High Point, N.C. - The High Point University men's basketball team will travel to Spartanburg, South Carolina to take on the USC Upstate Spartans in the G.B. Hodge Center on Thursday, February 12 for a Big South match up at 7:00 pm.

Men's Basketball - at University of South Carolina Upstate
Thursday, February 12 | 7:00 p.m. | Spartanburg, S.C. | G.B. Hodge Center
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Records: High Point 22-4 (10-1), USC Upstate 11-14 (3-7)
Last Meeting: January 17, 2026 | Result: HPU won 89-69
All-Time Record: High Point leads 10-5

The Matchup
Thursday marks the second time the Panthers will take on the Spartans this season. The Panthers won the first match up 89-69 at home in the Qubein Center. Since their first ever match up, High Point leads 10-5 all time over USC Upstate. The Spartans are 11-14 on the season and 3-7 in Big South play. USC Upstate is coming off an OT win of 100-94 against Charleston Southern this past Saturday. The Spartans have three players averaging double digits in points per game with Mason Bendinger scoring 15.3 ppg, Karmani Gregory scoring 15.2 ppg, and Carmelo Adkins scoring 13.3 ppg. 

Last time out
High Point defeated Radford University, 86-77 at home in the Qubein Center on Saturday night. The Panthers were led by Terry Anderson who scored 24 points. Anderson was assisted by four other Panthers who also scored in double digits. Owen Aquino, Scotty Washington, Rob Martin, and Vincent Brady II scored 17, 15, 13, and 13 points respectively. Aquino added 12 rebounds to secure a double-double. The Panthers shot 41% from the field and 84% from the line.


Notable Player & Team Notes

Panthers Selected for PRIMETIME X2
HPU was selected for the first Big South Wildcard ESPNU game on January 29 versus Presbyterian at 9:00 p.m. In front of a packed crowd, the Panthers defeated the Blue Hose 84-81, led by Rob Martin with 21 points. HPU was selected for another ESPNU game on Feb. 19 versus UNC Asheville.

50 Weeks in the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Rankings
High Point ranks No. 8 and has been in the top 25 for 50 consecutive weeks, the most by a Big South team and the most ever by an HPU team. The No. 5 ranking early in the season matches High Point's highest ever ranking which occurred during the 2023-24 season.

50 PERCENT ON
High Point is first in the league with a 50.1 field goal percentage, which ranks 15th in the country. The last Big South squad to finish the season at-or-above the 50-percent threshold was Radford more than 30 years ago in 1993-94 (793-of-1580, =50.2). If the Panthers can maintain their shoot- ing prowess for the duration of the 2025-26 slate, they would become just the sixth team in conference history with a 50.0-plus field goal percentage. The single-season record is 53.0 percent, which was set by Winthrop in the league's inaugural season of 1985-86.

USA Jersey Debut
The Panthers debuted the USA themed jersey's over Family Weekend.

Record Crowd
HPU had 7,202 fans at the game versus Radford for Family Weekend. It was standing room only with people inside the conference room watching on the screen.

Defensive Dynamite
Rob Martin picked up eight steals in the win over Charleston Southern (Feb. 4) which was the 2nd most in a single-game in program history. As a team HPU collected 29 steals which was the third most in Division I era in a single-game.

Elite Company
High Point was one of the first two programs with both their men's and women's teams capturing 20 wins so far this season. UConn was the other team to do so.
 
Win like Flynn
High Point head coach Flynn Clayman became the 12th head coach in his first year in the Big South to reach 20 wins during his initial season in the league. His 20 overall wins are tied for the fifth-most by a coach in his first year in the conference. Meanwhile, the Panthers have recorded their third consecutive 20-win season, and HPU has tied as the third-fastest squad to reach 20 victories (24 games) in Big South record book.
 
Road Warriors
HPU defeated Longwood on the road for the first time since the 2017-18 season to complete the conference regular-season sweep.
 
FOUR SQUARE
For the second time in three seasons, High Point opened Big South play with a 4-0 mark. It is the fourth time since 2006-07 that the Panthers have started at least 4-0 in conference action. In 2023-24, HPU opened 9-0 en route to a 13-3 conference mark and regular-season championship.
 
Miller Named Freshman of the Week
Caden Miller earned the Panthers' first FOTW honor on Dec. 29. He averaged 8.0 pts, 4.5 rbs & 2.5 blks and registered a season-high 10 points against Pfeiffer. He was recently named FOTW on Jan. 12 after averaging 11.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
 
Re-Writing the Record Book
High Point's 55-point victory over Gardner-Webb (104-49) was the largest margin of victory over a Division I and a league opponent in Big South Conference history. At the half, HPU led 53-13 which tied for the second-most HPU has scored in the first half and the largest point differential head- ing into halftime against a Big South Conference opponent in program history. The largest margin of victory over a DI opponent has been broken three times during the season, first over Canisius (93-50), then over Bryant (93-47) and now over GWU (104-49).
 
Started Conference Play Right
HPU opened conference play with a 18-point win over UNCA on the road to start conference play, making it the first road win in a conference opener since 2009 for the Panthers and the largest margin of victory in program history to open Big South Conference play on the road.
 
