated 98 (Winter Park, FL)
- 6'-6" SF Michael Gbiniji - ESPN Rated 96 (Chester, VA)
- 6'-11" C Marshall Plumlee - ESPN Rated 96 (Warsaw, IN)
- 6'-1" PG Quinn Cook - ESPN Rated 96 (Hyattsville, MD)
- 6'-8" SF Alex Murphy - ESPN Rated 96 (South Kingston, RI)

Losses:
- Kyrie Irving (Early Draft Entry) - 17.5 pts, 3.4 rebs, 4.3 assists, 1.5 steals (11 games)
- Nolan Smith (Graduated) - 20.6 pts, 4.5 rebs, 5.1 assists, 1.2 steals
- Kyle Singler (Graduated) - 16.9 pts, 6.8 rebs
- Casey Peters ( Graduated) - 0.3 rebs (10 games)

Top Returners:
- Seth Curry - 9.0 pts, 1.8 rebs, 2.0 assists
- Andre Dawkins - 8.1 pts, 1.9 rebs

Duke Embarrasses UNCG

UNCG 62 - Duke 108

News & Record
News & Observer
UNCG Athletics
Duke Athletics


Coach K got win 880. UNCG got embarrassed in front of a national TV audience. I got to listen to whole thing from the middle of High Point Rd because the schedulers at the Greensboro Coliseum don't own a calender. When I get over my rage at the morons who thought a wrestling tournament, high school basketball tournament and major college game should be played on the same night, I'll write more about it. Until then I'll just call everyone associated with this debacle idiots.

#1 Duke (11-0) @ UNCG (0-11)

When: Wednesday, December 29 7 pm
Where: Greensboro Coliseum (7,617/23,500)
TV: ESPNU

Duke Athletics
Duke Basketball Report
Duke Forum - Scout
Duke Forum - Rivals

Spartan Notes:
- Last time out, Justin Harper's 17 points helped Richmond outlast several pushes by UNCG, 63-53. Aloysius Henry put up 12 points and 10 rebounds. Trevis Simpson led UNCG with 14 points.
- Tonight's game is the 2nd game of a 5 game home stand for UNCG. After the Blue Devils, UNCG will host Samford, Chattanooga and Elon.
- Duke marks the 6th ACC opponent UNCG will face this season. So far the Spartans have lost to Florida State, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Wake Forest and Clemson. The last 3 of those games were played on the road. Miami (Fla) will visit the Greensboro Coliseum on Feb 15.
- UNCG has found itself with chances late in its last 2 ACC contests. It took a good defensive stand for Wake Forest to turn back UNCG, 69-67. The Spartans then turned around and mounted a furious comeback against Clemson. UNCG trimmed a 21 point halftime deficit down to 2 before before the Tigers were able to hang on to win 71-61.
- Henry leads UNCG in scoring (11.6) and rebounding (6.1). Kyle Randall is averaging 11.4 points and a team best 3.7assists.
- For the year, UNCG is shooting 40.7 from the field, 35.5 from behind the arc and 66.8% from the free throw line.

Blue Devil Notes:
- Last game, Kyle Singler's 24 points help Duke to cruise past Elon 98-72 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. With the win, Duke head coach Mike Krzyewski tied Dean Smith for second on the all-time coaching victories list.
- The Blue Devils come into this season as the defending national champions. Duke defeated Bulter last spring in Indianapolis to capture their 4th NCAA title.
- Duke defeated UNCG 96-62 at Cameron Indoor Stadium to open the 2009-2010 season for both teams. Ben Stywall led UNCG with 19 points and 8 rebounds.
- Tonight's contest could mark a major milestone for Duke's Coach K. A win would give him sole possession of second place on the All-time wins list with 880. That is only 22 wins behind Krzyewski's mentor, Bobby Knight.
- Duke will be playing it's only true road non-conference game tonight. The Blue Devils have played Marquette, Bulter, Oregon, and #4 Kansas State all at neutral sites.
- Duke's super freshman Kyrie Irving is out indefinitely with an injury. Irving is averaging a team best 17.4 points and 5.1 assists per game.
- Nolan Smith is averaging 17.1 points and a team best 5.4 assists. Mason Plumlee leads Duke in rebounding (7.7). Singler is averaging 17.0 points and 5.5 rebounds.
- For the year, Duke is shooting 50.0% from the field, 44.0% from behind the arc and 74.3%from the free throw line.

My Thoughts
Let me start by saying that on paper there is no way that this game should be less than a 40 point Blue Devil win. Duke is the #1 team in the country and in the few years that I've been doing this blog, I've never seen a team shooting this well. They have 3 different players averaging over 17 points per game. Every number I read is just unbelievable. Plus, Duke will want to win this game for their coach.

