HIGH POINT, N.C. - The High Point University Panthers host USC Upstate on Wednesday night for its final game of the regular season. HPU will recognize Trae Benham, Chase Johnston, Kezza Giffa, Abdoulaye Thiam and Colby Taylor (head manager) ahead of the game for senior night.
 
Men's Basketball - University of South Carolina - Upstate
Wednesday, February 26 | 7 p.m. | High Point, N.C. | Qubein Center
Watch Live ESPN+ | LiveStats
Community Day
 
Records: High Point 25-5, UPST 6-23
Last Meeting: January 22, 2025 | Result: HPU won 86-77
All-Time Record: HPU leads 8-8
 
The Matchup
High Point and USC Upstate competed in Spartanburg, S.C. back in January as the Panthers defeated the Spartans 86-77. HPU was led by D'Maurian Williams with 22 points after tying his career-high with six made threes from the field. Juslin Bodo Bodo and Simon Hildebrandt each picked up nine rebounds. USC Upstate was led by five players in double figures led by Karmani Gregory with 18 points. Mister Dean leads the Spartans overall averaging 15.8 points per game. As a team, USC Upstate averages 75.8 points per game shooting 46.1% from the field.
 
Last time out
The Panthers traveled to Gardner-Webb for its final road game of the season. HPU defeated the Runnin' Bulldogs 90-67 after leading by double-digits for most of the game. The Panthers were led by Kezza Giffa with 23 points after going 6-for-11 from the field, 3-for-5 from three-point range and 8-for-10 from the free throw line. High Point shot 50.8% from the field, 35% from deep and 75% from the line.

Notable Player & Team Notes
 
Giffa Named Big South Player of the Week
Giffa averaged 20.5 points, on 56.0% (14-25) shooting from the field and 75.0% (9-12) from the free throw line while adding 5 assists per game, helping the Panthers to two victories last week.
 
Clinched a Share of Big South Regular Season Title
HPU clinched at least a share of the Big South Regular Season Title after defeating GWU on Saturday afternoon. High Point is 25-5 overall and 13-2 in league play entering the final game of the regular season.
 
Giffa Tabbed 1000th Career Point
On Wednesday night versus Charleston Southern, Giffa recorded his 1000th career point after dropping 18 points.
 
Fastest to 50 Wins (50-14)
-Fastest to 50 wins in Big South history (50 wins in 64 games).
-Fastest to 50 wins after taking over a program with a losing record since NC State's Everett Case in 1948, and fastest ever in modern college basketball history (since 1985).
-Top 35 among all college coaches.
 
Top 10 - CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Rankings
In the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 rankings, High Point ranks No. 12 in the week 16 rankings. The Panthers highest spot in the rankings thus far was 8th in week two. HPU has been in the top 25 for 31 consecutive weeks, the second most by a Big South team and the most ever by an HPU team.
 
Ibukunoluwa Freshman of the Week
Ibukunoluwa tabbed his first Freshman of the Week award on Monday Feb. 17 after recording career-highs in both games with 10 points and 13 points.

1st Player of the Week Award
Juslin Bodo Bodo was named the Big South Player of the Week on Feb. 10 after averaging 14 points and 14.5 rebounds in last week's contests. He recorded a career-high 19 points and 21 rebounds in the win over UNCA. He is the only player in the Big South this season to record 20+ rebounds in a single game and now sits third all-time in HPU history in total rebounds (21) and second all-time in offensive rebounds (13) in a single game. The last player in HPU history to record 20+ rebounds in a game was Cruz Daniels (20) vs. VMI (2/28/09).
  
Three Players Averaging Double-Figures
Three Panthers from the HPU starting lineup are averaging double figures per game, led by Kezza Giffa with 14.7, D'Maurian Williams with 14.5, and Kimani Hamilton with 13.6.
 
30-2 in The Qubein Center in Last Two Regular Seasons
Since the start of the Huss Bus era, the Panthers have only lost two regular season games inside the Qubein Center with a current record of 30-2. HPU's two losses came from USC Upstate on February 14, 2024, and Norfolk State on December 29, 2024.

Back-to-back 20 Win Seasons
The Panthers have posted two back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in the DI era. It marks the 6th 20-win season in program history.
 
100 Career Blocks
Juslin Bodo Bodo eclipsed 100 career blocks after registering four blocks at Presbyterian on Saturday afternoon.
 
1500 Career Points for Johnston
Johnston reached his 1500th career point on Wednesday afternoon at Radford. Of Johnston's 1,509 points following the Radford game, 1,008 points were scored from three-point range on 39.34% shooting for his career.

First Half Three-Point Record
As a team, the Panthers made 11 three pointers in the first half at USC Upstate, breaking the previous record of 10 made threes.

