Feb. 13, 2008

Complete Upstate vs. Lipscomb Game Notes in PDF Format

Spartanburg, S.C. - For the first time this season, USC Upstate will take on an A-Sun team for the second time as Lipscomb comes to town Thursday. Upstate enters the game with a 6-19 overall record and a 4-7 mark in the A-Sun. Lipscomb enters the game with a 12-13 overall record and a 6-5 mark in the league. Follow the game online through ASun.TV by visiting the ASun.TV website at www.asun.tv/uscupstate. Get live statistical updates using Gametracker on Upstate's atheltics website at www.upstatespartans.com.

Recapping Florida Gulf Coast
USC Upstate built a 12-point lead at halftime and held a nine-point advantage midway through the second half, but saw Florida Gulf Coast come all the way back and take a 72-69 victory Sunday afternoon in Ft. Myers.

Upstate and FGCU put on an offensive show, both shooting over 50 percent from the field. Upstate shot 53.8 percent from the field, while FGCU shot 54.5 percent. The Spartans committed eight turnovers in the second half. Luke Payne's three-pointer at the buzzer fell short, allowing the Eagles to hold off the Spartans and take the win.

Payne led Upstate with 15 points and five assists, while three other Spartans finished in double figures.

Spartans Begin Homestand To Close Out Season
While Upstate has spent the majority of the season on the road in 2007-08, the Spartans will play three of the final five games at home, starting Thursday against Lipscomb. Belmont comes to town Saturday. Upstate will hit the road next weekend, traveling to Campbell and Gardner-Webb, before playing the season finale on Mar. 1 at home against East Tennessee State.

Davis Reaches Double Figures
For all of the season, Luke Payne was the only Upstate player to average in double figures. He still leads the team in scoring at 14.2 ppg, but Bobby Davis has joined the senior in double figures. With 20 points at Stetson Friday night, Davis raised his scoring average to 10.1 points per outing for the season. It marked the second time in three games that the junior forward has scored 20 or more points. He now averages 10.2 ppg and ranks among the league's leading scorers in the latest statistical report.

Spartans Non-Conference Schedule 18th
Upon completion of the 14-game non-conference schedule on Jan. 2 at Iowa State, USC Upstate's schedule was ranked as the 18th-toughest schedule by Jeff Sagarin in his daily updated strength of schedule index of all 341 Division I teams.

Byrd Would Be No. 3 If...
Senior point guard Jeremy Byrd is used to sitting atop conference or national statistical lists for steals. He led the Peach Belt Conference in steals in each of the last three years and spent over half of the season last year atop the nation in steals in NCAA Division II.

While Upstate is playing in its first season of Division I competition and is in its reclassifying years, the NCAA does not recognize players on teams who are reclassifying on their statistical leader lists. However, if Byrd were eligible, he would rank third in the nation with 3.0 steals per game, trailing Texas-San Antonio's Devin Gibson by 0.4 spg and South Carolina's Devan Downey by 0.2 spg. He does lead the A-Sun in steals, nearly a full steal ahead of No. 2 on the list.

Byrd 26th All-Time In NCAA Steals Category...
Jeremy Byrd now has 340 steals in his standout career at Upstate. The 340 steals ranks 26th all-time in the NCAA in total steals among individuals in all divisions (I, II and III). With three steals Sunday, he passed East Tennessee State's Keith "Mr." Jennings for 26th on the list.

Home Sweet Home
Despite playing just 10 games at home this season, the Spartans will be happy to do so. Upstate has a solid home record, going 58-20 in six years under head coach Eddie Payne.

Hold `Em At 59
USC Upstate is 5-0 when holding opponents under 60 points this season and 1-18 when allowing opponents to score 60 or more. The Spartans claimed wins over Brevard (78-54), SMU (58-56), Gardner-Webb (73-59), North Florida (53-52) and Mercer (75-49) when holding opponents under 60 points.