But every once in a while there are some unbelievable upsets. Little bitty Chaminade beat Virginia and Ralph Sampson. Can tonight be the night where little 'ol winless UNCG steps up and beats the mighty undefeated Blue Devils? Well, they are coming off a break and Christmas holiday. Maybe they will come out flat and UNCG can find some confidence to build on. Anything is possible. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Gop Spartans !!!

UNCG on TV Seven times

Spartan basketball will have 7 games shown on various television networks. This is the most ever for UNCG men's basketball. Below, I have listed the game and network ...

11/14 FSU @ UNCG FSN-South & FSN-Florida
11/21 Va Tech @ UNCG Comcast SportsNet & NESN
12/8 UNCG @ Maryland Comcast SportsNet
12/15 UNCG @ Wake Forest ESPNU
12/19 UNCG @ Clemson FSN-South
12/29 Duke @ UNCG ESPNU
2/19 UNCG @ Elon SportsSouth

UNCG Offering 5-Game Ticket Plan

UNCG is offering ticket plans (called "Gimme 5") for this season in men's basketball. It's an option for people who might not want a whole season ticket package. Here's how it works ...

Everyone gets:
- Duke

Blue Game (pick 1):
- FSU
- Miami
- Virginia Tech

Yellow Game (pick 3):
- NC A&T
- Furman
- Richmond
- Samford
- Chattanooga
- Elon
- Davidson
- Ga Southern
- App State
- Citadel
- Western Carolina

The prices are $45 (upper level) and $65 (lower level) per seat.

New Schedule Released

UNCG has released it's 2010-2011 basketball schedule. There are 15 home games including restarting a rivalry with a crosstown rival. Times haven't been finalized and and I'm sure that TV can move dates if needed. Also, tomorrow is the last day to renew season tickets (which, sorry guys, the new baby is keeping me from doing this year). Single game tickets go on sale October 22 through Ticketmaster.

Nov. 12 @ VCU
Nov. 14 Florida State
Nov. 21 Va Tech
Nov. 27 @ ECU
Nov 29 NC A&T
Dec. 2 @ Wofford
Dec. 6 Furman
Dec. 8 @ Maryland
Dec. 15 @ Wake Forest
Dec. 18 @ Clemson
Dec. 22 Richmond
Dec. 29 Duke
Jan. 6 Samford
Jan. 8 Chattanooga
Jan. 10 Elon
Jan. 13 @ App State
Jan. 17 Davidson
Jan. 20 Ga Southern
Jan. 27 @ Chattanooga
Jan. 29 @ Samford
Feb. 2 App State
Feb. 5 @ Western Carolina
Feb. 7 Citadel
Feb. 12 @ College of Charleston
Feb. 15 Miami (FL)
Feb. 19 @ Elon
Feb. 21 Western Carolina
Feb. 24 @ Ga Southern
Feb. 26 @ Davidson
March 4-7 SoCon Tournament*

* Chattanooga, TN

Spartans fall at #9 Duke

UNCG 62 - Duke 96

News & Record
Durham Herald
UNCG Athletics
Duke Athletics

Box score

I've decided to do the post game articles a little different this year. I think my "good, bad & ugly" approach last year was a little too pessimistic. This season, I'll go with "positives & negatives".

The score was lopsided on Friday, but UNCG played well against probably the best team they'll see all year. Not to mention playing a lot of young guys in a very hostile environment.

Before I get on to my thoughts on the game, I want to tell everyone to go check out Chancellor Brady's twitter page. Her in game commentary was awesome.

Positives
- Ben was Ben --- Ben Stywall (19 points & 8 rebs) did what he always does. He scored in a lot of different ways and seemed to be around every rebound in the second half.
-Guard play --- The first time I saw one of UNCG's guards penetrate to the basket, I nearly fell over. It happened more times against Duke than it did all of last year. I thought all of the guards did some good things.
- Poise in a tough environment --- Being down 21 point at the half, UNCG could have really mailed it in for the second half. Instead they came out and fought hard. There were times that last season's squad seemed disinterested after they got down. With the hard OOC schedule that this team has, I really hope they can continue showing this kind of resiliency.
- Freshmen --- Randall, KVD and Cole all had some very good moments and showed why they were well thought of by various recruiting services.

Negatives
- We couldn't get taller during the game --- Obviously, I'm joking here. However, Duke's size really beat up the Spartans. Even when forced into tough/bad shots, the Blue Devils would be waiting for second chance points.
- Bad turnovers early --- Early in the game UNCG made some bad passes that led to easy Duke points. When playing good teams, the Spartans have got to make them work for all of their points.