Lavender Jersey Debut
The Panthers debuted the Centennial Lavender jersey's on January 18, representing the 100th year of HPU.
 
Winning in Record Fashion
High Point's 41-point victory (96-55) over Gardner Webb is the largest margin of victory in a Conference regular season game in HPU program history.
 
Thiam Joins 1000 Point Club
Abdoulaye Thiam reached his 1000th career point on Saturday night after scoring his seventh point of the game.
 
Pettiford Dishes Out 200th Assist
Bobby Pettiford handed out his 200th career assist at UNC Asheville. He has collected 73 assists in his 22 games played in an HPU jersey.

Broke DI Program Record for Non-Conference Wins
The Panthers broke the DI program non-conference wins record with their 12^th win of the season after defeating Southern Illinois before the break. The previous record was set last season in 2023-24 with 11 wins before starting conference play.
 
Williams Captures 1000th Point
D'Maurian Williams reached his 1000th career point on Tuesday night against Carolina U after knocking down his first three-point basket of the game.
 
CIC All-Tournament Team
Kezza Giffa was named to the Cayman Islands Classic All-Tournament team after averaging 16 points, 3.0 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game. He scored a week-high 23 points in the win over Old Dominion.

Pettiford Loves Thanksgiving Game Winners
In the final game of the Cayman Islands Classic, Bobby Pettiford secured the go ahead basket with 10 seconds left to go in the game. This was the third straight season that he scored a game winner in the game before Thanksgiving.

Best Start in DI History
The 5-0 start for High Point is the best start in Division I program history since becoming DI in 1999. In 2022-23, High Point started 3-0 before falling to UNLV in mid-November.

Giffa & Bodo Bodo on Lou Henson Watch List
The 2024-25 Lou Henson 'Early Season' Watch list has been announced as two players from the High Point University men's basketball team have earned recognition, Kezza Giffa and Juslin Bodo Bodo. Giffa was named a finalist in 2023-24 for the Lou Henson award after averaging 16.2 points per game, 2.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists. 

Bracketeer.com Preseason All-American Awards
In the Bracketeer's Preseason All-American Watch List Kimani Hamilton was named a First Team recipient while Kezza Giffa was named to the second team.
 
Preseason Polls
On October 15th, the Big South Conference announced the Preseason Men's Basketball Poll for the upcoming 2024-25 season. High Point University was picked to finish 1st in the poll, while Kezza Giffa was named the Preseason Player of the Year, while Kimani Hamilton & Juslin Bodo Bodo were named to the first team.
 
New & Improved
Returning eight players from last year's roster, the Panthers added 12 newcomers with six transfers and six freshmen. The reigning Big South Regular Season Champions are ready to jump back into full action after a historic 27-win season led by first-year Head Coach Alan Huss in 2023-24.
 
HPU Stat Rankings Following 2023-24 Season
-9th in NCAA in PPG (83.9)
-1st in NCAA in Free Throws Made (20.1)
-6th in NCAA in Free Throws Attempted (25.8)
-15th in NCAA in Free Throw % (77.8)
-16th in NCAA in Rebounds (40.00)
-25th in NCAA in Win % (75%)
-Highest National Kenpom Ranking in Program History (114th)
-Highest National NET Ranking in Program History (110th)
-8th in Kenpom Raw Offensive Efficiency
-10th in Kenpom Offensive Rebound %
 
2023-24 Regular Season CHAMPS
HPU was named the outright Big South regular season champs for the first time since 2015-16. This was HPU's 5th Big South Regular-Season Title and the 2nd outright title.
 
2023-24 Season Recorded Most Wins in D1 Era
With a record of 27-9, the Panthers set the record for the most wins in a single-season.
 
2023-24 Season Was the Most Wins by a First-Year Head Coach
Coach Huss won the most wins as a first-year head coach in the entirety of the men's basketball program history. Also registered the most wins by a rookie head coach in the country last season.
 
Bodo Bodo Awards
Juslin bodo Bodo was named a National Freshman of the Year and a Kyle Macy Freshman of the Year Finalist in 2023-24.
 
Lou Henson Award Finalist
Giffa was named a Lou Henson Award Finalist in 2023-24.
 
2023-24 Big South Postseason Awards
Head Coach Alan Huss was named the Big South Coach of the Year becoming the 2nd coach in program history to earn the award (Scott Cherry). Duke Miles was named the Big South Newcomer of the Year and Juslin Bodo Bodo was named the Defensive and Freshman Player of the Year. Duke Miles, Kimani Hamilton & Kezza Giffa were named to the First Team All-Conference selections while Juslin Bodo Bodo and Titas Sargiunas were named to the All-Freshman team.