2009-10 Upstate Men’s Basketball Spartans
2008-09 In Review Game 7 Boston College 67, Upstate 55
Game 8 Saint Louis 55, Upstate 38
Game 9 Fresno State 72, Upstate 47
USC Upstate held Boston College’s standout guard Tyrese Rice scoreless for just the second time in his career, held a lead for much of the first half and got a strong performance out of Bobby Davis before falling by 12 to the Eagles in the Conte Forum. Upstate joined Duke as the only other team to hold Rice scoreless in his career at BC, and that game was during the senior’s freshman season in 2005-06. However, Tyler Roche and Joe Trapani stepped up to be keys for BC, and the Eagles needed every bit they could give to down Upstate. Trapani supplied the early offense for Boston College. He scored the Eagles’ first eight points, including two three-pointers. However, Upstate used a balanced scoring attack to match BC early on. De’Marion Gordon’s three with 13:58 to play tied the game at 12-12 and Davis’ jumper just inside the arc gave the Spartans a 14-12 lead at the 13:27 mark. After Boston College tied the game at 14-14, Upstate went on a 7-1 run to extend its lead to 21-15 at the 11:34 mark. Gordon had five straight points in the spurt, nailing a three-pointer and coming up with a steal and layup to open the six-point advantage. BC came out of the under eight media timeout with more energy than it had shown in the first 12 minutes of the game. Roche nailed a three-pointer and Cori Raji converted off of an offensive rebound to get the Eagles within one, 24-23. However, Josh Chavis nailed a three-pointer to give the Spartans a four-point advantage. Upstate grabbed the lead at the 13:21 mark and kept it for most of the rest of the first half. That was until Roche caught fire. He nailed back-to-back three-pointers that turned a 27-26 deficit into a 32-27 lead with 3:32 to play. The spurt coincided with Upstate’s inability to score as the Spartans went without a bucket or point from the 6:50 mark until Davis’ layup with 2:32 to play. BC took a 34-29 lead at the half. BC’s sense of urgency was noticeable as the teams started the second half. The Eagles picked up its intensity on the defensive end of the court, holding Upstate to just one field goal in the first three minutes of play to open a 39-31 lead. Upstate, though, cut the lead to three, 40-37, on a steal and dunk by Davis with 16:18 to play in the game. However, the Spartans could not get any closer and BC increased its advantage to 11 points by outscoring Upstate 10-2 over the next six minutes. The Eagles took their biggest lead at 12 points after a Biko Paris three-pointer with 8:41 to play and matched it two more times the rest of the way. Davis had a tremendous game for Upstate, tallying a doubledouble with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Saint Louis basketball games are typically low-scoring affairs and Wednesday night was no difference as the Billikens used solid defense and offensive rebounding to take a 55-38 victory over USC Upstate in the Chaifetz Arena in the first game of the four-game Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic. The 38 points scored by Upstate tied the second-lowest scoring output in school history and was the lowest since the Spartans fell, 41-40, to Tusculum on Dec. 10, 2001. Saint Louis took a 21-17 lead into halftime. When the Billikens came out of the break, they used two key offensive rebounds to score its first five points of the second half on second-chance opportunities. The offensive glass allowed Saint Louis to open a 26-19 lead. The Billikens went on to build a 13-point lead early in the second half. Upstate was able to cut the lead to 10 points, but could get no closer as Saint Louis went on for the 17-point win. Saint Louis outscored Upstate 14-0 in second-chance points for the game, coming away with 14 offensive rebounds. The Billikens also forced Upstate into 13 turnovers and scored 16 points off Spartan miscues. With Davis on the bench for nine minutes of the first half after picking up his second foul at with 16:32 to play before halftime, Upstate was in for a battle to find offensive production. However, the Spartans were able to weather the storm and when the senior forward was inserted back into the lineup with 7:51 to play, the Spartans seemed to get a bounce in their step. Nick Schneiders took over the offensive load midway through the first half. After Saint Louis used Upstate’s poor shooting to build a 199 lead, Schneiders’ gritty play down low helped bring the Spartans back into the game. He converted two free throws with 5:47 to play to break a more than five-minute scoring drought and end the Billikens’ 15-2 run. Schneiders went on to score six of Upstate’s final eight points of the half to get within four, 21-17, at the break. Upstate also picked up its defensive intensity, limiting Saint Louis to just one basket in the final 6:30. In one stretch, Upstate forced two missed shots and two turnovers as it rallied to cut the lead to 19-17 with 3:31 to play. Josh Chavis came up with a steal and fed De’Marion Gordon for a breakaway layup during the run 8-0 run. Schneiders had a solid night for the Spartans, finishing with 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots. Despite finishing 4-of-14 from the floor, he had several strong moves to the basket to create scoring opportunities. Davis finished with 11 points and five rebounds.
