The Bucs, who are tied for the nation’s longest winning streak with Cincinnati, face a UNCG team tonight that has claimed eight out of its last nine on the hardwood, including having posted a 13-1 record on its home floor this season, and a 12-1 record at the Greensboro Coliseum. UNCG played on its secondary home floor—Fleming Gym— on Saturday in a 65-48 win over Western Carolina.
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| Mladen Armus and Belgrade, Serbia native posted 13 points and six boards in the first meeting between the two rivals/Photo Courtesy of ETSU athletics. |
Monday night’s game not only gives ETSU a chance for a school-record win streak, which would eclipse the 2003-04 Bucs, but it will also give UNCG a chance to produce consecutive 20-win campaigns for the first time since joining the Division I ranks in 1993-94.
Coming into the matchup, the Spartans have posted a 44-16 record since the start of the 2016-17 season, and ETSU has a 49-12 over the past two campaigns. The Spartans are 24-6 in SoCon games, and the Bucs are 27-4 in league games, having yet to taste defeat against a league foe this season.
After losing both regular-season meetings to the Spartans last season, ETSU has claimed two-straight wins since, including a 68-58 win in Johnson City back in early January, while also winning the 2017 General Shale Southern Conference Tournament title game by taking a 79-74 win over the Spartans in Asheville.
Matchups To Watch:
In a matchup between the SoCon’s two top defensive squads, it’s only natural to keep an eye on the big men, and the Spartans and Bucs have two of the best in the league in terms of rim protectors.
ETSU’s seven-foot center Peter Jurkin (8.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG) and UNCG’s 6-10 James Dickey represent two of the league’s very best centers. DIckey leads the SoCon in a pair of different categories, including blocked shots (47/2.0 BPG) and rebounding (8.4 RPG). The wildcard in the game for the Bucs might be Mladen Armus (5.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG), who played very well against UNCG in the first meeting between the two. The native of Belgrade, Serbia posted 13 points and six boards in the 10-point win by the Bucs over the Spartans earlier this season.
Then you also have the backcourt matchups to watch, and particularly the one between UNCG’s Francis Alonso and ETSU’s do-everything guard Desonta Bradford. Alonso will likely draw the defensive assignment of ETSU’s Jermaine Long, who, along with Furman’s Daniel Fowler, is probably the best on-the-ball defender in the SoCon.
Bradford, of course, is probably the league’s leading candidate for player of the year to this point, ranking in the top ten in several categories. He comes into tonight’s clash with the Spartans ranking third in scoring (15.2 PPG), eighth in rebounding (5.8 RPG), 10th in assists (3.5 APG), ninth in free throw percentage (75.2%), third in field goal percentage (49.1%) 10th in assists (3.5 APG), and second in steals (46/1.8 SPG).
Alonso has been one of the league’s most prolific three-point specialists and scorers this season. The junior from Malaga, Spain comes in second in the SoCon in scoring average (16.4 PPG) and third in three-point field goals made (86/3.4 PG).
Getting Defensive:
In nine of 11 conference games this season, the Spartans have held foes under 70 points in a game, and have only lost once to a conference foe when holding a team under 70 this season, with the only team claiming a win over the Spartans being ETSU early in league play.
As a team, Bucs come in ranking tops in the league in blocked shots (4.1 BPG), three-point field goal percentage defense (31.1%) and field goal percentage defense (39.6%), and rank second in scoring defense (65.2 PPG).
Meanwhile, the Spartans lead the SoCon in scoring defense (62.8 PPG) and rank second in field goal percentage defense (41.6%), tied for second in three-point field goal percentage defense (31.6%) and blocked shots (3.4 BPG). One item of note to keep an eye tonight will be rebounding, with the Spartans leading the league in rebounding margin, at +6.6.
Significance of a Victory:
—For ETSU, it would pretty much lock up a second-straight regular-season Southern Conference crown for Steve Forbes’ crew. It would also maintain the season’s longest NCAA Division I winning streak, and would mark a school-record 17th-straight win for a Buccaneer basketball tradition that rivals most at the Division I level.
—For UNCG, it mark a second-straight 20-win season and would mark the first time that has happened since joining the highest level of college basketball in 1993-94. It would also keep the Spartans in the running, at least, for a league regular-season title, but they would need help along the way.
Who Wins: ETSU 69, UNCG 66
Other League Notes:
—Furman’s 76-52 win over Wofford brought the Paladins into a tie for third-place in the league standings. It marked Furman’s first significant win over one of the league’s so-called upper-echelon foes, which includes ETSU, UNCG and Wofford.
—Samford’s 116-103 win over The Citadel gave the Birmingham version of the Bulldogs the season sweep of The Citadel. Zane Najdawi’s 33 points represent his second 30-point game of the season, with both coming in SoCon play.
—Mercer’s 73-65 win over Chattanooga at Hawkins Arena Saturday marked the Bears second-in-a-row. In the other huge SoCon matchup Monday night, Bob Hoffman’s Bears travel to the Pete Hanna Center to face Samford with huge Southern Conference Tournament seeding implications.