Tied Non-Con Wins
HPU's 12 wins in non-conference tied the program record set during the 2024-25 season.
 
Best Non-Con Record by 1st Year Head Coach
Most wins by a first-year head coach in program history and best win % by a first-year head coach in Big South history.
 
Miller Named Freshman of the Week
Caden Miller earned the Panthers' first Freshman of the Week honor on Dec. 29. He averaged 8.0 points, 4.5 rebounds & 2.5 blocks and registered a season-high 10 points against Pfeiffer.
 
Largest Margin of Victory Over D1 Opponent
With the 93-47 win over Bryant, HPU recorded the largest margin of victory over a D1 opponent. The record has been broken twice during the season, first over Canisius.
 
Largest Margin of Victory
The Panthers defeated the Fighting Squirrels in high scoring fashion, breaking the largest margin of victory record in program history with a 129-47 win. High Point led 66-19 at the half which is the third most points scored in a half and the second largest first-half margin in program history.
 
Most Points Scored in D1 Era
HPU defeated Mary Baldwin, 129-47, registering the most points scored in Division I program history.
 
Hanging 10
Coach Clayman matched the conference record for fastest to 10 wins by a coach in his first year in the Big South. Clayman won his 10th game in his 13th contest, becoming the third head coach to start 10-3 in his first year in the league
 
Martinez the Distributor
Conrad Martinez dished out 11 assists against App State, which was the first time a player has had 10+ assists since 2014, when Haiishen McIntyre produced 10 assists at Clemson. Martinez recorded his first career double-double with 10 points.
 
Boardwalk Battle CHAMPS
High Point won the Boardwalk Battle MTE in Daytona Beach, Florida, winning the program's first MTE since the 2022 season after defeating the University of Incarnate Word 91-80 in the Championship game. Terry Anderson was named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
Field of 68 MM Coach of the Week
Coach Clayman was named the Field of 68 Mid-Major Coach of the Week after picking up two wins against Furman and Averett.
 
1st Win for Clayman Era
High Point defeated Furman in the season-opener at the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon, 97-71, for first-year head coach Flynn Clayman's first win.
 
Continuing Success After Change
Coming off the most successful season ever for the Panthers after making it to March Madness the team's energy has never been higher. The energy for this season all stems with the new first-year Head Coach Flynn Clayman who was appointed in April of 2025 after serving as the Associate Head Coach under Alan Huss last season.
 
Preseason Awards
High Point was picked again as the number one-ranked team in the Big South Preseason Poll for the second consecutive season and the fifth time in program history (2007-08, 2013-14, 2015-16, 2024-25, 2025-26). Rob Martin and Scotty Washington were picked to be on the First Team All-Conference as well. In the Blue-Ribbon Forecast HPU was picked preseason No. 1 and Martin was selected as the Preseason Newcomer of the Year. In two other preseason polls, High Point was picked fourth in the Field of 68 Mid-Major poll and eighth in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. Since cracking the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 on December 26, 2023, High Point has remained in the top 25 for 36 consecutive weeks. The highest ranking that HPU received in program history was No. 5 on February 5, 2024.
 
Notable Transfers, Returning Players, and New Freshman
This season, the Panthers have a totally new squad and lineup looking to continue the standard of success they have created after making a tournament appearance. There are eight transfers that have made High Point their new home. Cam'Ron Fletcher, a graduate student who has played at Kentucky, Florida State and Xavier, is bringing experienced veteran leadership to the team. He has already won a transfer award back in 2021-2022 as the ACC Impact Transfer per CBS Sports. Rob Martin who started at Indiana State and then Southeastern Missouri State University, is a senior who also brings some veteran leadership and was named to the Big South Preseason First-Team All-Conference selection. Another leader for the Panthers is Owen Aquino, who is coming to HPU after playing at Eastern Florida State and Liberty, a team that also won its league title and made the 2024-25 NCAA Tournament. Aquino a native of Spain, shares the court alongside Spain native Conrad Martinez, who spent his first two seasons at the University of Arizona. Scotty Washington is a senior transfer that played for CBU and CSUN, where he grabbed a 2024-2025 All-Big West Honorable Mention and was named to the Big South First-Team All-Conference selection. Vincent Brady II and Youssouf Singare are the last two transfers for the Panthers that also help strengthen the new identity and game plan that the Panthers have for this season. Singare transferred from the University of Connecticut and Brady II joins the Panthers from Missouri State University.
 
2024-25 Historic Season
High Point made history during the 2024-25 season by winning its first-ever Big South Tournament title and earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. HPU finished with an overall record of 29-6, which tied for the most wins in Big South program history (Winthrop, 2006-07) and the most wins in HPU program history. The Panthers finished the regular season with a 26-5 record and a 14-2 league record. The 26 regular-season wins is the most in program history and tied the Big South regular-season wins record with Coastal Carolina's 2010-11 season (26-4). High Point's offense finished 3rd in the NCAA in KenPom rankings for raw offensive efficiency, trailing only Duke and Gonzaga, and were ahead of 2025 NCAA National Champion Florida.