Hopefully, UNCG can take it's positives and put up a better fight on Tuesday in Blacksburg. Go Spartans !!!

UNCG (0-0) @ #9 Duke (0-0)

When: Friday, November 13 7 pm
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314)
TV: Fox Sports Net

Duke Athletics
Duke Basketball Report (DBR)
Duke Forum (Scout)
Duke Forum (Rivals)

UNCG Athletics Preview

Spartan Notes:
- UNCG is coming of a miserable season in 2008-2009. The Spartans went 5-25 and lost in the first round of the Southern Conference tournament.
- Even though there were no seniors on last season's roster, UNCG lost 3 players over the off season. Damian Eargle (Youngstown State), Daniel Oliver (St. Leo) and Landon Clement (NC Central) all transferred in the summer.
- The Spartans brought in a very nice recruiting class for this season. Korey VanDussen (Zeeland, MI), Kyle Randall (Youngstown, OH), Brian Cole (Dacula, GA) and Taylor Hoffer (Poulsbo, WA) are new to the 2009-2010 squad. Randall was the 2008-2009 Pennsylvania Class A player of the year. ESPN ranked Cole in their top 30 of centers last season. VanDussen finished 3rd in voting for Michigan's Mr. Basketball. Hoffer was a 3 star rated recruit by Rivals. All four guys were nominated for the McDonald's All-American Game.
- Unfortunately, Hoffer will have to redshirt this season after suffering a leg injury.
- East Carolina transfer Brandon Evans is available to play this season after sitting out the 2008-2009 season.
- Evans scored a game high 16 points in last Saturday's Blue-Gold Scrimmage. Kendall Toney led his team with 14 points. Ben Stywall (15), VanDussen (14), Pete Brown (12), Cole (12) and Mikko Kiovisto (11) all scored in double figures. Stywall and Darius Seller had a game high 6 rebounds.
- Elhanan Bone is listed as out for this game.
- UNCG has never beat a ranked team.
- Koivisto led UNCG in scoring (12.4) and assists(2.4) last season. Ben Stywall was the team leader in rebounds (8.4).
- Last season UNCG shot from the 39.8% field, 31.4% from behind the arc and 64.8% from the free throw line.


Blue Devils Notes:
- Last season, Duke went 30-7 and made it to the "Sweet Sixteen" of the NCAA Tournament before failing to Villanova in the regional semifinals. Duke won the ACC Tournament.
- Duke sits currently at #9 in the AP poll. They are one spot higher at #8 in the ESPN/USA Today poll.
- The Blue Devils lost one of their biggest contributors, Gerald Henderson, to the NBA. Henderson is currently playing for the Charlotte Bobcats.
- Duke returns 7 players who averaged double digit minutes last season. Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer averaged playing over 30 minutes a game last season.
- Elliot Williams (Memphis) transferred during the off season to be closer to his sick mother.
- According to Scout, Duke brought in 3 of the top 10 players in the country for this season. Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee were rated as 5 star prospects, and Andre Dawkins was a 4 star prospect.
- The Blue Devils starting PG, Nolan Smith, will be suspended for this game. Smith participated in an unsanctioned basketball game and was suspended for the first 2 games of Duke's regular season.
- Singler led Duke in scoring (16.5) and rebounding (7.7) last season. Scheyer led Duke in assists (2.8).
- Last season, Duke shot 44.4% from the floor, 34.9% from behind the arc and 72.8% from the free throw line.


My Thoughts
This game is pretty straight forward. UNCG has to play a perfect game and hope that Duke is sleep walking. Even then, it might not be enough to overcome playing in one the most hostile environments in college basketball. Duke has a huge size advantage. They will probably only start one player under 6'-5". UNCG may only start 1 player over 6'-5". However, Duke is very thin at the guard spot without Nolan Smith. In their exhibition tune-up for this game they struggled in the first half without having Nolan in the game. Maybe UNCG's improved guards can disrupt Duke and keep the Spartans in the game.


UNCG plays a brutal stretch to open the season. So, I'd really like to see them play well enough in this game to come away with some confidence to carry over into the next few weeks. Also coming away injury free would be nice. The freshmen should take away some great experience knowing they will not play in a tougher venue the rest of the season.

Go Spartans !!!

UPDATE: The News & Observer is reporting that Duke freshman Mason Plumlee is out indefinitely with a fractured wrist.