Breaking The Trend
Upstate did something against Kennesaw State that the team had not accomplished in any game this season, the Spartans won a game despite allowing an opponent to score 60 or more points. Prior to the Kennesaw State game, Upstate was 0-17 in games when the opponent scored 60 or more points.

Spartans Defensive In A-Sun Play
Since beginning A-Sun play, USC Upstate's effort on the defensive end of the court has picked up. The Spartans allowed non-conference opponents to score 74.6 points per outing. In A-Sun games, though, Upstate has clamped down to hold opponents to a 65.6 ppg scoring average. In non-conference play, opponents shot 47.8 percent from the floor, while league opponents are shooting 42.4 percent from the field.

Byrd Feeling Sunny In League Play
Senior point guard Jeremy Byrd has certainly come into his own during A-Sun play this year. Having served a three-game suspension earlier in the season, the Greenville, S.C., native seemingly lost confidence. Since league play began on Jan. 5, though, Byrd has returned to the form he had during his first three seasons when the electrifying player led the team as the floor general. He currently ranks third on the team in scoring during league games at 10.2 ppg. He also averages 3.7 rebounds per outing, has dished out a team-best 38 assists and picked a team-high 28 steals in the seven league games. He has reached double figures in eight of the 11 league games, including a season-high 15 at Belmont. Prior to the start of conference play, he had only reached double figures one time. He is also strong at the free throw line in league play, hitting 72.7 percent (32-of-43) of his shots from the charity stripe.

Three In Double Figures
Three Spartans average in double figures in league games. Payne leads the way at 13.5 ppg, but Bobby Davis and Jeremy Byrd are close behind. Davis, who is second on the team overall with 10.2 ppg, averages 12.1 ppg, while Byrd scores at a 10.6 ppg clip.

Shaking Up The Lineup
Head Coach Eddie Payne has used 10 different starting lineups in 24 games this season. Bobby Davis is the only Spartan to start every game this season. Luke Payne has started 24 of the 25 games this year, his lone missed start coming against IUPUI when he did not start because of a severe thigh bruise. Despite not starting, he played 30 minutes in the game and finished with nine points.

Payne Receives A-Sun Weekly Honor
Senior guard Luke Payne became the first basketball player (men or women) at USC Upstate to receive weekly honors from the Atlantic Sun Conference when he was named the league's player of the week on Dec. 24. Payne received the honor after averaging 18.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game and leading Upstate to their first win over a Division I opponent, a 58-56 victory at SMU (Dec. 18).

Payne Receives BP TOWC Honor
Despite playing the final two games, and part of the first, with a deep thigh bruise at the BP Top of the World Classic Nov. 16-18, starting guard Luke Payne played well enough to garner All-Tournament honors. He scored 43 points in three games, averaging 14.3 points and three rebounds per outing in the tournament. He scored 17 points against Akron and Oregon State and nine against IUPUI.

Payne Receives Sun Bowl Honor
Luke Payne had a tremendous tournament at the State Farm Sun Bowl Tournament in El Paso, Texas, Dec. 21-22. His performance, in particular, in the second game of the tourney against Buffalo not only secured his spot on the All-Tournament team, but it overshadowed a standout two-game performance by teammate Bobby Davis.

Payne finished the UTEP game (Dec. 21) with 11 points, five assists and four rebounds. In the tourney finale against Buffalo the next day, the senior guard went for a career-high 26 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists. He was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.

Payne's efforts overshadowed those of Davis who turned in his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 13 rebounds against UTEP and finished with 13 points and six boards against Buffalo. Davis averaged 12.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in the tournament.

Monumental Win
USC Upstate's 58-56 win at SMU (Dec. 18) was another milestone victory for the Spartans this year. Upstate claimed its first win in the Division era against Brevard on Dec. 6. However, Brevard is a Division II member, making the SMU win the first against a Division I program this year as well as the first win over a Division I opponents in the history of the school.

Upstate has several wins over programs currently competing on the Division I level, but the wins came in the 1970s and 80s when the institutions played in the NAIA before moving to NCAA Division I membership.