Bobby Davis finished with his third double-double of the season, but Fresno State made a decisive run coming out of halftime and used its three-point shooting to distance itself from USC Upstate as the Bulldogs took a 72-47 victory over the Spartans in the Save Mart Center in both team’s second game of the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic. The adversity the team has faced since leaving St. Louis included having a flight cancelled in Seattle on the way to Oakland. The cancellation caused the team’s bags to be delayed getting to the travelling party with some of the players not getting their bags until earlier Saturday and some of the coaches and staff still missing bags. Upstate dug itself a hole early by connecting on just three of its first 18 shots in the game and committing six turnovers in the first 12 minutes of play as Fresno State opened a 22-8 lead. Early on, Upstate was able to withstand its cold shooting from the floor as Fresno missed shots, often from right at the rim. However, the Bulldogs hit their stride midway through the half and built the 14-point advantage. After the under-eight media timeout and with Fresno State leading by 14, Upstate rattled off seven straight points to get within seven, 22-15, with 5:45 to play before halftime. The spurt energized the Spartans and set the tone for the rest of the half. After missing 15 of its first 18 shots in the game, Upstate closed out the half 8-of-14 to spark the comeback. Bobby Davis’ fastbreak layup at the 2:22 mark brought Upstate within one, 26-25. Despite making just one basket the rest of the half, the Spartans went into the intermission down just four, 31-27. Davis was solid in the half to lead Upstate even after picking up two fouls in the first five minutes of the game. He finished the half with eight points and five rebounds to lead the way for the Spartans. Josh Chavis hit a pair of three-pointers to help the Upstate cause as well. Just as in the first half, Upstate did not shoot the ball consistently enough to open the half and Fresno State capitalized. Unlike the first half, though, Upstate was unable to make a run and Fresno State maintained its consistency from the floor, hitting over 50 percent from the field for most of the half to spell the difference in the game. Fresno State opened the second half by outscoring Upstate 10-1 to open a 41-28 lead. The Bulldogs connected on three three-pointers in the opening four minutes and after Brian Seals tipped in his own miss, Fresno State held a 46-30 lead. Upstate could not counter Fresno State’s tempo early in the second half.
Upstate (0-7) FG 21 Uzochukwu 2-7 23 Davis 9-16 14 Schneiders 2-9 20 Chavis 2-8 33 Cook 1-6 13 Boros 0-0 24 Gordon 3-11 25 Posey 1-2 34 Rogers 2-4 Team Totals 22-63
Upstate (0-8) FG 21 Uzochukwu 2-4 23 Davis 5-9 14 Schneiders 4-14 20 Chavis 2-6 13 Boros 0-1 22 Reiff 0-0 24 Gordon 3-6 25 Posey 0-3 30 Preston 0-0 33 Cook 0-3 34 Rogers 0-1 Team Totals 16-47
Upstate (0-9) FG 21 Uzochukwu 1-7 23 Davis 5-15 14 Schneiders 2-7 13 Boros 3-8 20 Chavis 2-11 4 Rich 0-0 24 Gordon 1-1 25 Posey 2-9 33 Cook 0-3 34 Rogers 3-4 Team Totals 19-65
December 14, 2008 Boston, Massachusetts