—Wofford’s 52 points in Saturday’s loss at Furman matched a season low. The 21 first-half points eclipsed a previous low 22 first-half points in a loss at Texas Tech earlier this season.
Power Rankings:
ETSU
UNCG
Furman
Wofford
Mercer
Western Carolina
Samford
The Citadel
Chattanooga
VMI
Coming into the matchup, the Spartans have posted a 44-16 record since the start of the 2016-17 season, and ETSU has a 49-12 over the past two campaigns. The Spartans are 24-6 in SoCon games, and the Bucs are 27-4 in league games, having yet to taste defeat against a league foe this season.
After losing both regular-season meetings to the Spartans last season, ETSU has claimed two-straight wins since, including a 68-58 win in Johnson City back in early January, while also winning the 2017 General Shale Southern Conference Tournament title game by taking a 79-74 win over the Spartans in Asheville.
Matchups To Watch:
In a matchup between the SoCon’s two top defensive squads, it’s only natural to keep an eye on the big men, and the Spartans and Bucs have two of the best in the league in terms of rim protectors.
ETSU’s seven-foot center Peter Jurkin (8.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG) and UNCG’s 6-10 James Dickey represent two of the league’s very best centers. DIckey leads the SoCon in a pair of different categories, including blocked shots (47/2.0 BPG) and rebounding (8.4 RPG). The wildcard in the game for the Bucs might be Mladen Armus (5.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG), who played very well against UNCG in the first meeting between the two. The native of Belgrade, Serbia posted 13 points and six boards in the 10-point win by the Bucs over the Spartans earlier this season.
Then you also have the backcourt matchups to watch, and particularly the one between UNCG’s Francis Alonso and ETSU’s do-everything guard Desonta Bradford. Alonso will likely draw the defensive assignment of ETSU’s Jermaine Long, who, along with Furman’s Daniel Fowler, is probably the best on-the-ball defender in the SoCon.
Bradford, of course, is probably the league’s leading candidate for player of the year to this point, ranking in the top ten in several categories. He comes into tonight’s clash with the Spartans ranking third in scoring (15.2 PPG), eighth in rebounding (5.8 RPG), 10th in assists (3.5 APG), ninth in free throw percentage (75.2%), third in field goal percentage (49.1%) 10th in assists (3.5 APG), and second in steals (46/1.8 SPG).
Alonso has been one of the league’s most prolific three-point specialists and scorers this season. The junior from Malaga, Spain comes in second in the SoCon in scoring average (16.4 PPG) and third in three-point field goals made (86/3.4 PG).
Getting Defensive:
In nine of 11 conference games this season, the Spartans have held foes under 70 points in a game, and have only lost once to a conference foe when holding a team under 70 this season, with the only team claiming a win over the Spartans being ETSU early in league play.
As a team, Bucs come in ranking tops in the league in blocked shots (4.1 BPG), three-point field goal percentage defense (31.1%) and field goal percentage defense (39.6%), and rank second in scoring defense (65.2 PPG).
Meanwhile, the Spartans lead the SoCon in scoring defense (62.8 PPG) and rank second in field goal percentage defense (41.6%), tied for second in three-point field goal percentage defense (31.6%) and blocked shots (3.4 BPG). One item of note to keep an eye tonight will be rebounding, with the Spartans leading the league in rebounding margin, at +6.6.
Significance of a Victory:
—For ETSU, it would pretty much lock up a second-straight regular-season Southern Conference crown for Steve Forbes’ crew. It would also maintain the season’s longest NCAA Division I winning streak, and would mark a school-record 17th-straight win for a Buccaneer basketball tradition that rivals most at the Division I level.
—For UNCG, it mark a second-straight 20-win season and would mark the first time that has happened since joining the highest level of college basketball in 1993-94. It would also keep the Spartans in the running, at least, for a league regular-season title, but they would need help along the way.
Who Wins: ETSU 69, UNCG 66
Other League Notes:
—Furman’s 76-52 win over Wofford brought the Paladins into a tie for third-place in the league standings. It marked Furman’s first significant win over one of the league’s so-called upper-echelon foes, which includes ETSU, UNCG and Wofford.
—Samford’s 116-103 win over The Citadel gave the Birmingham version of the Bulldogs the season sweep of The Citadel. Zane Najdawi’s 33 points represent his second 30-point game of the season, with both coming in SoCon play.
—Mercer’s 73-65 win over Chattanooga at Hawkins Arena Saturday marked the Bears second-in-a-row. In the other huge SoCon matchup Monday night, Bob Hoffman’s Bears travel to the Pete Hanna Center to face Samford with huge Southern Conference Tournament seeding implications.
—Wofford’s 52 points in Saturday’s loss at Furman matched a season low. The 21 first-half points eclipsed a previous low 22 first-half points in a loss at Texas Tech earlier this season.
Power Rankings:
ETSU
UNCG
Furman
Wofford
Mercer
Western Carolina
Samford
The Citadel
Chattanooga
VMI
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