WHEN: Friday, December 16, 7 p.m.
WHERE: Millis Center (1,750)
RECORDS: High Point (5-5), NC Wesleyan (7-3)
SERIES RECORD: High Point leads 1-0
LAST MEETING: High Point def. NC Wesleyan, 93-69, on Nov. 15, 2015
LIVE VIDEO: Big South Network
LIVE AUDIO: High Point Panthers Radio Network
GAME NOTES: Click here (PDF)
 
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men's basketball plays its last non-conference home game of the season on Friday, Dec. 16, when the team hosts North Carolina Wesleyan at the Millis Center.
 
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Kevin Burke and Stafford Stephenson will be back on the call on the High Point Panthers Radio Network, with pre-game coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m.
 
PAW PRINTS
• HPU earned a 77-53 win over Ferrum College on Sunday to move back to .500 on the season. Senior Tarique Thompson and sophomore Ricky Madison tied for the team lead with 16 points apiece in the game.
 
• Madison's 16 points against the Panthers were a new career high for the sophomore. He was one of three players to set career highs for scoring in the contest as freshman Luke Vargo scored a career-high 11 points with a career-best three 3-pointers and fellow freshman Cliff Thomas Jr. scored a career-high eight points.
 
• The Panthers sit atop the Big South and are ranked 31st in the nation in 3-point shooting at 40.3 percent. HPU has shot over .380 in all but two games this season and set a program Div. I record in 3-point shooting percentage by going 12-15 (.800) at Vanderbilt on Dec. 6.
 
• Sophomore Andre Fox is eighth in the Big South in scoring (14.0 ppg). He has posted 20+ points in four games so far this season, tied for third most in the conference.
 
• Redshirt-senior Miles Bowman Jr. is one of 33 players nationally with five double-doubles in 2016-17. He is second in the Big South and 44th nationally in rebounds/game (9.5).
 
• High Point struggled from the free throw line through the first five games of the season, shooting .638 (74-116). That changed over the past five games as the Purple & White has shot .735 (86-117). Bowman is second in the Big South and 28th in the nation in free throw percentage at .907 (39-43).
 
• Freshman point guard Jamal Wright is second in the Big South in assists per game (3.7) and has dished out 37 assists while committing just 22 turnovers (1.7 A/TO ratio, 4th in BSC).
 
HISTORY vs. NC WESLEYAN
High Point and North Carolina Wesleyan met for the first time last season with the Panthers picking up the 93-69 win at the Millis Center. Five HPU players scored in double digits in the contest, led by John Brown who finished with 23 points on 8-10 shooting. Lorenzo Cugini finished with 15, Adam Weary had 14, Ricky Madison had 12 and Anthony Lindauer had 10 for the Panthers. High Point shot 58.2 percent from the field and outscored the Battling Bishops by 10 in the paint.
 
HISTORY vs. USA SOUTH OPPONENTS
The Panthers are 22-1 all-time against USA South opponents. High Point is 7-1 against Greensboro College, 6-0 against Ferrum, 2-0 against Averett, Covenant and Piedmont and 1-0 against William Peace, North Carolina Wesleyan and Methodist. HPU's only loss against a USA South team came in 1992. The Purple & White are 2-0 against USA South opponents this season with a 74-41 win over Averett in the season opener and a 77-53 win over Ferrum on Sunday.
 
A LOOK AT THE BATTLING BISHOPS (7-3, 0-0 USA SOUTH)
NC Wesleyan has gotten off to a very strong start to the 2016-17 season, winning seven of its first 10 games, including each of its last five contests. Adrian Moore leads the team and the USA South Conference in scoring at 21.9 points per game. He is one of three players averaging double digits for Wesleyan along with Justin Tankelewicz (15.9 ppg) and Chris Braswell (12.9 ppg). Moore also leads the team in rebounds at 7.5 per game and assists with 4.2 per game.
 
UP NEXT
High Point wraps up its non-conference slate with a road game at Western Carolina on Monday, Dec. 19, in Cullowhee, N.C. It will be the Panthers' final game before a 10-day break for the holidays. Tip-off in the game is set for 7:30 p.m.
 
#GoHPU