Payne Reaches Milestone
Senior guard Luke Payne notched his 1,000th-point at UNC Greensboro (Nov. 24). The Spartanburg High School graduate sank a three-pointer with a little over seven minutes to play in the game to give him 12 points in the contest and 1,000 for his career. He went on to finish with 15 points in the game.

Payne became the 17th player in the history of the storied program to reach the 1,000-point milestone. He currently has 1,288 points in his career and has cracked the top 10 all-time in scoring. He has moved past Jay Free for ninth place on the all-time list as well as recently passing Darren McDuffie (11th), Todd Gambrell (12th), Upstate Athletics Hall of Fame member Mike Smith (12th), Charles Ford (14th), Terrance Gist (15th), Carlos Bryson (16th) and Upstate Athletics Hall of Fame member Willie Murdaugh (17th) on the all-time scoring list.

In addition to his scoring prowess, Payne ranks among the program's all-time leaders in 15 other statistical categories.

Playing No Gimmies
Upstate's ambitious schedule in 2007-08 certainly has no slouches on it. In fact, when you combine the win-loss records of the 17 Division I opponents the Spartans have played so far this year, the opponents are a combined 268 wins. Upstate's non-conference opponents are a combined 152-119 for a winning percentage of .561. The Spartans have played seven teams ranked in the Top 100 in the latest RPI ranking released by the NCAA, and 10 in the Top 150.

In the Mid-Major Top 25 Poll released by CollegeInsider.com, the Spartans have played two teams ranked in the poll. Akron, who gutted out a tough 64-60 victory over Upstate in the first game of the BP Top of the World Classic, is ranked 13th. IUPUI, the second-day opponent of the Spartans in the BP TOWC, is ranked 21st.

USC Upstate's current strength of schedule is ranked as the 169th toughest schedule out of 341 Division I teams by Jeff Sagarin in his daily updated strength of schedule index. The strength of schedule ranking is the tops in the Atlantic Sun. East Tennessee State is second at No. 226. Upstate's strength of schedule peaked at No. 12 as recent as the third week of January.

Upstate Road Warriors
By season's end, USC Upstate will have played 30 games with two-thirds of the games being played away from the G.B. Hodge Center. In fact, the Spartans opened the season playing their first seven games away from the friendly confines of the Hodge Center before playing its home opener against Brevard on Dec. 6. Upstate played 13 of its first 15 games on the road this season. In all, Upstate will travel more than 12,000 miles away from Spartanburg, and nearly 24,000 miles round trip, this season to play 20 games away from home.

Byrd Flies To The Top
Jeremy Byrd collected six steals in the season-opening game at Utah, surpassing Terrance Gist (276) to move atop the all-time steals list at Upstate. Byrd now has 340 picks in his stellar four-year career with the Spartans.

Byrd, from Greenville, leads the Atlantic Sun with 3.0 steals per game, nearly a full steal ahead of second place on the list. He led the Peach Belt Conference in steals the first three years of his collegiate career, recording 94 steals as a reserve his freshman campaign and 90 each as a sophomore and junior.

Hines Gives Schneiders Props
Reigning Southern Conference player of the year and UNC Greensboro standout Kyle Hines gave Upstate center Nick Schneiders praise on his blog. Hines was in the middle of recapping recent action when he talked of Schneider's thunderous dunk over him.

"USC Upstate had a 7-2 player on their team that I had to guard in the game," Hines blogged. "He was the tallest player I had played against. I faired well against him until one play in the second half, he dunked on me pretty bad. Coach (Mike) Dement showed the play like five times during our film session. I must admit it looked really bad on film. The coaches and rest of the team got a good laugh out of that one."

A-Sun Makes Some Noise
If the start if the season is any indication of how good the Atlantic Sun Conference is going to be this year, the league will be tough. Belmont, East Tennessee State, Gardner-Webb, Mercer and Upstate have pulled off impressive wins early in the season. Below is a listing of the notable wins this season by A-Sun schools.

