USC Upstate has had a tough swing of games as of late. Since the last home game back on November 19th, the Spartans have played each of their last 4 games on the road, going 0-4 in that span. In Johnson City for a multi-team event, they went 0 for 2 with an 87-76 loss to the host East Tennessee State and a 98-74 defeat at the hands of Queens University of Charlotte. The Thanksgiving Holiday week started with a trip up to Big Ten country, where the Spartans dropped a 110-77 decision to the Iowa Hawkeyes and ended with a 73-51 setback down in Conway at the hands of Coastal Carolina.
There are several factors that one could look at as the reason for the skid. But, the chief among them is that it is hard to win on the road and even harder when you are facing “non-like” opponents (i.e. teams that are way better than you).
“When you’re on the road, it is tough”, said Upstate head coach Marty Richter. “College basketball is tough when you play on the road . But, when you come back home, the ball goes in easier for you, guys make more plays for each other. You get the home crowd behind you. It is just nice to be within your own friendly confines sometimes.”
The Spartans returned to the friendly confines of The Hodge Center on Wednesday night for a date with the Brevard College Tornados – who hail from the NCAA Division III ranks – with a golden chance to get back in the win column and get some confidence back in themselves after a brutal week. They would go on to do just that with relative ease behind what might be the biggest positive from the game – production from freshmen.
USC Upstate all but put the game away by giving themselves a huge cushion with an 11-2 run that spanned about 5 minutes from about the 17 minute mark of the first half to the 13 minute mark, giving the Spartans a 22-9 edge at the under-12 break. Carmelo Adkins and Karmani Gregory each hit a three pointer in that span to set the tone while Mister Dean put up 4 points of his own on one of his signature highlight dunks and a pair of free throws.
The only time the Spartans truly ever felt any pressure was prior to the final media timeout of the opening 20 minutes, when the Tornados took advantage of a scoreless streak in which Upstate went 1 for 5 from the field. Brevard hit back to back threes and a layup to make for an 8-0 run, cutting the USCU lead to 8 points. However, that deficit would quickly be opened back up as the Spartans closed the first stanza on a 15-2 push spanning the final 4 minutes to take a 46-25 lead to the half.
In the 2nd half, Upstate opened up their lead considerably behind a stretch where Andrew McConnell and Carmelo Adkins hit on back-to-back-to-back triples to make for a 12-2 run between the 2nd and third media timeouts. Brevard would have one more scoring stretch in them as the Spartans went without a basket for 2 minutes ahead of the final timeout, allowing for an 8-0 Tornado run, but the game was already well in hand as USC Upstate cruised to a 91-60 win and their third victory of the season.
The Spartans had 9 players score 6 or more points in the win. Five of those 9 hung double figures. But, what stands out the most is that of those 5, three of them were freshmen.
“They are 20 year old freshmen. And being that they are 20 year old freshmen, they need to be productive”, said Richter. “They’re good players, and it is really helpful to get that kind of production out of them. Carmelo, Mister {Dean}, Chico {Johnson} – they are all good players and they need to be productive for us to win games. The only negative of it is that they had too many turnovers. But, they did an awesome job of attacking the rim. They shot when they were open. But, overall, those freshmen are doing a good job.”
Carmelo Adkins led the team in scoring with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal, drawing high praise from Coach Richter.
“Since the day he got here in June, Carmelo has been a consummate pro. His production marches what it should be. He shows up and puts in the work everyday. Defensively, he is like dynamite for us. He guards the other team’s best players. He knows how to get through screens and understands helpside defense. His understanding of defensive concepts as a freshman is far beyond his years, and on the offensive side of the ball, the game is starting to slow down for him, so his production is even better.”
In addition to Adkins, two other freshmen put up eye-popping numbers. Mister Dean complemented his signature slams with 16 points, 6 rebounds, an assist, and 3 steals while Chico Johnson logged 11 points with 2 boards and a steal. Juniors Andrew McConnell and Brit Harris tallied 10 points each – McConnell with 2 rebounds, an assist, and a steal and Harris with 7 rebounds, a steal, and an assist. Karmani Gregory, Nic Book, Isaiah Skinner, and Daniel Helterhoff were also key producers, combining for 25 points.
The Spartans did not just win the battle in the total points column and make threes (which they made none of in their last game against Coastal, going 0 for 16 from behind the arch, snapping a streak of 911 straight games with a made triple dating back to the 1994-1995 season). They were dominant off the glass as well, out rebounding Brevard 46-27, with thirty-six of those coming on the defensive side of things, which is also a big plus that makes for a happy Coach.
“Getting the rebounds we did tonight, we could start the fast break. We can run down the court quickly in transition and run our offense when our Guards get to rebound. There’s no outlets, which speeds you up – which is good for us since what we are trying to do is establish an identity of getting up and down the court quick and playing with some pace. That was really good for us tonight”, said Richter.
Upstate, now 3-8 overall on the season, will get back to work this weekend with yet another road trip – this time to Cullowhee, NC to take on the Western Carolina Catamounts, who like the Spartans are under new leadership with former Gardner-Webb coach Tim Craft. That contest against a “like opponent”, is sure to be a tough one according to Coach Richter.
“They do some similar things to us. Coach Craft is trying to mold his group just like we are trying to mold ours into what we want them to be as a program. WCU has some good Guards and their ‘bigs’ are long and rangy with the ability to rim run a little bit better than ours. They have the ability to play a variety of different ways on offense. But, we will be prepared. We have seen guys like that before.”
For certain, Upstate will need to have their rebounding from tonight and keep getting the same offensive production if they want to get their second straight win on Saturday when they tilt with the Catamounts Saturday afternoon. Tip-off in that game is set for 3:00 PM.
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