GAME INFO
Saturday, Feb. 15 -- vs USC Upstate (Millis Center) 7 p.m.
ESPN 3 | Live Stats | Tickets
 
The High Point University men's basketball team (7-19, 4-9 Big South) returns to Millis Center for a Big South Conference tilt against USC Upstate (11-15, 6-7 Big South) on Saturday (Feb. 15) evening.
 
Last Time Out
The Panthers head into Saturday after suffering a 66-63 heartbreaker at Charleston Southern on Thursday (Feb. 13). HPU tied the contest with seven seconds remaining in regulation on a three-pointer by John-Michael Wright before CSU's Phlandrous Fleming hit a three of his own with two seconds on the clock for the win.
 
Matchup History
The Panthers are 3-2 with USC Upstate in the series history, with HPU coming out victorious in the first matchup of the season, 70-62, in Spartanburg, S.C. John-Michael Wright scored a game-high 24 points while shooting 4-9 from beyond the arc. Junior Denny Slay II also contributed with 17 points off the bench.
 
Across the Bench
The Spartans are coming off of a 66-52 win over Charleston Southern on Monday (Feb. 10). USC Upstate had four players in double-figures, including a team-high 14 points from Bryson Mozone, who completed the double-double with 14 rebounds.
 
Everette Hammond leads the Spartans with 14.6 points per game and tied for a team-high 4.5 boards a game. Tommy Bruner is second in scoring on the team with 13.7 points a contest.
 
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).
 
But He's Only a Freshman
John-Michael Wright leads all Big South freshmen in scoring averaging with 14.2 per game, which also ranks him ninth in scoring in the conference overall. He is also the top freshman in rebounding with 5.0 boards per game, good enough for 14th overall in the conference. The freshman has scored at least 10 points in 20 games this season.
 
The Senior is Shining
Senior Jamal Wright has averaged 14.4 points per game over his last five contests. He had a career night last Thursday (Feb. 6) in an 88-85 win over Hampton, dropping a career-high 34 points. He reached his career-high in the first half, while shooting an astonishing 10-13 from the field while going 5-7 from beyond the arc and 9-11 from the free throw line - all eclipsing his career-highs.
 
Caden Getting' it Done
Redshirt sophomore Caden Sanchez also had himself a career night in the win over Hampton, recording a career-high 24 points. He went 11-14 from the field - also a career-high - while chipping in with nine rebounds and three blocks.
 
RP3
Sophomore Rob Peterson III has started the last 10 games in the absence of Curtis Holland III. Peterson has averaged 5.7 points per game and 7.5 rebounds a game over that span.
 
Denny Time
Junior Denny Slay II has been a spark plug off the bench, nearly doubling his season scoring average over his last 10 games with 8.2 ppg. He has dropped a season-high 17 points on three occasions, all coming within that span.
 
Man Oh Man(ny)
Freshman Emmanuel Izunabor has seen a significant increase in his minutes and been thrust into a more prominent role the past 10 games. He is averaging 15.9 minutes per game in that span, while averaging 4.4 rebounds a game and 4.6 points a game.
 
Chairman of the Offensive boards
Redshirt sophomore Caden Sanchez ranks first in the Big South with 2.4 offensive rebounds a game.
 
Glass Cleaners
High Point have been terrific on the offensive and defensive boards. They rank third in the Big South in rebounding margin at +1.8.
 
JUST BLOCKin' it
Sanchez ranks fifth in the Big South with 1.0 block per game. His five-block game against Longwood (Jan. 25) was the first in program history since John Brown in 2016.
 
Defensive Boards
High Point leads the Big South with a 32.7 game rebounding defense.
 
Up Next: HPU is back at Millis on Thursday (Feb. 20) when it hosts Presbyterian at 7 p.m. for its second to last home contest of the season.
 
 
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