N7--Gardner-Webb def. No. 22 Kentucky, 84-68
N9--Belmont def. Cincinnati, 86-75
N10--Mercer def. No. 18 Southern Cal, 96-81
N19--Belmont def. Alabama, 85-83
D18--USC Upstate def. SMU, 58-56
D21--East Tennessee State def. Georgia, 76-58

Greensboro Newbies Have Solid Pedigrees
When coaches bring in new recruits, they not only look for individual talent, they also look to see how well a player helps their former team and the how well the teams do in competition. Josh Chavis and Mezie Uzochukwu, both from Greensboro, N.C., come to Upstate after strong senior seasons.

Chavis, from Dudley HS, played in the North Carolina East-West All-Star game. He also spent the summer playing for the N.C. Gaters AAU team. He was the starting point guard on the team that won the AAU 19-Under National Championship. Uzochukwu, from Northeast Guilford HS, also played in the North Carolina East-West All-Star game. He finished the game with a team-high 16 points to go along with eight rebounds, leading the West squad to the 81-75 victory and earning MVP honors. He joined a prestigious club of East-West MVP winners, including recent honorees Kevin Swinton and William Graves, both of whom now play in the ACC.

Burrows Brings Experience To Sidelines
First-year assistant coach Bill Burrows is anything but new to the game. The veteran of the sideline has been a head coach on the high school level in North Carolina for nearly 30 years and was an assistant coach at Georgia Tech and Towson. He can tell stories of coaching greats such as Brad Daugherty and Brad Johnson, but his best quality may be his ability to tell stories that both entertain and educate.

Paul Makes Good
Former Spartan starting point guard C.J. Paul is now living the life around the NBA. No, he is not playing in the world's top league, he is serving as the personal assistant/manager for his younger brother, Chris, the former NBA Rookie of Year now in his third season with the New Orleans Hornets.

Scouting Lipscomb
Lipscomb enters Thursday's game with a 12-13 overall record and a 6-5 mark in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Bisons are on a four-game winning streak, having claimed four straight wins over A-Sun southern teams Florida Gulf Coast, Stetson, North Florida and Jacksonville. Lipscombs other two league victories came over Campbell and a 76-74 overtime win over Upstate. The Bisons also have claimed wins this season over San Jose State, Samford, McNeese State (twice), Arkansas Tech and Marshall. The Bisons have fallen in the A-Sun to Gardner-Webb, Belmont, East Tennessee State, Mercer and Kennesaw State. Lipscomb has lost in non-conference play to Centenary, Winston-Salem State, Appalachian State, Middle Tennessee, Purdue, Vanderbilt, Nicholls and Southeastern Louisiana.

About The Team
Lipscomb has only one player to average in double figures overall. Eddie Ard leads the team in scoring at 15.8 ppg. He also grabs 4.5 rpg and has collected 52 assists and 34 steals on the year. In conference play, Ard increases his scoring average to 17.5 ppg. Ard is not alone in double figure scoring in conference play. LaKory Daniels scores at an 11.4 ppg clip in league games, while Adnan Hodzic and Josh Slater average 10.8 and 10.5 ppg in A-Sun contests. Michael Lusk leads the team in assists with 75 on the year.

Lipscomb averages 71.3 ppg overall and increases the scoring output to 78.6 in A-Sun games. The Bisons shoot 44.0 percent from the floor, 34.6 percent from behind the three-point arc and 66.1 percent from the free throw line. Opponents are shooting 41.9 percent from the floor and 35.6 percent from three-point land.

About The Coach
Head Coach Scott Sanderson is in his ninth season at the helm of the Lipscomb program. He owns a 143-122 record at the school, earning A-Sun Coach of the Year honors in 2005-06. He has an overall record of 227-147 in 12 years as a head coach. Sanderson is the son of legendary Alabama head coach Wimp Sanderson.

Prior to taking the job at Lipscomb in 1999, Sanderson was the head coach at the University of Mobile from 1996-99. He posted an 84-25 rercord in three years at Mobile and was named the NAIA National Coach of the Year in 1998-99.