Blue Devil Notes

Since our first opponent is Duke (Nov. 13th, FSN) I thought I'd post some recent information on the Blue Devils. To read the latest on Duke, take a trip over to the Duke Basketball Report.

- Duke defeated Pfeiffer (Division II) 128-70 in their first exhibition game. Kyle Singler scored 21 points. Freshman Mason Plumlee scored 18 points and pulled down 12 rebounds.

- The Blue Devil's won their second exhibition game against the defending Division II champions Findlay, 84-48. Kyle Singler led Duke with 20 points.

- Duke's starting PG, Nolan Smith will not be available for the first 2 Duke games because he played in an unsanctioned game this summer.

Smith will miss the first two games of the regular season for partaking in an unsanctioned summer league event near his home in Washington, D.C. Duke's junior guard forgot to clear his participation in the games with the school's compliance department, which caused a problem when Smith told the Blue Devils' coaching staff upon his return to campus for the second summer school session.

Roster is Official

UNCGspartans.com now has the updated 2009-2010 roster on their site. This isn't anything major, and there are no changes that haven't been long documented. I'm simply posting it b/c I'm starving for some basketball news. I'll update the website with the newest player and coaches roster soon. Also I'll be adding a "Countdown to Duke" clock soon. In case you were wondering, it's 5 weeks as of this coming Friday.

Another UNCG Game on TV

Add another UNCG game to your TV listings. The Southern Conference announced it's TV lineup for the 2009-2010 men's basketball season today. In addition to UNCG's games with Duke, Clemson & NC State, the Feb 20th game at the Citadel will also be shown. Here's the full schedule.

SoCon Men's Basketball Telecast Schedule
Nov. 13 UNC Greensboro at Duke 7:00 p.m. FOX Sports South
Nov. 20 Clemson at UNC Greensboro 7:00 p.m. FOX Sports South
Dec. 14 Georgia Tech at Chattanooga 7:00 p.m. FOX Sports South
Dec. 31 NC State at UNC Greensboro 7:00 p.m. FOX Sports South
Jan. 9 Appalachian State at Davidson 2:00 p.m. SportSouth
Jan. 16 College of Charleston at Chattanooga 2:30 p.m. SportSouth
Jan. 23 Davidson at Georgia Southern 2:00 p.m. SportSouth
Jan. 30 Furman at Wofford 3:00 p.m. SportSouth
Feb. 6 Samford at College of Charleston 4:00 p.m. SportSouth
Feb. 13 The Citadel at Elon 6:00 p.m. SportSouth
Feb. 20 UNC Greensboro at The Citadel 1:00 p.m. SportSouth
Feb. 27 Chattanooga at Western Carolina 3:00 p.m. SportSouth
March 7 Conference Tournament Semifinal 6:00 p.m. SportSouth
March 7 Conference Tournament Semifinal 8:30 p.m. SportSouth

3 Games on TV (at least)

Yesterday, 3 UNCG games were picked up by FSN South. The season opener at Duke (11/13), the home opener against Clemson (11/20) and the New Year's Eve clash with NC State will all be shown on FSN. So, not only has the move to coliseum helped UNCG in recruiting and scheduling, but now in TV exposure.

SportSouth has yet to announce it's game lineup for "SoCon Saturday". I would expect at least 1-2 UNCG games to appear there. Last season, SS showed 2 games (College of Charleston & Elon). I also expect ESPN-U to look at picking up another Spartan game too. Last season UNCG's game at Princeton appeared on the network.

It's pretty nice to see that we're talking about 5-6 UNCG games appearing on TV. Now, we need to pack the coliseum.

Links & OOC Scheduling

Now that I have some free time for the next couple of months, I'm going to try to exchange links with a few more college basketball websites. Feel free to send me sites that you think I should check out. I'm going to start by contacting websites of teams that UNCG is playing this upcoming season.

Which brings me to my to my next point. I'm adding a new space for confirmed out of conference opponents. I'll use this post to point out where I found these teams from. Hopefully by the time the real schedule comes out, we'll already have a good portion of it figured out. If anyone comes across a link or knows something that they'd like to share, email me.

- NC State, ECU & Princeton - We've known about these 3 for a while. All three games will be at the Greensboro Coliseum.
- Duke, Clemson, Maryland, Virginia Tech & Wake Forest - The article points out that the Duke game is in Cameron (11/14). Other than that game, it's unknown where the rest of these will be played.
- NC A&T (rumored) - I'm going to leave this one off the list because the article only vaguely says that the series will be restarted.
- Richmond, VCU & Charlotte (rumored) - The article just says Barakat is working on these teams. I also believe these are the same teams he mentioned at the press conference in December.