3FG 0-0 0-1 0-0 2-5 0-2 0-0 2-6 0-0 0-0 4-14
December 17, 2008 St. Louis, Missouri
FT R F Pts A T B S Min 0-3 5 2 4 1 0 2 1 27 1-4 13 5 19 1 1 0 3 35 1-2 5 4 5 0 1 2 2 30 2-2 1 1 8 1 0 0 0 23 0-0 3 1 2 2 4 0 1 23 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 2-2 2 1 10 3 0 0 1 21 0-0 2 1 2 1 2 0 1 17 1-2 1 2 5 0 1 1 0 22 2 7-15 34 17 55 10 9 5 9 200
Boston Col. (8-2) FG 3FG FT 11 Raji 6-10 0-1 1-3 12 Trapani 6-9 3-4 1-1 52 Souhern 2-7 0-0 6-13 4 Rice 0-4 0-2 0-0 15 Sanders 2-8 1-4 0-0 00 Jackson 1-5 1-4 0-0 5 Paris 1-3 1-1 0-0 21 Roche 5-7 5-7 2-2 30 Elmore 0-1 0-0 0-0 55 Dunn 0-0 0-0 0-0 Team Totals 23-54 11-23 10-19 Halftime: Boston College 34, Upstate 29
R F 12 4 6 0 7 1 3 3 1 4 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 2 2 5 39 15
Pts A T 13 4 0 16 0 1 10 1 1 0 7 6 5 0 0 3 0 2 3 4 2 17 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 67 18 14
B 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 6
S Min 1 31 2 27 1 27 0 25 3 25 0 11 0 15 0 17 0 9 1 13 8 200
3FG 0-1 0-0 0-0 1-3 0-1 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 1-7
FT R F 0-0 1 2 1-2 5 3 4-4 7 4 0-0 3 0 0-0 0 0 0-0 0 0 0-0 2 0 0-0 3 1 0-0 0 0 0-0 3 4 0-0 1 0 4 5-6 29 14
Pts 4 11 12 5 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 38
A T 1 2 2 2 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 7 14
B 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
December 20, 2008 Fresno, California
S Min 1 20 1 28 1 35 0 30 0 11 0 1 1 22 1 15 0 3 0 15 0 9 5 200
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FT R F Pts 0-0 4 3 2 3-4 11 2 13 0-1 3 1 4 0-0 3 3 9 0-0 2 2 6 0-0 1 0 0 0-0 1 1 2 0-0 5 2 5 0-0 2 3 0 0-0 4 1 6 4 3-5 40 18 47
Fresno State (6-5) FG 3FG FT 15 Golubovic 5-10 3-4 0-0 24 George 6-9 3-5 3-4 30 Seay 4-9 3-3 2-4 2 Cartwright 3-4 1-2 0-0 5 O’Neil 4-8 1-5 4-6 1 Ladd 0-1 0-0 1-2 3 Ambers 0-1 0-1 0-0 11 Green 0-4 0-3 0-0 21 Seals 3-7 0-0 1-2 32 Sperling 0-3 0-1 0-0 42 Webster 0-1 0-0 0-2 Team Totals 25-57 11-24 11-20 Halftime: Fresno State 31, Upstate 27
Saint Louis (5-4) FG 3FG FT R F Pts A T B S Min 14 Conklin 2-7 0-0 1-1 5 1 5 2 2 0 1 27 33 Reed 5-9 0-0 0-2 2 3 10 0 1 0 1 25 3 Micthell 3-5 1-2 0-0 4 0 7 3 0 0 2 35 21 Lisch 4-12 1-5 1-2 3 1 10 0 2 0 0 37 25 Liddell 5-13 0-3 2-4 11 0 12 5 2 0 3 34 15 Eberhardt 4-6 0-1 1-1 2 2 9 1 0 1 0 24 41 Thompson 1-3 0-0 0-0 4 4 2 0 2 0 0 15 44 Craig 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Team 4 Totals 24-56 2-11 5-10 37 11 55 11 9 1 7 200 Halftime: Saint Louis 21, Upstate 17
54
3FG 0-2 0-1 0-0 3-8 2-8 0-0 0-0 1-4 0-1 0-0 6-24
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R 2 10 6 0 4 1 1 3 12 2 1 4 46
F 2 2 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 9
A T 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 3 5 4 0 0 0 3 1 2 0 1 1 1 8 17
B S Min 0 3 32 0 1 30 2 2 20 0 1 21 0 2 36 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 1 24 0 0 12 0 0 21 2 10 200
Pts A T 13 3 1 18 1 0 13 0 2 7 3 0 13 4 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 1 7 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 72 15 13
B S Min 1 3 21 0 1 33 3 2 19 0 0 21 0 2 32 0 1 19 0 0 3 0 0 18 2 0 20 0 0 8 0 1 6 6 10 200