GAME INFO
Monday, Jan. 20 -- at USC Upstate (Hodge Center), 6 p.m.
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The High Point University men's basketball team (4-14, 1-4 Big South) heads back on the road in Big South Conference play when it travels to USC Upstate (7-11, 2-3 Big South) on Monday (Jan. 20) night.
 
Matchup History
The Panthers are 2-2 with USC Upstate in the series history, with the most recent coming last season in High Point (71-54 HPU) when the Spartans moved to the conference from the Atlantic Sun. Prior to last year, the two programs had not faced one another since the 1982-83 season.
 
Across the Bench
The Spartans are coming off of a pair of conference setbacks to Gardner-Webb (83-67) and Radford (63-59). Prior to that they had two Big South victories over Hampton (83-73) and Longwood (73-56).
 
The Spartans are led by Everette Hammond, who averages a team-leading 14.2 points a game, while also having a team-high 24 steals. Tommy Bruner also chips in with 12.1 points per contest, while Bryson Mozone is their sharp-shooter off the bench with 9.7 ppg, while shooting 40.6% from beyond the arc (41-101).
 
USC Upstate is led by second year head coach Dave Dickerson. He most recently was a scout for the NBA's Utah Jazz before spending seven seasons as associate head coach at Ohio State. He was previously the head coach at Tulane for five seasons. Dickerson was teammates with HPU assistant coach Keith Gatlin at the University of Maryland (1985-88).
 
Manny Time
Freshman Emmanuel Izunabor had a career-high 12 points on Saturday, the first time the Nigerian native has scored in double digits. This is the second game in a row his minutes have been over 10 in the last 13 games, filling the void in the paint for the injured Cliff Thomas Jr.
 
But He's Only a Freshman
Freshman John-Michael Wright leads all Big South freshmen in scoring averaging with 12.9 per game, which also ranks him 11th in scoring in the conference overall. He is also the top freshman in rebounding with 5.1 boards per game, good enough for 15 th overall in the conference. The freshman has now scored at least 10 points in four straight games and 14 times this season.
 
Swiper No Swiping!
John-Michael Wright has been a nightmare for opposing ballhandlers this season. The freshman out of Fayetteville has 18 steals, which leads the team.
 
Money from the Charity Stripe
Curtis Holland III is cashing in on every opportunity he gets at the free throw line. He ranks fourth in the Big South, shooting 80% on the year.
 
Block Party
The Panthers rank 149th out of 350 schools in blocked shots per game averaging 3.4 per contest.
 
Glass Cleaners
High Point have been terrific on the offensive and defensive boards. They rank second in the Big South in rebounding margin at +2.9.
 
JUST BLOCKin' it
Redshirt junior Cliff Thomas Jr. ranks sixth in the Big South with 0.8 blocks per game, tied with teammate Caden Sanchez.
 
Chairman of the Offensive boards
Redshirt sophomore Caden Sanchez ranks second in the Big South with 2.4 offensive rebounds a game.
 
They Are Free for a Reason
High Point is the 171st best free throw shooting team in the country.
 
Defensive Boards
High Point leads the Big South with a 30.2 a game rebounding defense.
 
Up Next: HPU will be back home for a two-game homestand when it hosts Gardner-Webb on Thursday (Jan. 23) and Longwood on Saturday (Jan. 25).
 
 
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